Elizabeth Grace Saunders | Divine Time Management

29 Nov Elizabeth Grace Saunders | Divine Time Management

This week, Mitch Matthews talks with internationally recognized expert in effective time management, Elizabeth Grace Saunders.  She’s the author of two bestselling books.  Plus, she writes on time management for Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, the Huffington Post and Fast Company Magazine.  In this interview, they talk about her newest book, “Divine Time Management.”  They dig into subjects like maximizing your schedule and your time… as well as important concepts like true identity, relationships and asking the big questions in life.

Listen To The Podcast:

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is an internationally recognized expert in effective time management.  She’s also the author of two bestselling books on the subject!  

Plus, Elizabeth is the go-to person for maximizing your day and becoming more efficient with your time for Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, the Huffington Post and Fast Company Magazine.

Time management is a passion for her.

However… in the past few years she started to feel like the common strategies were falling short.  She wanted to feel more peaceful, confident and accomplished… but the time honored concepts weren’t cutting it anymore.

So she dug in to look deeper.  What she found surprised her.  

But as she applied what she was learning… it started to change things for the better.  Then Elizabeth started to share the concepts with her clients and in her writing and people let her know these new strategies were having a profound effect.

As a result… she decided to write a new book.  It’s called “Divine Time Management.”

In this week’s episode, I talk with Elizabeth about the journey to write the book and the strategies that have made a big difference to her.

We talk about maximizing your schedule and your time… but we also dig into concepts like true identity, relationships and asking the big questions in life.  

It’s a unique perspective that will get you thinking.

Enjoy it and let me know what stood out to you.  

Leave a comment below.  

I’d love to hear from YOU!

ALSO – Here are the Time Stamped Show Notes from this Week’s Episode:

[02:20] Introduction and background of Elizabeth Grace Saunders.

[04:08] Becoming interested in time management.

[07:40] Divine Time Management: The Joy of Trusting God’s Loving Plans for You.

[13:08] She’s still open to clients from all faith backgrounds.

[18:23] Her approach and letting go of control.

[25:08] Loving your true identity.

[31:02] Uncovering your true identity.

[36:10] Alignment with God.

[40:09] Alignment in relation to planning and time management.

[43:54] Hearing from God.

[50:35] Cultivating quiet time with God anywhere.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders, Divine Time Management

From Stress to Balance

Elizabeth Grace Saunders was a planner from a young age. As the oldest child, she always liked to know the plan for the day. However, her interest in time investment came out of a struggle with entrepreneurship. “I had started a business, and didn’t have any sort of work-life balance in order,” says Saunders. “I got to the point where I just felt stressed out all the time, and guilty whenever I wasn’t working.” She went on a personal journey of finding balance, and now uses that knowledge to help others.

She began coaching in 2009, teaching strategies on planning, prioritizing, making to-do lists, and having realistic expectations.

Divine Time Management

In 2015, two things happened to change her course. The first was a feeling of inauthenticity. “I started to get bored of what I was doing,” says Saunders. Not feeling excited about her work anymore made her feel inauthentic and untransparent. “Then at the same time, I felt like God was telling me I needed to start giving Him more of the glory in my business.”

She began a Christian group coaching program called Divine Time Management and began working on her proposal for her new book. “What this is really about, at its core, is a shift away from putting ourself and our own self-discipline, efforts, and techniques at the center of our time management to one of having a God-centered approach to what’s going on,” Saunders says. “When we can put our trust in someone or something that we do believe is worthy of that trust, that’s where we can experience that peace and joy in a way that we can never experience on our own.”

All Faith Backgrounds Are Welcome

Although she’s shifted towards a more God-centered approach, Saunders’ business is still very much open to everyone. She has clients all over the world from all different faith backgrounds or no faith at all. “I love and respect everyone where they’re at,” she says. Divine Time Management isn’t about judging anyone. “It was about me being fully transparent and authentic about who I actually was,” says Saunders. “It’s not about you having to change, it’s just me being completely transparent, no walls, no barriers, offering my heart.”

Letting Go of Control

The book has three parts — trusting God as a center, loving your true identity, and alignment with God. You have to let go of control and turn to trust. In the book, she even issues a public apology for recommending that people take more control in the past. “Control is the opposite of freedom,” says Saunders. “We always end up being controlled by whatever we try to control. So if you want freedom, if you want peace, you have to let go of control.”

It’s not that you won’t still work hard, it’s just that the work is coming from a place of peace. “You’re often doing much of the same things, but you’re not putting the pressure on yourself of trying to control things you can’t control,” she explains.

Your True Identity

“So much of how we spend our time can be based off these false identities that we feel we need to maintain to earn love,” says Saunders. These false identities can be things like positions, possessions, labels, molds, or generational patterns. Perhaps you have been labeled ‘responsible.’ It seems like a good thing, but if you are so intent on constantly living up to that label, it can cause you to agree to things you shouldn’t agree to or stay up all night to get things done. “It really hinders your ability to make the right choices with your time,” Saunders says.

Pay attention to what brings you joy. “If you have peace and joy in certain situations, it’s an indication that that’s probably something that resonates with your spirit and is who you really are,” says Saunders. Once you know who you are, you can invest your time in things that are true to you instead of things that are true to a label.

Alignment with God

The greatest commandments are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. “If we’re called to live a life of love, then what alignment looks like is each moment of each day regardless of whether our plans are going perfect, to look to love God, love other people, and love ourselves.”

Alignment with God in terms of time management doesn’t mean that Saunders no longer plans and makes priorities. “What’s different is that I’m asking God what His priorities are. I’m not assuming that I already know,” she says. Have peace when things don’t go your way and come from a place of loving others.

Cultivating Time to Hear God

Saunders spends time each morning in prayer and Bible reading. “That’s the anchor of my life,” she says. She believes that taking time to be with God is the best way to hear Him. However, you also have to want to hear Him and approach Him from a place of humility. Although it doesn’t have to be a full 90 minutes, Saunders is happy to make the time. “I truly believe that is the most important part of my day,” she says. “I truly believe that my prayers make a difference, and without God, nothing can be accomplished.”

Find out more about Divine Time Management at the coaching website or the book website.