4 Power-Packed Questions To Prepare You for a Productive 2017

I have chosen my one word for 2017.

Do you choose a word for each year?

My word for 2016 was “position,” and although I tend to be very critical of myself and my accomplishments, looking back, I feel I did quite well positioning myself to be more open to the Lord and to those around me.

But I feel that there is still so much more room for improvement.

I don’t know if you’re like me, but I find that I can do one or two things well. Add any more plates to this juggling act, and we have a mess on the floor.

But as a wife and mom who works at home and leads an online ministry, who is trying to get healthy and stay healthy—well, let’s just say that there are a lot of plates to spin here.

I know I can balance them all and balance them well. I just need to identify what are the priorities in each of these areas and then focus on them.

Here are some questions I’m asking myself this week.

1. What do I spend the majority of my time doing? Starting today, I will jot down everything I do during the day and how long I spend doing it. I want to account for every minute so I can see where I spend the majority of my time.

You see, I have a sneaking suspicion that I spend a lot of time doing mindless things that are really not important at all. The worst thing about these time- wasters is they prevent us from doing what’s important in a timely manner, so the time we could spend relaxing, we spend rushing around instead.

2. What is my “black hole”? We all have a black hole, and it’s the distraction we choose to engage in when we’re trying to avoid doing something we know we should do.

Actually, I know the answer to this question already: My Facebook timeline. Anytime I know I need to do something and I don’t want to do it, I distract myself by scrolling through my Facebook timeline. It’s time to kill my feed.

3. What are the top priorities in each area of my responsibilities? I will sit down and list the top three priorities in each area of responsibility I have and create actionable steps to make sure I accomplish them each day.

I think many times I don’t accomplish what is important because I am not even sure what is truly important.

How do we determine what is a priority and what is only just a really good idea? The answer is in our vision. What is the vision for our family? Our vision should act as a sieve to filter out what is not an actual priority.

4. Am I saying yes to those things God hasn’t meant for me to do? It is so easy to say yes to all of the good things that come our way without reflecting on whether or not we actually should take on these responsibilities.

In her book The Best Yes, Lysa TerKeurst explains that saying no to the good enables us to say yes to the best.

Sometimes, though, it isn’t clear to us whether or not this opportunity is a good yes or a best yes. That is why I created what I call “My Decision Pathway.”

This printable worksheet takes you through several questions that help you determine whether or not this opportunity is part of God’s plan for you or not.

• Are you weighed down by too much responsibility?
• Do you often feel stressed-out because you have too much to do?
• Is your family in a constant cycle of running around and never really getting anywhere?
• Are you facing a decision for which you are not sure how to answer?

The Decision Pathway worksheet is a three-step form that helps guide you through the process of making a decision that is in line with your personal and family vision and mission.

By asking leading questions that help you process whether or not this decision will help guide you to make decisions that promote your call, you will be able to easily identify those responsibilities that will end being deadweight on your life and prevent you from doing those things God has destined for you. {eoa} 

Rosilind Jukic, a Pacific Northwest native, is a missionary living in Croatia and married to her Bosnian hero. Together they live with their two active boys where she enjoys fruity candles, good coffee and a hot cup of herbal tea on a blustery fall evening. Her passion for writing led her to author her best-selling book The Missional Handbook. At A Little R & R she encourages women to find contentment in what God created them to be. You can also find her at Missional Call, where she shares her passion for local and global missions. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google +.