Are you buried under the weight of your to-do list? Do you feel anxious and overwhelmed because you want to finish this year out strong, but you have so much to accomplish it seems impossible? Have you procrastinated on the goals you had for 2020 because of the pandemic and now you’re feeling defeated? Girl, I feel ya! I’m a perfectionist, so I know all about procrastination and being paralyzed by indecision and overwhelm.
I’ve got writing projects, blog updating, and packing to do as we just sold our house and are buying a new one, on top of my duties as a wife, mom, homemaker, church secretary, and ministry leader. Sometimes I can keep my schedule organized and life running smoothly, but other times, my mind is as cluttered as my schedule, and I struggle with the stress of it all. But there are 5 things I do that help me find clarity and complete my God-given assignments. I think they’ll help you focus and finish strong too!
5 Steps to Help You Focus and Finish Strong
- Pray
- Prioritize
- Pare down
- Plan
- Put your hand to the plow
Prayer is Vital to Focusing and Finishing Strong
When I feel overwhelmed and stressed out from my schedule, prayer brings me peace and calm in the chaos of life. Communicating my needs to my Heavenly Father helps me to be sober-minded and stable.
Prayer is necessary throughout the entire focus and finish process! Without prayer, we operate in the flesh, but when we pray, we tap into the power available to us through God’s Spirit within us. Trying to be self-sufficient only adds to the stress we already have.
Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV ~ Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Prioritize Your Life to Help You Focus
After I’ve prayed for focus and to finish strong, I write out everything I need to accomplish in categories. For example, I title a category with ‘Writing Projects’, and list out everything that pertains to writing. If it has a deadline, I put that date in parentheses.
I categorize my obligations so that I can rank them in order of importance more easily. That helps me to keep first-things first and to move systematically through my list instead of sporadically.
Getting it all out on paper unclutters my mind and allows me to focus.
I pray through this step, as I want the Lord’s priorities to be mine. I never want my pursuits to displace God’s perfect plan for my life. It is so easy to get out of order, and difficult to see when you are, but the Lord is faithful to reveal any misplaced priorities.
Biblical Priorities
- God
- Husband
- Children
- Body of Christ
When our priorities get out of order, we get out of balance and start down the slippery slope into a spiritual slump.
Matthew 6:33 KJV ~ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Pare Down Your Schedule and Remove Distractions
Once I have all of my tasks on paper and have prioritized them, I simplify my schedule by delegating things or removing them altogether. I place unrealistic expectations on myself and get too ambitious with my goal-setting, so some items just have to go.
Again, I pray through this step, so I have discernment on what to keep, what to delegate, and what to cut. I only have a certain amount of energy to spend and no time to waste, so I want to be certain that everything I do fits my purpose, gifting, and calling.
This is the step where I reduce my social media activity and turn the TV off so I can maximize my time for kingdom work. Some people advise saying no to lunch dates, nights out, and things like that when you’re trying to be super productive. I think that’s true if you’re on a tight deadline, but if there’s some wiggle room, I take it!
I find those connections with family and friends as life-giving and stress-reducing, and they rank higher in importance than a checkmark on my to-do list.
Planning Helps Us to Focus
Benjamin Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” In other words, if we want to succeed in meeting our goals, we need a plan.
I have found that designating days of the week for different categories and listing the tasks on my calendar is helpful to keep me focused. For instance, Wednesday and Friday are typically my church workdays, and I block Tuesdays and Thursdays off for writing.
Of course, I do housework and laundry just about every day, and I have to be flexible, but I try to stick to the tasks I have scheduled for each day of the week. If I have multiple things to accomplish in a day, setting a timer helps me to stay balanced and on target.
Getting behind stresses me out, and I need that reminder to move on to the next task, or I can spend hours perfecting a blog post while neglecting my other duties.
You may want to do a daily schedule with a little of each category every day. Experiment and find a plan that works for you, your family, and your season of life. The point is to get organized and have clear objectives to accomplish your goals and finish strong.
Put Your Hand to the Plow and Get to Work
It’s good to have a plan, but it’s useless if we don’t execute the items on that plan. We have to put our hands on the plow and get to work. Pray for the Lord to give you courage, clarity, and clear-cut direction for your next steps, and then go forward by faith, following His lead.
It has been a super stressful year for a lot of us, and I for one, am excited to see what God has in store for 2021, but first, we have to get through the rest of 2020. I’d like to do that with joy and peace. How about you?
By applying these 5 steps to help you focus and finish strong, you can succeed and so can I. We just have to take the time to pray, prioritize, pare down, and plan, so we can put our hand to the plow and accomplish what the Lord has assigned to us.
Colossians 3:23 KJV ~ And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
More to help you focus and finish strong:
Renew Your Mind and Revive Your Heart with ‘It is Written’
How to Live Victoriously in Christ
Trade that Stressful Schedule for Simplicity in Christ
From Worry to Worship~ Shifting your focus from the “What ifs” to “What is”
The Importance of a Sober Mind in Times of Transition
Focus on What Matters in Suffering
The Importance of a Sober Mind for Spiritual Stability
Grow Closer to Christ with “My Jesus Journal”
I designed a tool to help Christian women focus on Jesus as they read the Bible, so they can cultivate a closer relationship with Him. It’s called “My Jesus Journal”.
My Jesus Journal has space to record the date, the scriptures you read, and lined spaces to write your observations about Jesus. There is a verse from the KJV Bible at the bottom of those pages. The next page is for writing your prayers related to what you discovered in your reading. And there are extra prayer pages in the back.
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Priced at just $8.99, you can purchase one for yourself and a friend. Or consider buying one for your entire ministry, to begin a season of seeking Jesus together. It makes an excellent gift for any Christian woman in your life!
Click on the picture to order today:
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Pray With Confidence
Prayer definitely helps us focus and finish strong. If you would like to grow in your prayer life, then check out Pray with Confidence. It’s a website for helping women overcome prayer obstacles, and I am one of the regular contributors. Here are some articles I wrote that will renew your mind and strengthen your prayer life as you delight in the Lord:
3 Short Prayers for Spiritual Stability
When Your Prayer for Pain Relief Goes Unanswered
Check out the prayer resources, Bible verses, and tough questions tabs as well. There are many great options for your spiritual growth!
Knowing the right order of priorities is so important. When we first got married, my husband went to a conference and was told that church should be a higher priority then his wife….. Thankfully, we don’t worship the church but we worship God. He helps us in all our ways and helps us with our priorities.
Amen! It’s definitely hard for ministry families to find balance. But I think God’s word is clear that our marriage comes before ministry. If we’re neglecting our spouse we’re violating God’s clear commands in Eph.5. I don’t see a passage instructing pastors or ministry leaders to put the church before their wives. The marriage and family are always under attack from the enemy, and he seeks to destroy the home in an attempt to halt the work of the minister of the gospel and steal God’s glory. If anything, pastor’s and ministry leaders should give extra attention and care to their wives to avoid drama, discord, discontentment, and division, because that only hinders the work of the ministry.
I’m so glad you started everything off with prayer, so that you are doing everything through the Spirit and not the flesh. Prayer is vital for everything we do.
Absolutely!