“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” —Stephen Covey

A crazy busy November and December of holiday festivities left my blog sitting high and dry, and for that I apologize! And then, I don’t know about you, but I sneezed and before I could even close my eyes, we’re already approaching the end of January. While my Christmas tree and manger scene are still up, the stores are ready for Valentine’s Day. Worse yet, the 15k that I signed up for months ago (and had every intention to train for) is tomorrow!

My calendar often resembles a hamster wheel—same things just a new week, spinning me around . . . all while I daydream about a rabbit trail that will take me straight to an exotic Caribbean beach because everyone knows, “The answer might not be at the beach, but shouldn’t we at least check?!” Many of us are drawn to the “Salt Life” of the beach. We relish in the thought of determining our own schedule—or of chucking our schedule entirely—and enjoying the simplicity of life with just water, sand, and sun. The wardrobe is simple. The food is simple. The choices are simple. Life is simple.

What would a simple life look like? Merriam-Webster’s defines simple as “free from elaboration.” Well, that would work for me. I’ll do the comfortable cookout over a stuffy seven-course meal and wear leggings and a big shirt any day over office attire. Moving to the concept of simplicity as defined by Merriam-Webster is “the state of being simple, uncomplicated, or uncompounded.” Now that might have hit the nail on the head for me. How much of my complicated schedule is my own doing vs. what is simply required of me, ultimately, by God?

A wise and godly lady, Marie McLachlan, depicted for me how she would choose to do the thing that no one else could do when she was faced with a conflicted schedule. She did not intend for that to be a cop-out for service because she had an enormous heart for others. She simply intended the advice as a way to determine how to keep it simple. Those “things that no one else could do” may look different for all of us. In my home, it’s probably best that I cook the meals, but others could do the dishes, take out the trash, and change the oil. The extra nursery duty at church someone else can be blessed to do; however, my son does need clean clothes to wear and a ride home from school. Regarding editing, I can learn to more accurately estimate my time and calendar projects, leaving plenty of wiggle room for the inevitable distractions.

It’s often that wiggle room that wiggles right out of my slippery fingers though, compounding the busyness that leads to a relentless schedule and eventually to stress. So, what is the solution? Stephen Covey says, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” This approach has a way of instantly weeding out what I need to do vs. what may creep up that someone else can do right now.

The desire to take action brings me to the final derivative of simple in the verb form of simplify. According to Merriam-Webster again, simplify means “to diminish in scope or complexity.” The sign “Simplify” hangs above my door to the garage as I leave every day. Some days the bed gets made. Some weeks the dusting gets done. Hopefully the Christmas tree will come down this month. But resolutely, my chief goal for 2017 is to schedule my priorities with plenty of margin.