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 #### Mark Batterson once wrote, *"If you don't control your calendar, your calendar will control you"*. 
#### Alan Lakein said, *"Time is life. It is irreversible and irreplaceable. To waste your time is to waste your life, but to master your time is to master your life and make the most of it."*
#### Scott Peck is credited with saying: *"Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it"*.
#### And i have heard a hundred preachers say, *"Show me your checkbook and your calendar, and I'll tell you what you value."*
#### I agree with all these statements. Leaders who don't  have control of their calendars will constantly be spinning out in the dirt without making much progress. Life seem frantic and hurried, yet it will be difficult to pinpoint what they are actually getting done. I'm not the king of time management, but I do live and die by my calendar. Everything that is important in my life goes on my calendar. However I refuse to be a slave to my calendar through the following vital keys which will also help you by the Holy Ghost:
####   1.    *Leave room for people and leave room for God*.        It is easy to fill up your calendar and not leave room for what God might bring along your path. Remember that there are no coincidence with God. Jesus was going to see Jairus's daughter but He was also touched by the woman with the issue of blood. Be flexible sometimes! This is just as important for Christian business leaders and everyone. Part of your calling as a follower of Jesus is to love and care for people and that begins with the people already in your life. Make room to ask your employees, for example, about their lives, dreams and their hurts.
####   2.    *Put* *"IMPORTANT PRIORITY ITEMS"* *on your calendar first*.    Just do an experiment with your trying to fill a jar (a bucket) with combination of big rocks and little stones. If you fill the jar with the little stone first, you will not be able to fill in very many big rocks in the bucket. However, if you fill it with all the big rocks first, then you can add many of the little stones in and around the big rocks. This applies to your daily lives: you must put priority things - *"IMPORTANT PRIORITY ITEMS"* (e.g time with your spouse and kids, vocation, strategic planning, and vision time) on the calendar first. Otherwise you'll never find time for those priorities...   
####   3.    *Stack your meetings*.    If it's within your control, try to schedule all your meetings on the same day or two each week. Stacking your meetings will keep you from getting bitter about meetings ruling your life, and it will leave you with a couple of days where your schedule is relatively open. If possible, try to fix many things in one day or two weekly.
####   4.    *Schedule your rest*.     If you don't plan for rest and renewal, it won't happen. My calendar will always fill up if i don't plan for some down time. I'm always amazed when I hear people say, *"I'm going to try to take a couple days off next week. I just have to see how the week goes."* What? Are you kidding? You can't wait for the right time to unwind or take a vocation with your family. It will never happen. Get the dates on the calendar months in advance. Always look at your schedule for busy season ahead. Make sure you plan sometime in the middle of those season to unwind.
####   5.    *Manage your travel schedule*.     Travel with your spouse if possible! If you don't travel, skip over this one. But many leaders have to be on the road. To avoid regretting later over your spouse or children, plan with them in mind. It's important for anyone who travels regularly to find the right amount that balances family, business and personal health.
####   6.    *Go home before the work is done*.    This is difficult whether you are in business or the church world. (In ministry , we convince ourselves that someone might go to hell if we go home too soon  When you go home before the work is done, it means you are leaving something really good behind. But you can't wait until your to-do list is complete or until the phone stops ringing before you head home to your family or to your bed. *The work is never finished. Just go home!* (Note: If you are a slacker, then please ignore this point. You actually shouldn't leave until your to-do list is done).
#### John Maxwell summed up calendar management this way: *"The key to becoming a more efficient leader isn't checking off all the items on your to-do list each day. It's in forming the habit of prioritizing your time so that you are accomplishing your important goals in an efficient manner"*.

## Thanks for reading
## Cheers