The Power of the Timer

I've learned a lot from timers over the past decade or so. As a mom, when I see a messy floor or unfinished chores, I am tempted to say, "Clean up that floor!" or "Finish your chores!" My husband Pete has taught me a valuable lesson in patience by using a timer. When he sees a kid mess or unfinished chores, he says, "Hey, kids, I'm going to set the timer for ten minutes. When the timer goes off, get your chores done." It really helps kids to have some time to transition from reading a book or watching TV to the task, rather than to expect them to immediately jump from leisure time to chores in a single bound.

Recently, I've learned something else about the power of setting a timer and I learned it from a couple of my clients. I have one client who gave herself the assignment of spending fifteen minutes per day in prayer for a week. She is so busy, it's difficult to schedule this time, but she sets an alarm to remind herself to pray and then sets the timer for fifteen minutes to pray while she's outside gardening. It works for her and she accomplishes to goals at once--prayer and gardening. I have another client who set the goal of tackling piles of clutter for thirty minutes a day. She sets her timer and when the timer goes off, she's done. She feels a sense of accomplishment as the clutter is steadily diminishing from her house and she doesn't feel guilty about ending her cleaning session after the timer goes off. When she's done, she's done until the following day. Brilliant!

That's all. I just thought I'd share with you what I've seen working well for other people. Perhaps it will inspire you to set your timer and get a little much-needed prayer or work done in your day.