Every minute we have is a gift from God, therefore, how we use those minutes should be thoughtful and wise.

So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Often I will find myself with a short period of time on my hands and I wonder to myself,

What should I do?

Our default (or at least mine is) is to pull out your phone and check things like e-mail, messages, Instagram or Pinterest. I get so frustrated at myself for wasting time!! It is my choice how I will spend it. I stop short and realize there are other more productive and fulfilling things I could do.

There are so many activities, hobbies or chores that only take a few minutes to accomplish, and so I’ve set my mind to make a list and then I made it a note on my phone, so that the next time I find I have a little free time, I can go right to the list and get something productive done.

Here are some of the items on my list…then a translation for how this could work for you!

1. Iron an outfit I’ll need later in the week. This will save me time one morning later in the week! You might also prepare your husband’s or your children’s clothes for the next day
2. Write a card. Birthday, anniversary, thank you, thinking of you, sympathy, or get-well are all occasions in which I check to see who could use a note. Look ahead and get that birthday card for your mother-in-law addressed and ready to stick in the mail in a few days!
3. Make a card. This is a hobby I enjoy. I’ll sit down and make a few of the same kind of card, so they’re ready when I need them. Sometimes a little hobby in the middle of a busy day is just the respite you need! Play the instrument you haven’t touched in forever, pick up the knitting or quilting you started and haven’t completed, rearrange the items on a shelf or mantle. Just do something creative for a few minutes!
4. Start a blog post. Even just uploading my photos onto WordPress helps when I go to write the post later on. Is there an email you need to answer? Do you need to work for a few minutes on delteing pictures from your phone?
5. Straighten a drawer. There are always drawers that need to be tidied, so I’ll work on one or two at a time. Check the drawers in the kitchen and bathroom, along with the dressers.
6. Discard Items. I pull unwanted/unused items from a closet and pile them into a donate pile. Work on one small space. Look for – Unused books on the shelf, Cookbooks in the kitchen, Old undergarments that need to be pitched or Toys your kids have outgrown.
7. Make up dough. It is so fast to throw cookie ingredients into my Kitchenaid mixer and get dough ready for the fridge or freezer. When I have time later, the dough is ready for me pull out the dough and bake them. Mix up the most simple recipe with ingredients you have on hand. Roll it in a log and freeze!
8. Make a pie crust – This is another quick baking job that is done in about 10 minutes and makes it so convenient for me later when I want to pour a filling inside and make dessert. If you don’t make pie crust, consider bread dough or pizza crusts. (this recipe can be frozen after you mix up the dough!)
9. Remove nail polish – Even if I don’t have time to re-polish them, just getting the polish off my nails and prepping the nail surface will help me later when I do have time to paint them again. If you don’t polish your nails, take this time to file and clip your nails.
10. Take a power nap! I’ll set my timer on my phone and sleep for ten minutes. It’s amazing how refreshed I feel! Do it!

Look at what just a few minutes did for my dressing table drawer…

My husband reminds me all the time that I don’t always have to be doing something productive, but lots of those things on my list are not laborious. They’re easy and fast, and will ultimately make another task easier when it’s time to do it. It takes account of the warning in Proverbs 24 ~

A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest;
So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

What do you do when you have a few minutes on your hands?

Refresh yourself in a Bible-preaching church this weekend. You need them and they need you! I say that every Friday, don’t I? It’s on purpose!