It's 9:15am and you're already 15 minutes late for an important meeting. You just can't find your house keys just to lock up and be on your way. Your heart's racing, you're muttering things that do not make sense even to you, and you're tossing cushions about like you're auditioning for the Olympic pillow-throwing team. Then you find them. In your pocket. Where they've been all along.
We've all been there, haven't we? (If you haven't, I both admire and slightly resent you.)
This is what happens when we don't have systems in place. When we don't identify what needs organising and then actually organise it.
Let's go back to Genesis for a moment. Before God created Adam and Eve, before He created humans to run about making a mess of things. He spent time organising. Genesis 1:4-5 tells us, "And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night." He didn't just create light and darkness and leave them to sort themselves out. He separated them. Organised them. Gave them boundaries.
Now, I don't know about you, but I find it rather comforting that the Almighty Himself took time to organise before diving into the more complex bits of creation. If organisation is important to God, perhaps it should be important to us too?
So, what in your life needs better management? Let's identify some common culprits, shall we?
Your Time
Ah, time. That slippery little thing that somehow manages to evaporate faster than a puddle in the Sahara.
Psalm 90:12 says, "So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Essentially, the Bible is telling us to be intentional with our time because it's limited. Spend them on things that are fulfilling and purpose driven rather than endless scrolls on you know what you endlessly scroll on.
Have you ever sat down to do "just five minutes" of scrolling on social media, only to emerge an hour later, having somehow aged physically while simultaneously becoming less intelligent? Stop That! There is a very profound saying from the Buddha,
"The problem is that you think you have time"
If that does not move you I really envy your immortality.
Studies from the University of California found that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus after being distracted. So those "quick checks" of your phone add up to hours of lost productivity.
Take a moment now and track where your time actually goes. Apps like RescueTime can help, though fair warning: the results might make you want to hurl your phone into the nearest body of water. I once discovered there's people who actually spend 14 hours in a week watching videos of people crushing and chewing food items AKA ASMR VIDS. Come on people! FOURTEEN HOURS add 23 mins 15 sec for each hour of distraction there and you have a full day and night. You could literally learn conversational Spanish in that time. Or at least how to say, "Paso demasiado tiempo en internet" which literally means I waste too much time on the internet.
Your Workspace
Whether it's your desk, your kitchen table, or that one corner of the sofa that isn't occupied by laundry waiting to be folded (it's been there so long it probably qualifies for squatter's rights), your workspace affects your mindset.
Proverbs 24:27 advises, "Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house." Even the Bible is telling you to sort out your workspace before getting down to business!
A 2011 study in The Journal of Neuroscience found that cluttered environments actually compete for your attention, reducing your working memory and ability to focus. So that pile of papers you keep meaning to sort? It's literally stealing your brain power.
Your Finances
Money, money, money. Must be funny. In a rich man's world. (Sorry, got a bit ABBA there.)
"Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds."Proverbs 27:23, Unless you're an actual shepherd readings this from some mountain in the farms, your "flocks" and "herds" are probably your bank accounts, savings, and investments.
Do you know the state of your finances? And I don't mean the general sense of, "Well, I'm not completely broke because I know I might have a few hundred rands." I mean truly knowing what's coming in, what's going out, and where it's all going.
I used to avoid checking my bank balance like it was an ex at a wedding. I'd just spend until the card stopped working, then panic. It was about as effective a financial strategy as using lottery tickets as your retirement plan.
But then I started using a budgeting app. Nothing fancy, just something to track incomings and outgoings. It's called a spreadsheet by the way. It was like putting on glasses after years of squinting. "Oh, so THAT'S where all my money goes! Turns out I don't have a money problem; I have a 'buying lunch out every day and subscribing to seventeen streaming services I never watch' problem." Oh, and I'm an alcoholic as well. "Hi, my name is Mfundo and I am an alcoholic", now I'm just imagining this quote popping up on a headline one day when I'm running for Mayor with my opponent claiming we can't have and addict and alcoholic in power. No people I am neither, I just like some good humor in literature that's all.
Your Sleep Schedule
Sleep. That thing we all claim we want more of, yet actively avoid like it's a distant relative who wants to tell us about their bunion problems.
Psalm 127:2 , "It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep." Essentially, God's saying, "Go to bed, you idiot. That Netflix series will still be there tomorrow."
A study by the Sleep Foundation found that adults who maintain regular sleep schedules report better mental health and mood than those with irregular patterns. Yet here we are, binge-watching shows until 2 AM on a Tuesday, then wondering why we feel like death warmed up the next day.
So last night my cousin was here, and still is actually sleeping. I say goodnight to him at like 22:10, and he's like are you sleepy already? Then I'm like no I'm sleeping. See that's the thing about systems, you do not have to sleep because you are sleepy or eat because you are hungry or exercise because you are now fat and can't afford to climb one flight of stairs (okay I think that's a bit over the line, I might get cancelled some day for this, I'm just joking cancelling community), what I mean is systems allow you to get things done when you say it's time to get things done.
I used to be the world's worst for this. "Just one more episode," I'd say at midnight. Cut to 3 AM, and I'm deep into documentaries about people who live in abandoned missile silos or something equally obscure. Then I'd drag myself through the next day like a zombie with a hangover, wondering why I couldn't focus on anything.
Now I set an alarm not to wake up, but to go to bed. Well not really an alarm, Apple users will understand it's called sleep in the health app. It sounds ridiculous, I know. But at 10 PM every night, my phone cheerfully reminds me to put itself down and go to sleep. The irony isn't lost on me.
Your Relationships
This one's a bit trickier to quantify, but no less important.
Proverbs 13:20 advises, "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." The Bible is essentially giving us the original "you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with" advice millennia before Jim Rohn made it famous.
Take a moment to consider the relationships in your life. Are they life-giving or life-draining? Do they build you up or tear you down?
Dr. Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist, theorises that humans can maintain about 150 meaningful relationships at once, with an inner circle of about 5-15 close friends. Yet social media has us trying to keep up with hundreds or thousands of "friends." Mhm thank you Mark Zuckerburg and friends from Meta, you guys really matter!
Honestly Life's too short for relationships that leave you feeling like you've been emotionally mugged.
So, What Now?
Identifying what needs organising is the first step. Actually organising it is the next. And that, my friends, is a topic for another day. (Cliffhanger! Hollywood, call me.)
For now, I want you to grab a notebook or open a new note on your phone. Write down these five areas: Time, Workspace, Finances, Sleep, and Relationships. Under each, jot down one small thing you could do today right now, even to bring a bit more order to that area. Then you can go back to your bad old habits tomorrow ookay.
Maybe it's setting a 20-minute timer for social media. Perhaps it's clearing off just one corner of your desk. It could be downloading a budgeting app, setting that bedtime alarm, or sending a message to a friend you've been meaning to catch up with.
Remember Luke 16:10: "The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones." Start small. Be consistent. And watch as God begins to trust you with greater things.
Because if you want God's best, you've got to identify the mess.
Now, I'm off to organise my schedule for the day. Or maybe I'll just scroll through Facebook for "five minutes" first...let's organise people! I'm even thing of starting an organisation now for organising things I'm going to call it the Organisation Organisation check out my website called org.org in 2 months. Oh wait, it already exists and this is what they have up on their site.
This is What we Do Now!
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