Elder Jack N. Gerard (Oct. 18): "Now is the Time"

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I envision this activity as coming at the end fo the lesson after discussing the points Elder Gerard makes in his talk.  However, it could also easily be split up and done in different parts of the lesson. 

The Activity:

  1. Prove everyone in class with something to write on and to write with.
  2. Ask class members to make a list on one side of the paper of their top 5 priorities.  This list should be what they want their lives to focus on most.  Ask them to be as specific as possible.  Also, everyone is different in many ways.  So, everyone's list will probably be slightly different.  No judgments on what is or is not there.
  3. Now, ask the class members to answer questions such as the following on the other side of the paper (you should create a list of questions that best fit the circumstances of your class members).
    1. How much time did you spend last week . . .
      1. watching TV?
      2. working on your calling?
      3. reading the scriptures?
      4. playing with your kids?
      5. driving your kids to their appointments?
      6. doing housework?
      7. spending one-on-one time with your spouse?
      8. on social media?
      9. etc.
  4. After completing these questions (you probably want no more than 10), ask the class members to compare what they spent their time on last week with their priorities.  What priorities were perhaps underrepresented in the time spent?  Are there priorities represented in your time spent that are not things you want to prioritize?  Etc.  
  5. Give them some time to examine and ponder the answers.
  6. Ask the class members to share with a small group what most suprised them by their answers.  
  7. Ask the class members to set one goal to work on this week in how they spend their time.
Using the Activity:

Some of you may recognize this as an activity that is sometimes done in workshops on things like time management.  It is a valuable activity and that is why I have recreated it here.  Of course, in this case, the value is in the application of the gospel principles outlined by Elder Gerard.  

Also, I would caution against setting more than one goal.  It is easy at times to conceive of a whole slew of things to "fix" in our lives.  At least for me, this generally means that I don't really accomplish any of the tasks that I set for myself.  One goal, though, I can manage pretty well, especially if it is for a specific duration of time.  

I hope that this activity works for you either as is or as inspiration for something even better.  Thank you for visiting my blog.  Please leave me a note and let me know how the activities work for you or what changes you made to the activity so that others can see your ideas as well.  Thanks.

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