Time Cabinet

A new year always gives rise to a flood of self-help posts and organizing tips for decluttering our homes and lives. I’d like to go a step further and encourage you to rethink how you spend your time. It just might be time to do some purging in this area as well.

I like to visualize the ways I spend my extra time as being stored in a filing cabinet. In the top drawer are things that profit me and are edifying and help me in my walk. In the middle drawer are things that don’t profit me but are not harming me. In the bottom drawer are things that don’t profit me and are harming me. I purposely chose the term “extra time” because it is a given that if you are a wife and mother, you need to spend time doing those things well. This exercise is for those after hours when we get to choose how our time is spent. 

Let’s take a look inside each of these time drawers and examine the contents carefully.

In the top drawer are things that profit me and are edifying and help me in my walk. This metaphorical drawer is for things that are beneficial. Things in this category might include going to church, reading a book on Christian living, watching an interview by a Christian author, or seeing a Christian movie. All of these things are good choices for how I could spend my time.  They are edifying options and can help me in my walk with the Lord. A few good examples that you may want to put in your top drawer include Nick Vujicic’s book Life Without Limbs or watching interviews by Kirk Cameron on YouTube. These types of activities are motivational, scripture-focused, and beneficial to me. They will help me grow closer to the Lord and live out my purpose.

In the middle drawer are things that don’t profit me but are not harming me. The middle drawer includes things that are not beneficial but won’t hurt me. Things in this category could include “day in the life” videos of others. They aren’t bad for me, but they don’t really offer anything beneficial that will help me. In fact, they can keep me from doing something more productive with my time (unless they are related to the life I actually live now such as homeschooling or homesteading blogs, books, or videos). Something else found in this drawer could be Christian light romance fiction novels.  They are not bad for me, but they really aren’t adding any beneficial elements to my life. Sure, if they are Christian fiction, they probably mention God or may even have a moral, but truly these books are more meant for my entertainment. And while entertainment is okay, I don’t want too many of these things getting stored in my middle drawer on a regular basis; maybe just once in a while. If I find that the romance novels make me wistful for something other than what God has given me, I may need to put them in the bottom drawer.

In the bottom drawer are things that don’t profit me and are harming me. The bottom drawer is for things that are not beneficial and are actually bad for me. For example, there are countless numbers of videos online that contain coarse jesting and memes that even make fun of Jesus and the Bible. Those kinds of things are not beneficial; meaning they do not add any valuable takeaways and they are actually bad for me. Garbage in, garbage out, right? Scrolling through social media reels can often be classified as bottom drawer material. Some other examples of things in this drawer might be secular movies that have profanity, secular adult themes, and cursing.

It might be time to declutter your time cabinet. Get rid of things that are in the bottom drawer.  Limit the things that are in the middle drawer. Fill up the top drawer with things that are both beneficial and will help you in your walk with the Lord and your service to Him. 

Remember, we were created with purpose. Our lives should not be focused on our personal entertainment or self-care. If we truly love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then we need to be living with the intention that we want to do everything we can to bring honor to the Lord and help direct others to see His goodness and the gospel.

This life of surrender is not for the faint of heart, but I believe we are all capable of rolling up our sleeves and setting our minds and time on things above. Ephesians 5:15-16, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (ESV

About the Author:

Kathy A. Hutto is a degreed educator with over twenty-five years of experience teaching and homeschooling. She has written over two hundred resources for kids and families. Her articles have appeared in Lifeway’s Journey magazines, Lifeway Kids, The Old Schoolhouse® magazines, Christian Living in the Mature Years magazine, and more. She has appeared on popular Podcasts including, Write Where You Are, Women Living Well, Coffee and Bible Time, and Schoolhouse Rocked. She posts free weekly learning videos on your YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/c/KathyHutto. Her website is kathyahutto.com.