4 Ways to be More Intentional
By: Missionary Team
Have you ever had one of those days where it seemed like you were working so hard but you got nothing done? Yeah me too. Sometimes it seems like no matter how hard or how busy you are, you just can’t seem to be productive and you finish the day feeling defeated. Well, here are four practical ways to be more intentional with your time, and finish the day knowing that you gave it all you got. First, we should know what it means to be intentional. The dictionary defines intentionality as the “act of being deliberate or purposeful”. So with these things in mind let’s jump right in.
Ask yourself
When you find yourself apprehensive about something you want to accomplish, it helps an enormous amount to pause for a moment and redirect your focus to this question: Why are you doing this? Who is it for? What is driving you to accomplish this? Who am I helping by doing this? You see, once we know why we are doing something and understand it. We can fully put ourselves into the task. You can’t just pour yourself into something if you don’t know why you are doing it. Stopping to ask yourself these questions will help you remember why you are working hard at something, and it is an excellent way of focusing on the task and its importance. This is a great way to begin to be more intentional in striving to accomplish any service.
Getting started
Sometimes people find it hard shifting gears into different activities and then find themselves distracted and not able to fully enter into doing something. One of the best rules of thumb I have learned when it comes to starting something you're not sure if you want to do or not is called the 2-minute rule. It can be explained as such: If you aren’t sure or straight up don’t want to do something that is hanging over your head, simply just calm your mind and take two minutes and just run at the task full speed. If you're two minutes into a task that you have fully entered into, and decide that it’s not a priority then stop! Come back to it later. But ninety-nine times out of one hundred you will find that when you fully throw yourself at something and you get going on it you won’t want to just stop halfway through! This allows one to almost get a jump start on a task, just as Issac Newton says: “An object in motion or at rest will tend to stay in motion or at rest until acted upon by an outside force”. This is easily applicable to the work world, working out, and especially prayer. When you are struggling with intentionality, simply put everything you’ve got into what you are striving to do for a few moments, and the next thing you know you won’t want to stop!
One thing at a time
Something I struggled with was getting overwhelmed by tasks I was given, and I would end up doing a little of each task but never really getting anything done. This is a leading cause of that frustrating feeling of “I didn’t get anything done today!” For whatever you are trying to do. Whether it’s talking with someone, Writing a paper for school, or even going to bed! We must try to focus on that one thing alone. Not everyone is a good multitasker. Don’t lie to yourself, those who try and multi-task often end up getting less done than they would have if they had just focused on one thing at a time and grinded out that specific thing with intentionality. This includes avoiding checking your phone!
Prepare
Lastly, before starting on something have everything you need before you begin! I can’t even add up how many times I went to go talk to someone about something and forgot what I was going to talk to them about before I even got to them! Or how I would begin to write a blog and forget my computer charger. By the time I got my charger and came back, I had lost my train of thought. So be prepared! Take the time to grow in patience and think through what you are about to do. Losing one minute might just save you twenty! A great man once said: “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast” remember that. It is all too easy to get caught up in that funk where it seems like all the days are just dragging on and you can’t focus on anything. Intentionality will cure that! By accomplishing a task it makes you happy and it feels so productive! Let that energy flow over into the next task and don’t let your feet drag! Keep the intentionality, and always keep your focus on God.
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work heartily for the Lord and not for men”
