Download Time Management Why Time Management Matters One of the greatest hindrances to our walks with God is poor time management. Many of us genuinely want to spend scheduled alone time with Jesus each day, but we don’t. We plan to read Scripture, pray, and listen for what God is speaking, but somehow the day gets away from us. Does this sound familiar? You intended to start your day with Jesus... but you stayed up late hanging out with friends, scrolling TikTok or Instagram, or maybe studying into the early morning. You sleep through your alarm, roll out of bed at the last possible second, and rush to class. When you make it back home, you're either exhausted and need a nap or jumping straight into homework. Your mind is racing with everything on your to-do list, and stopping to be still with God feels almost impossible. It’s not that you don’t care and don’t want to spend time with Jesus. The problem is that your schedule (or lack thereof) has taken control of your life. But imagine this: you start each day unhurried, grounded in God’s Word. You show up to class present and peaceful. You don’t feel behind all the time. You’re able to attend Core Group and MNL without guilt. You take a Sabbath on the weekend and truly feel rested. That’s what we want for you. This resource will give you a few simple tools and frameworks that you can use to help you build that kind of life! Quadrants of Time Management Before we get practical with some tools for time management, it helps to understand why our time often feels out of control. One simple framework, the Quadrants of Time Management, divides everything we do into four categories: urgent and important, not urgent but important, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important. Most of us live in the extremes—either in crisis mode, constantly reacting to what’s due next (urgent and important), or in escape mode, numbing out with social media or distractions (not urgent, not important). But the goal is to build our lives around the important but not urgent—things like spending time with Jesus, planning ahead, resting well, and growing intentionally. Below are descriptions of each of the four quadrants. As you read over them, take a moment to reflect and consider which quadrants you spend the most time in. Quadrant 1 : Tasks that demand immediate attention and truly matter, like crises that may come up or a project that is due tomorrow. Many important activities become urgent as a result of procrastination or poor planning. This quadrant creates a ton of stress, saps your energy, and leads to burnout. Quadrant 2 : This is where you build a healthy, purposeful life. It includes working on assignments ahead of time, resting well, spending time with Jesus, and investing in relationships. This quadrant increases your peace, productivity, and long-term fruitfulness, but it’s often the most neglected. Quadrant 3 : Things that feel urgent but don’t really matter. These distractions, like responding to group texts or unimportant requests, steal your focus. Learning to say “no” here allows you to prioritize what matters more. Quadrant 4 : Mindless time-wasters like endless scrolling, binge-watching, or lying in bed “rotting.” These activities offer short-term relief, especially when you’re overwhelmed, but too much time here leads to feeling disconnected, discouraged, and stuck. The goal for our time management is to live in Quadrant 2! Living here will: Make your life much less stressful Enable you to thrive as a student, friend, leader, etc. Help your walk with God be more consistent. You’ll no longer be trying to squeeze God in, but able to intentionally walk with Him daily, allowing Him to shape your entire life! But if your time management is a mess, you will struggle to live that kind of life, no matter how much you would like to . So how do we start living more consistently in Quadrant 2? Here are some tools! Anchor Times If you want to live an anchored life—with real devotion to Jesus, real community with others (where you’re committed to Core Group and MNL), and real Kingdom responsibility—it won’t happen by accident. You need anchor times: the fixed, pre-decided parts of your day that keep your schedule aligned with your priorities and keep you anchored in your rhythms. Setting anchor times is what we call a pre-choice, a decision you make before the moment comes . Instead of waiting to see how you feel or what comes up, you’ve already decided what matters most. Pre-choices reflect your values ahead of time, so you’re not constantly scrambling, reacting, or letting the urgent crowd out the important. Here are two of the most powerful (and neglected) anchors of your day: 1. Wake up time I know, this one’s tough, but your morning is one of the most important times in your entire day. It sets your mindset, your pace, and your spiritual posture. To determine your wake up time, start by asking yourself: When is my first class or meeting of the day? What time do I need to be there? How much time do I need to saturate in God’s Word, presence, and love before I start my day? How long does it take to eat, shower, and commute before my first class/meeting? Now, take those answers and build your morning backward. Start with the time you need to be out the door (or in class), and subtract the time it takes for each of those things: time with God, getting ready, eating, commuting, etc. The result? That’s your wake-up time! Pro tip: make sure it’s realistic. You might need to speed up your shower or simplify your breakfast to preserve unhurried time with Jesus without forcing yourself to wake up at an impossible hour. 2. Bedtime The other most powerful anchor time is your bedtime. Sometimes people act like running on no sleep is impressive, but it’s actually unsustainable. You might be able to run on empty for a day, but not for a week. Without sleep, your health, focus, relationships, and ability to hear from God all suffer. It has been said, “A great devotional time with the Lord starts the night before.” If you want your mornings with Jesus to be consistent and unhurried, it begins with the choices you make the night before. Ask yourself: How much sleep do I need to feel well-rested? Based on when I need to wake up and how many hours of sleep I need, when should I go to bed? Time Blocking Setting anchor times creates a strong foundation, and our next tool, time blocking, fills in the rest of your schedule with intention and structure. Imagine this scenario: you get home from class in the afternoon and you’re tired. You don’t feel like studying and you don’t have anything planned until dinner, so you spend the next three hours of “free time” taking a nap, going down the YouTube rabbit hole, or doom-scrolling on Instagram or TikTok. All the while, your assignments are piling up, and your anxiety is too! Now imagine this: at the start of each week, you take some time to list out your upcoming homework, tests, papers, and problem sets. Then, you schedule specific times on your calendar to work on each one. When that time comes, you simply do the task—no last-minute scrambling, no wondering when you’ll get it done. Time blocking is a method of planning your day by assigning each hour to a specific task, activity, or category of work. You’re giving every hour a name before it arrives . It’s a practical way to make pre-choices. To do it, you’ll need a calendar with hourly time slots. We strongly recommend using a digital calendar , like Google Calendar, to keep your week organized. A digital calendar makes it easy to drag and adjust time blocks as things change, it’s always accessible, and you can set reminders so nothing slips through the cracks. Once your digital calendar is ready, start by blocking out your anchor times, your fixed commitments that don’t change — your wake-up time, bedtime, and devotional time, as well as things like classes, labs, work shifts, MNL, and Core Group. Next, look at what academic work is coming up: exams, papers, readings, problem sets, etc. Instead of just hoping you’ll get to it, assign each task a specific block in your week. For example, if you have a test covering four chapters, you might schedule time to review one chapter a day, then assign time the day before to review them all. If a problem set usually takes six hours, break it into two-hour chunks across three days. If there are weekly office hours for a class you’re struggling with, put those on your calendar and make sure you go and ask your professor for help. Be sure to leave some margin in your schedule—time to get from place to place, take a short break, or adjust if something runs long . Time blocking removes the stress of last-minute work and gives you confidence that everything has its place. Green, Yellow, and Red Hours When you time block your week, it’s smart to take your energy levels into account, not just your availability . That’s where this next concept comes in. We all have green, yellow, and red hours. Green hours are when you’re mentally sharp and productive. You’ll want to use your green hours for your hardest tasks, like writing papers, studying for exams, or working on problem sets. Yellow hours are when you still have some fuel in the tank, but you aren’t at your best. They are good for lighter work, like reading assignments, organizing your notes, or creating flashcards. Red hours are your lowest-energy times, when it’s hard to focus and think clearly. Save those times for going to the gym, hanging with friends, or resting. Putting It All Together When you make pre-choices, set anchor times, and time block your week around your energy and priorities, you are going to notice a big difference! These tips won’t fix all your problems, but you’ll likely feel less stressed and more present in your classes, relationships, and with the Lord. We want you to be able to live your life in Quadrant 2! At first, planning like this may feel rigid and limiting. It is true that you may have to say “no” to some things, but planning ahead can give you more freedom. When you’re disciplined during the day, you can say a confident “yes” to rest, spontaneity, and time with your community in the evenings. By choosing to manage your time well, you’re choosing to live fully — present with God, stewarding your studies well, engaged in your community, and investing in your spiritual formation. Questions for Discussion What’s one part of your current schedule that feels out of control or misaligned with your priorities? Which quadrant do you spend most of your time in, and how can you live more in Quadrant 2? Will you take 30 minutes to time block your calendar this week? When? What do you want to make sure gets scheduled first? Who in your life could help you stay accountable to the rhythms you want to build (wake up time, bedtime, devotional time, etc.?

Download Friendship “Friendship is the ultimate end of our existence and our highest source of happiness. Friendship—with one another and with God—is the supreme pleasure of life, both now and forever…” –Drew Hunter, Author and Pastor For centuries, the Church fathers, ancient philosophers, and theologians have all agreed that friendship is a necessary component of living life to the full. Intentional friendship is defined as friendship mutually governed by Godly (agape) love and is a reflection of his devotion and character. The Bible is filled with great examples of extraordinary friendships involving personal sacrifice, deep intimacy, and incredible joy. Unfortunately, though, our culture is quickly losing the value of friendship. It has become a button on a social media page or a means to climb the social ladder. We all crave deep connections but have lost the art of finding and cultivating true and lasting friendships. Below is a guide meant to help remedy this problem; it also has several questions throughout for you to reflect on as you read. We often think that friendship just happens, but as Drew Hunter demonstrates, in order to recapture the art of friendship, it will take wisdom, work, and a bit of weeding. By doing so, we can restore the profound joy and deep connections that authentic friendships bring to our lives. Wisdom 1. Give Your Friends a Promotion The first bit of wisdom begins by dispelling a common myth about friendship: you are too busy. When friendships falter, it's often due to unbalanced priorities. While homework, your internship, and rest are essential, overemphasizing them can crowd out time for intentional friendships. We always find time for what we truly value, so it's worth examining how we spend our leisure time and considering if we can allocate some of it to nurturing friendships. Prioritizing friends may require sacrificing other enjoyable activities. If someone looked at how you spent your time this past week (where you were, what you did, who you spent time with), what five things would they conclude are most important to you? How highly do your friendships rank? 2. Take a Dose of Realism A second myth about friendship is that we can have a lot of close friends. Since deep friendships require significant time, it's unrealistic to maintain close bonds with everyone. Trying to do so can result in having no close friends at all. Most people we call friends are actually acquaintances. It's important to value these acquaintanceships without feeling guilty about having only a few deep relationships. Meaningful friendships will naturally form with only a small percentage of the people we know. Jesus exemplifies this. He had an especially intimate bond with John, often referred to as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Jesus also prioritized his relationship with Peter, James, and John, revealing a bit of his divine nature to them at the Transfiguration. Beyond these, Jesus had the twelve disciples with whom he spent considerable time; living alongside and teaching them. This tiered approach to relationships shows that even Jesus, God incarnate, prioritized deeper connections with a few while still maintaining meaningful, albeit less intimate, relationships with many. Why is it unrealistic to try to maintain close bonds with many people, and how can this effort actually hinder the development of meaningful friendships? Reflect on the example of Jesus' relationships and think about how you can discern and prioritize your own deeper connections. 3. Realign your Expectations Friendship requires flexibility in how we perceive and manage relationships. Not everyone has the same expectations for a friendship; when these expectations conflict, they can lead to incredible pain and strife. Let's use an analogy. Picture yourself driving down a multi-lane highway, and each lane represents different levels of relationship. We may see someone as a close friend (in our passenger seat), but they might not feel the same way and think of us in their left lane instead. Adjusting our expectations to match theirs is crucial to maintaining the friendship without forcing them to conform to our views. Conversely, if someone sees us as a close friend, even if we initially don't feel the same, we can choose to embrace and honor their perspective. Friendships evolve over time, with people moving between lanes or exiting the highway altogether. This fluidity doesn't negate the commitment inherent in friendships but reflects their dynamic nature, allowing for changes and growth. These changes can be difficult, but recognizing that they are normal can lead to healthy expectations and more joy-filled relationships. Reflect on a time when you and a friend had different expectations for your relationship. How did this difference impact your friendship, and what steps did you take (or could you have taken) to adjust your expectations and maintain the relationship? Work 1. Talk Face-to-Face Friendships thrive through meaningful conversations, especially face-to-face. Unhurried, in-person dialogues are invaluable; as John Calvin noted, “If only he lived close by, a three-hour talk would exceed a hundred letters.” While text messages sustain friendships, phone calls bring us closer by conveying more of our personality, and nothing beats the completeness of face-to-face interactions. In his letters, the apostle John writes, “Though I have much to write to you…I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face-to-face so that our joy may be complete” (2 John 12; 3 John 13-14). Conversations should be open and honest, with trusted friends having access to our deeper, more personal truths. Effective communication involves both asking thoughtful questions and actively listening. Friendships suffer if one person dominates the conversation or if there is a lack of engagement. The best friendships balance serious discussions with light-hearted moments, ensuring a mix of levity and gravity. Think about a recent face-to-face conversation you had with a friend. How did this interaction compare to your typical text or phone conversations in terms of depth and connection? What did you notice about the value of in-person dialogue? What practical ways can you pursue more face-to-face time with friends? 2. Do Things Side-by-Side Friendships flourish through shared experiences and spending time together. To build such experiences, invite friends into your existing activities, like watching shows, walking, or shopping. Creating regular rhythms, such as biweekly coffee or weekly dinners, helps maintain these connections. When regularity is challenging, spontaneity and sacrifice can sustain friendships. Ultimately, the essence of friendship lies in being together, regardless of the activity. Think about a recent shared experience you had with a friend. How did participating in an activity together impact your relationship? What did you learn about your friend or yourself during this time? Consider the idea of creating regular rhythms, such as biweekly coffee or weekly dinners. What regular activities could you establish with your friends to maintain consistent connections? How would these routines fit into your current schedule? 3. Encourage From the Heart Encouragement is vital for sustaining friendships, akin to oxygen for the soul. Like thin air at high altitudes, relationships suffer without affirmation and encouragement while thriving in an atmosphere thick with support. The apostle Paul exemplifies this practice, often affirming individuals in his letters. Although initially uncomfortable, affirming others becomes more natural over time and can transform relational cultures. Written notes are particularly powerful tools for encouragement, providing ongoing support and affirmation, and you can return to and reread them at any time. Think about a time when you received encouragement from a friend. How did it impact your relationship and your personal well-being? What specific aspects of their encouragement were most meaningful to you? Reflect on your own habits of affirming and encouraging others. How comfortable are you with giving genuine affirmation? What steps can you take to make this practice a more natural and regular part of your interactions? Weeding Once we've applied wisdom and put in the necessary work, we must address detrimental elements in our friendships. Like weeding a garden, we must also uproot negative influences to maintain the health of our relationships. 1. Burden Be mindful of inconsiderate behavior in friendships. Proverbs warns against actions that can burden rather than uplift. “ Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning will be counted as cursing (27:14). Such gestures, while well-intentioned, may have bad timing and be perceived as inconsiderate. Also, avoid causing friendship fatigue by not overwhelming friends with excessive time together. “Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house lest he have his fill of you and hate you (25:17).” While spending significant time with friends is important, smothering them can lead to resentment. 2. Gossip Gossip is a poison within friendships, capable of easily dismantling the trust painstakingly built over time and ruining relationships. Proverbs cautions that even the faintest whisper can drive a wedge between the closest of friends (16:28). Such talk corrodes the very essence of friendship by sowing seeds of doubt and apprehension, making people wary of sharing their innermost thoughts and feelings. Indeed, the cornerstone of authentic friendship lies in the sacred trust shared between friends—a bond forged through years of shared experiences, vulnerabilities, and confidences. To breach this trust through gossip is to cause incredible harm and fracture connections that are difficult to mend. 3. Self-focus Every behavior that chokes out true friendships stems from a focus on oneself rather than on fostering healthy relationships. A self-centered attitude leads to a tendency to dwell on how others have wronged us rather than reflecting on our own shortcomings. True friendship requires a posture of repentance, where we acknowledge and address our own faults. By extending grace to our friends and accepting imperfection, we create an environment where authentic friendships can flourish. Which of the three relational weeds do you see most prevalent in your life (burden, gossip, or self-focus)? What are some ways you can uproot it? Relevant Scriptures : Deuteronomy 13:6 1 Samuel 18:1-4 Proverbs 16:28; 25:17; 27:14 John 15:15 2 John 12 3 John 13-14 Recommended Reading: Made For Friendship by Drew Hunter Made for People by Justin Whitmel Earley No Greater Love by Rebecca McLaughlin