5 Effective Work Habits

February 8, 2017 Year A

Proverbs 6:6-11

These series of proverbs show us efficient work tips observed from hard workers.

5 Effective Work Habits

1. Learn from others (Proverbs 6:6)

The writer of this proverb tells the lazy person to go to the ant and observe its ways. He says that watching the ant will make the lazy man wise. Why? Because we can learn from other people.

What does the ant teach us about work?

2. Be a self-starter (Proverbs 6:7)

The ant doesn’t need a boss to tell it what to do. It starts working all by itself. This shows that if we are going to succeed at work, we need to be self-starters. Don’t wait for someone else to tell you something that you know needs to be done. Get it done early. This leads to the next tip:

3. Get things done as early as you can (Proverbs 6:8)

The ant prepares its provisions in the summer for what it needs the rest of the year. The ant knows that fall and winter are coming. Summer is the best time to get things done. He doesn’t wait until the fall winds blow to prepare. The ant prepares early. He also doesn’t wait when the food is ripe. The ant picks it at the harvest time when it is ready. He knows that if he wants too long, the food will spoil.

So, one learns to get the work done as early as you can.

4. Manage your time (Proverbs 6:9)

The writer scolds the slacker for sleeping too long in bed. Because he is wasting precious time. There are only 24 hours in a day and not all of it should be used to sleep. The reason is because whatever time you are sleeping is time you could be working.

This doesn’t discount the need for sleep. We all need to sleep. But we also need to work. This takes time management. One needs to manage when, where, and how long one will work.

5. Time is money (Proverbs 6:10-11)

Time is money. We see this in two different ways in this proverb:

1. Don’t love sleep (Proverbs 6:10, Proverbs 20:13)

One needs to sleep. But one should not love to sleep, at the expense of one’s time.

2. Wasted time steals potential money (Proverbs 6:11, Ecclesiastes 4:5)

The idea here is that there are a bunch of time wasters. Today, these time wasters can include watching too much television, spending too much time on social media, or as in this case, sleeping too long and napping too often. These time wasters will rob a person of potential earnings and income.

We live in a world with an enormous amount of leisure time. Because we have so much, we risk losing so much by wasting time.

God created the ant to be an effective worker. God shows me an excellent example of how to work hard in a way that benefits me – if I am willing to learn.

Prayer: God, please help me to be a more effective worker. Show me where I am lazy and help me overcome these poor habits to work better for You.