As the parent of a teenager, you’re in one of the busiest seasons of life. There are many demands for your time, and you may feel as if you can’t say no to any of them. Every request that comes your way has its own merit. And while you want to help out with many things, once you’ve invested your time, you may feel empty and wonder where your time really went.

When You Say Yes to One Thing, You’re Saying No to Something Else

You may think you have trouble saying no. However, when you say yes to one thing, you’re saying no to something else. Without realizing it, you may be saying no to things that have a lasting impact.

3 Ways to Be a Better Steward of Your Time

Being a good steward of your time is a matter of prioritization. Here are three ways to become a better steward of your time:

1. Assess how you currently use your time. We all have 168 hours in our week. How we use those hours is what really matters. Will we use our hours to make a difference in the lives of others, or just let them slip away, virtually unaccounted for?
   
   Occasionally, we say yes to things that consume our time and we never realize we said yes. Take social media and television, for example.
   
   Facebook gives us a great platform to keep in touch and share posts with our friends. But have you ever found that you’ve spent the last hour (or more) watching cat videos and taking personality tests (you know, the ones that tell you your old person name or what kind of flower you are)?
   
   Television’s the same way. Sometimes it’s relaxing to spend a few minutes in front of the TV. However, have you ever found that you’ve just watched your third rerun of Honey Boo-Boo and wondered how the time got away?
2. Budget your time. Our two greatest resources are our time and our money, and we should budget them both. John Maxwell says, “A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” It’s the same with your time. You’ll find that when you budget your time – assigning each hour a purpose – you’ll feel like you have more time in your day. And you won’t end up wondering where it went at the end of the week.
3. Prioritize your tasks. For years we’ve heard about two categories of tasks: the urgent and the important. The urgent tasks have a deadline associated with them, and often create the “whirlwind” in our day. Important tasks, on the other hand, contribute to our mission. Parents of teenagers often find themselves in the delicate balance between the urgent and the important. But what happens when you can’t fit everything in?
   
   Rory Vaden introduces a third category of tasks: the significant. Significant tasks have the potential to make a lasting impact. As the parent of a teenager, you have the opportunity to do something truly significant – the opportunity to impact the next generation.

How are you using your time? Will you say yes today to something significant? Will you commit to serving your child’s booster organization?

Question: What have you inadvertently said no to by saying yes to other things? You can leave a comment by clicking here.