Leaders are often known more for what they don’t do as much as what they do.
The “To-Don’t” list is as important as our to-do list. I think I’ve read about every book on time management, attended many seminars and purchased too many apps purporting to help me with my to-dos. I think I need a to-do item to delete at least 10 of my time management apps.
Most of us are very intentional about to-do lists. We put a lot of thought into what needs to be done today, this week, or this year.
Last week, I started writing a “To-Don’t” list. Every morning, I write a Focus-On-5 list of five things I will not do today. Sometimes the list will include things that seem to sneak into my day and distract me from the divine appointments of the day.
Sometimes my “don’t” list will include what I will not eat. The list might include what I will not hear or read or receive.
More check marks appear on my “DO” list if I keep focused on my “don’t” list.
There is a big “don’t” I’m trying to conquer. Perhaps you will share my pain and pray for me.
I want to stop referring to my smartphone during meetings or chats with co-workers.
I can’t imagine what my momma would say to me if she caught me doing that. She would start with “How rude,” then remind me about how I wasn’t raised that way and proceed to refer to a hickory switch. Is there a 12-Step program for smartphone addiction?
I think it would be sweet if I knocked off phone referral during time with my wife as well. Nothing should distract me from her.
My time in church would be improved if I would leave my phone out of the sanctuary. I’ve learned, if I take my phone with me, it is an absolute certainty that I will worship IT during the service. I will not take my phone to church!
The Holy Spirit has a powerful way of saying “KNOCK IT OFF!”
And that’s why I have a “don’t” list.
Consider these “to-don’ts”:
“You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself any graven idol, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water below the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them who hate Me, and showing lovingkindness to thousands of them who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain” (Ex. 20:3-7).
“You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (Ex. 20:13-17).
