I often think on goals and end of year projects that loom large as we start to close out the year. At times it can be so daunting and so overwhelming to think on what I haven’t gotten to that I loose sight of how to move forward. How much of your time, energy and focus is spent on thinking about the things that are not finished? We were handed the completion of creation from God himself. It is our job. It was given to us even before sin entered the world, as a gift. We were made to compete things. The culmination of creation ended with us, so when we are not completing things it bothers us on a much deeper level than some of us are even aware of. We are going against the very nature of what we were made for. So why then does the task of completing things sometimes feel more like punishment than a gift?

Philippians 3:14

¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus

Before sin life was not overwhelming. Think about that for a minute. How incredible it must have been to not have the tasks ahead of Adam everyday not be daunting but complete perfection. We all live in a fallen world now and will forever battle the submerged feelings of our tasks at times but, there are many ways to managing overwhelm, clutter, breakdowns and burnout. Carey Nieuwhof writes about time management in his recent book and I highly enjoyed it as an expert and coach on time management myself. He talks about zone-ing out your days and planning every minute. Very similar to the Dave Ramsey theory on how every dollar has a spot. There is no “extra” or blank spots.

Brendon Burchard is a High Performance Coach and one of the top sought after. He describes habits and what makes some people more productive and influential than others. A clarity of vision and structure of necessity being key propionates to this philosophy. David Allen talks strongly about how having undone things actually creates a horrible cycle and puts us in a freeze, flight, or fight state at all times. Similar to the KonMari method in decluttering, he believe’s undone projects create clutter in our mind.

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I like to combine and simplify all this because honestly if you are dealing with overwhelm and too many projects, schedules, and tasks in the air who has the band width to read and do all this? Here are the questions to ask and the things to do:

• When are you a person of excellence?
• What makes a better day?
• What makes you “press on” Despite certain things and not for others?

The answer to all three questions is easy. It is when you have energy and passion. Some times you can knock out five projects and sometimes two seems daunting.

So the number one question to ask yourself is, How can you create more energy for yourself and maintain it? Not how can I rearrange my schedule or zone my time or clarify my priorities or fold my jeans to make it pretty but How do I create more energy for the life I have now and the life I want tomorrow? Period.

Some of us know the answer instantly, others of us need a notebook to write the ideas down. Clear out and check in. How is your mental space? What about your physical spaces? Car, Office, Closets, Garage, Bedrooms. Ask about your emotional capacity and spiritual wellness as well.

Look at calendars and organize reminder’s for check-ins, not on your time, or your money, or your kids but, on your energy. If you know your swamped and busy this week are you planning down time next week to recover and recharge? If you push a project out where is it going and when is it going to be done and why do it at all?

By doing this one thing you find you are able to complete and generate passion and productivity. More than that you complete things. Which is what we were made for!