Top 5 New Year's Tips to Organizing Your Time

I hope and pray that everyone had a Blessed Thanksgiving. I've been praying for the families affected by the CT School shooting recently, as I know you are also praying. My heart is breaking for them, and I'm praying that God will comfort them and see them through this tragedy in their lives.

In this issue I have the "Top 5 New Year's Tips to Organizing Your Time", New Year's Ideas, 2013 Calendars, and More. Don't forget to check out the Free Christmas Activities (New Christmas Event Tickets, Certificates, & More) - Christmas is coming up soon!

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Contents-At-A-Glance

Top 5 New Year's Tips to Organizing Your Time
New Year's Ideas & 2013 Calendars
FreeChurchForms.com New Web Pages with New Forms
Shepherdbase (Church Membership Database) On Sale
FCF (Free Church Forms) CD
Church Office Package – Special Limited Offer
Free eBook - ”Top 10 Tips on How to Organize Your Office”
FreeChurchForms.com Table of Contents

Top 5 New Year's Tips to Organizing Your Time

Organizing and managing your precious time can be one of the smartest things you will ever do and will help relieve some of the stress your everyday routines in life.

Women in general, especially women who work in or from their home, are normally bombarded with requests for their time. We so often freely give away our own personal time to the lowest bidder. You have to learn to protect your time by being cautious about not letting appointments and responsibilities into your life that don't help you.

Here are the Top Five New Year's Tips to Organizing Your Time and will help you get a handle on the clutter throughout your life:

• 1. Making a Calendar Your Best Friend - You do not have to have a fancy system, just simply choosing a daily, weekly or monthly calendar that you will use consistently and that will work for you. You will have to allot 20 minutes/2 times a week to keep this calendar up to date and complete. Include time with kids, exercise, church, shopping, etc. Review you schedule daily so you don't overlook anything. Keep your calendar with you at all times.
• 2. Eliminate Distractions - Eliminating distractions as much as possible are a must in organizing your time. Only check your emails first thing in the morning - Don't check it throughout your day because this causes too many distractions and zaps your time before you know it. Most of the time, emails coming in throughout the day can wait till the end of the day or the next day. If you don't have to have your cell phone on you or at your desk then leave it in the other room. You don't realize how much time your cell phone will steal from you within 8 hours. When you book a project on your calendar, try your best to not let anything distract you during that allotted time.
• 2. Schedule Time for To-Dos and Also To-Bes - Include the places you need to go on your calendar, but also include and make time for all the things you need to do. Example: You are invited to a Christmas Party at church, you should allot time for buying gift, making appetizer, as well as getting ready for party itself. Once you assign time to everything you want and need to accomplish, you will know if you really can handle the busy schedule or not.
• 3. Break Down the Big Projects - Our lives are so busy and scattered that we so many times don't have the extra time to devote to complex projects. Don't worry, you can tackle the project by booking small pockets of time in stages (30 minutes) on your calendar. If you do this, before you know your complex projects will be accomplished a lot sooner than you would have ever expected.
• 4. Don't Book every Minute of Your Time - You definitely need free time for yourself and your family so don't book up every minute of your time. The goal is to keep your standard life manageable so you can handle the expected curveballs thrown at you without everything in your life falling apart. Assign start and end times to your tasks instead of writing out your to-do list and hoping for the best.
• 5. Forget about Perfection - Perfection is not a bad word, but can be stumbling block to managing your time. Perfectionists struggle most with organization because if they can't do it perfectly then they will not do it at all. Living in the middle is fine because you want to functional, organized and fun at the same time.

New Year's Ideas & 2013 Calendars

Here are some great ideas for making the New Year special for the church family:

• New Year’s Eve Watch Night Service – Hold a church service the night before the new year with different activities in different areas depending how big you want you such as: 1. Moonbounce – For smaller children if you are planning on outdoor activities. 2. Balloon Artists – Someone who can make hats, animals, etc. out of balloons. 3. Board Games – Ask people to bring their favorite board games, covering all ages. Place tables and chairs in one area (gymnasium, fellowship hall, etc.). Have a few extra games on hand to use, if necessary. 4. Videos – This is an important area of the church where the children could sit down and perhaps calm down. Have a variety of short Christian videos for children on hand such as Veggie Tales. 5. Restaurant – Set up small tables and chairs near the kitchen where adults and teens, in particular can just hang out and chat with each other. 6. Kid’s Corner – Put out the New Year’s arts and crafts material, including face paints. 7. Sports Games – If your church has a gymnasium, you can play some active sports games such as basketball or floor hockey. There are still many circle games and chasing games that can get rid of excess energy even if there is no sports equipment. 8. Talent Show – Organize a talent show that could include individual or family performances, serious or funny talents. After activities, then begin the preaching and at the end of service before 12 midnight have the whole congregation on their knees praying in the New Year.
• Church Memory Lane New Year’s Eve Watch Night Service – Have a PowerPoint of photos and church events throughout the previous year for everyone to see and enjoy and/or you can simply have a scrapbook available also full of photos and memories of the previous year. Be sure to include all the new members of the church from the previous year.

FreeChurchForms.com New Web Pages with New Forms

• New Year's 2013 Scriptural Calendar (Auto-Changing Year)

• New Year's Ideas & Church Planning

• Christmas Event Tickets

• Church Survey Examples (7)

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