Recommended Book: Managing Yourself

When I was growing up I used to be so excited at Christmas time, but there came a point in the afternoon or evening when we’d opened all the presents and there was inevitably a sense of anti-climax. I think it was because I now knew what all the gifts were, and most of them would have been either eaten(!) or not that exciting once the first thrill was over.

The best Christmas ever was the one when I realised I could ask for books and got a whole pile of them! With books I would get a feeling of excitement and potential instead, because in that pile was a wealth of knowledge that I could learn and grow from. Even when I’d read them I could go back and refer to them.

Since I love reading Christian books I also have a lot of them, and I thought it might be good to recommend some occasionally. I always like it when people recommend books, because then you can be much more certain of it being a good read!

Managing Yourself

Managing Yourself is written by Stephen Douglass who is the president of Campus Crusade for Christ. It is described as: ‘Practical help for Christians in personal planning, time scheduling and self-control.’ This is one of my favourite books, and has really helped me redeem the time – so I am very grateful for it, and for my friend who introduced me to it!

If you are struggling with managing your time wisely as a Christian then I think this book can really help you because it walks you through how to plan your time. It also contains practical and Biblical advice on all kinds of areas of life, such as finances, finding God’s will for your life, career and family. So it is a good all round helpful book.

I think this is especially helpful for stay-at-home mums and housewives because we have to organise our own days, and there are many pitfalls and difficulties that can come from that! It is also a great book to keep on the shelf as a reference when you need it.

How it saved me!

When I got married I didn’t know what hit me! Suddenly I had to figure out how to cook, clean and keep my house as well as helping my husband in fulltime ministry (that was the easy bit!). I was really floundering, so when we went to the States on furlough I checked out as many library books on time management as I could find, and bought as many as I could justify!

Then a sweet lady on hearing of my struggles offered to meet me for coffee. So we met and she went through a chapter of this book with me, on scheduling. It really helped me and solved a lot of my problems.

I had so many things to do that weren’t as easy as just ticking off on a list, because they needed to be done every day or every week. Having a schedule transformed the way I did things and helped me get so much more done.

Ever since that time I have used variations of the schedule, and when I stick to it I always get a lot more done than when I don’t. So I am very grateful to this book! Here is a picture of my current schedule so you can see the kind of thing it leads to. Because I schedule the kids time too, I have a daily schedule with variations for different days. If it was just me I would do a weekly schedule.

A similar book

If you are a Christian homeschooling mother, you may have heard of or have read Managers of Their Homes by Steve and Teri Maxwell. That is a great book for scheduling your time when homeschooling multiple children of different ages.

If you already use that then you probably wouldn’t need Managing Yourself for the time management part since it covers a lot of the same kind of thing, though you may still find it helpful if you struggle with finances or other areas of life.

Who it might not be for

Even though this book covers a lot of different areas, the key part is on time management and scheduling, so if you’re the kind of person that is REALLY not into scheduling then this may not be for you!

If you just have a list of things to do every day and someone else managing the majority of your time for you then it may not be so needed. Having said that, I have found that even if I only have a couple of spare hours a day, if I plan that time it still becomes way more productive!

If you are interested in buying it, you can get it here at Amazon.com or here at Amazon.co.uk. I am not currently using the Amazon affiliate program since the purpose of this blog is not to make money, and I want to make sure that you know I am sincere in my recommendation!