Time is the one thing we have in absolute finite quantities. Everyone gets the same amount of time, and though you can use resources (like friends or family or money) to leverage your time (and get more things done by delegating out less pleasant (but necessary) tasks, there are many things we want to do that we either must or choose to do on our own. And so, being able to use the time we have effectively is a skill that helps you in all aspects of your life.
But I think it is especially relevant in our spiritual lives, as there are so many things that just can't be delegated out. Meditation, prayer, ritual work...if these are part of your path, they are things that you must do personally. And spiritual life is easy to loose track of, because we want to be in the right mental and emotional space, we want to have the perfect setting, and sometimes in the hustle and bustle of daily life, we just never get around to it.
I think the first thing that many of us come to realize is that if we wait for the 'perfect' setting, we never get things done. I can't wait for the house to be alone, for a day where I have hours unplanned, for days where I feel calm and peaceful and innately spiritual to practice. My daily life is a scheduling nightmare sometimes, and things pop up that I don't know about. Between hubby and son, there aren't always times where I will have the house to myself (with peace and quiet....and there are still neighbors to deal with). And to be honest, I have more 'not quite right' days when it comes to physical/mental/emotional well-being than I do good days (many weeks, it's a matter of picking out the best of what I've got).
I don't feel like picking the best choice out of a handful of less than ideal choices is compromising my spiritual beliefs in any way. In some ways I think it is actually a testament of faith to keep at it when you may not feel quite up to it or when there is a lot going on. I also don't think that there is anything wrong with adapting to meet your needs of the day, even if that means doing things very differently than your usual or from how you were taught. If I am having a very rough day and have a pounding headache, a full ritual with lots of candles (light), chanting (noise/drums), incense (smoke) might be completely out of the question, but siting in the dark in quiet meditation and contemplating what the ritual I had planned means to me or what the deeper essence of it is might be just right.
We all have our own personal rhythms as well. We may be aware of them, or we may need to start becoming aware of them. I know that, while I may not particularly like mornings, I am typically very productive in the morning. Afternoons are almost always a bad time for me, and some evenings I can call up a second wind and get a lot done once the sun goes down. So even though I'm not a morning person, I know that if I have a busy day, I need to dive right in because if I put things off, I can end up stressing myself out and trying to work through serious mental fog (which means things take even longer and feel more tortuous than they need to!)
I desire a lot of structure, so I like to plan things out. I do a lot of planning, both on paper and in my head. I pretty much always have my days planned out, even if that plan is to read a novel, watch a tv show or play a game. I typically know what I am going to eat the day before. I just feel more secure if I have things planned out.
Oddly enough, I am also really good under the wire. I know that when push comes to shove I can get things done. I am pretty stubborn about it, and have a decent idea about my own capabilities. My big writing push in November always pushes my limits, but I have finished my goals for over ten years. This means days of serious writing, where I write over 5k words a day (of brand new content...so coming up with enough ideas to write about as well as actually getting the words out). So when my carefully laid out (and much thought over plan) goes out the window, I adjust it on the fly and keep on going.
This might not work for you at all. I know the idea of planning things out or working on the same thing every day just flat out doesn't work for some people. That is fine! The big thing is figuring out what works for you. Perhaps you need to pick one day a week to really dive deep into one specific project. Then the rest of the week, you don't even think about it, but that one day you can devote yourself to it.
When it comes to our spirituality, this may mean that you plan out what you are going to do and when you are going to do it ages in advance. Much of my daily routine I have built up over many years, and now it is just a part of my day, I don't even have to think about it. But if I don't write things like Sabbats down in my calendar, they sneak up on me and have passed before I even start thinking about them, because they aren't an every day thing.
I have done quite a lot of virtual rituals in the past couple of years, and these can be really great. Some are hosted live, so you can hear and talk to or even video chat with the other people who are participating. Others have all the ritual information posted up for every participant to do at their own leisure. It sounds a little odd, if you've never done it, but it can be quite surprising to realize how much it means to know that there are other people, all over the world, doing the same ritual with you (I definitely think of time as very fluid when it comes to ritual, and can feel the energy of other participants).
You also don't have to start with a huge ritual. I think that often we feel like we have to do this whole big thing, but really, if you are on your own and just starting out, your rituals may be very simple. It might consist of calling the elements and casting a circle and just meditating on what the ritual means to you or journaling about it. You might want to think about one simple action, perhaps writing a goal on a sheet of paper and blessing it for a talisman or charging a candle with something you want to release, and have that be the center of your ritual. As you do the same ritual more times, you can add a little more to it each time, until you feel it is where you want it to be. That way, you can build up to the larger, more complex ritual without having to do all the work all at once.
There is a common conception that if something is important enough, you will find time for it, but I absolutely think that is a false premise. Spirituality is important to many people, but there are other things that are also important. And sometimes we don't get to pick and choose when to do certain things. If we want a roof over our heads and food on the table, we have to work, and work picks what our hours are. We may want to change jobs to find something we like better, but aren't willing to quit what we have before we find a better option.
We may have family that puts obligations on us, and we my be unable or unwilling to prioritize ourselves over our family. I think that family is often a very tricky subject for a lot of people, and we each have to sort out where our lines are. I very much want to spend time with my family, to do things for them and to take care of them. But I also know that if I never take time for myself, I get cranky and am miserable to be around. So in order to better serve my family I need to take care of myself (before I get out of sorts).
And I very much think that rest time includes recreation, which is a part of our good personal health. If we only work or do things that we feel we should be doing (which may include some of our spiritual practice), then we aren't refreshing ourselves. We start to get in a rut, and nothing seems as important as it used to, and we start to not do as well at things as we should. Finding time to do things you enjoy, JUST because you want to do them is vital to our well being. Make time for the things that you want to do.
This may mean really paying attention and listening to what you need right now. You may have made other plans, but realize you have to change them. Or you may be starting to plan out all the things you need to do next week and have to prioritize which ones get done and which ones get put off. If you are constantly putting of your personal desires, you may want to rethink some of your other responsibilities. There may be ways you can get them done quicker or get help doing them so that you can give your own desires and needs some attention.
Life is always changing, and we are always adapting to it. When we get stuck in a routine, we may not notice that circumstances have changed, and so we keep on doing what we have always done, and either fall behind or don't make the most of what we now have. It is always good to take a moment from time to time, to check out where we are at, to see what has changed, and to figure out if we need to make any adjustments. The more we pay attention to the things we are doing and how our time is being spent, the better we can manage the time we have.
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