Are You a Time Embezzler?

Cary manages the finances at her workplace. One day a personal emergency arose. She needed $10,000 pronto and couldn’t secure the money anywhere. In desperation, she shifted 10 grand of business funds to her private bank account. Problem solved.

We call that embezzlement, fleecing, filching, bilking or dipping into the till. No matter what you call it, embezzlement is a crime.

Okay, but what is time embezzlement? Well, you’ve heard the maxim “Time is money and money is time,” right? With this in mind, use your imagination.

1. Picture time as though it were money. Instead of dollars and cents, it comes in minutes, hours, days, weeks and months.
2. Imagine the 168 hours you have each week as your time “allowance.”
3. Picture your time allowance deposited into separate budgetary accounts for each dimension of your life.  

• Family Time Account (to invest in your closest relationships)
• Work Time Account (to spend on your job and career)
• Household Time Account (to manage your home and its affairs)
• Self-care Time Account (to invest in recharging your batteries)
• Community Time Account (to serve and participate in society)

Time embezzlement occurs when there aren’t enough hours in our day. Overwhelmed and desperate, we “borrow” from one account to pay excessive use of time elsewhere. It happens in many ways.

• Teresa regularly brings home work projects to tackle in the evening. “It’s only a couple hours,” she tells herself. But she is robbing those hours from her family time account to balance her overdrawn work account.
• Andy is proud of his muscular physique, which he maintains by pumping iron several hours a day. Meanwhile, he works only sporadically, and the bills are piling up. Andy is snitching time from his work account to support his excessive self-care habit.
• Sharon can’t say “no” to requests to help out on church and civic committees. At the same time she complains, “Why can’t I ever find a moment to rest?” Sharon’s community time expenditures are draining her self-care account.

Do these scenarios sound familiar to you? How does someone become a time embezzler? What does it feel like? Here’s my story.

When I became a father, I vowed I would spend time with my children. For several years, I was able to keep that vow. Then something terrible happened to me—success. I was asked to write a book on a subject that thrilled me. I grabbed the opportunity.

For 15 months, moonlighting became my habit. While still working full time at my regular job, I devoted 12 hours per week to the book. (Today I realize I should have found an alternative such as asking my employer to reduce my hours. Hindsight is 20/20!) Even when I was with my family, I felt only partially there, because my mind was perpetually preoccupied with the next portion of the book. Have you ever felt that way—obsessed with work and distant from those you love?

I told myself this was only temporary. Life would return to normal, as soon as the book was done. It didn’t. Soon I added another big project to my regular job. I did this for years, robbing my family account to balance my overloaded work account.

Meanwhile, misfortune struck again—I got promoted to a great job that I loved. The problem was that the job description was unrealistic. It included every responsibility the bosses could think of. (Today, I realize I should have renegotiated the job description to something realistic. But I couldn’t see it then.) I gave the job all I had and burned myself out in four years.

As I constantly shifted time funds to my work account, all kinds of warning signs appeared:

• My wife let me know I was becoming a stranger to her.
• I did little to maintain the household, and my wife had to fill in the gaps.
• When I looked at my kids, I felt like I was peering at them through the wrong end of a telescope.
• I had little time for friends.
• All my hobbies fell by the wayside.
• Failing to exercise, I gained weight.
• I felt like a stranger in my own city, because I didn’t have time for community activities.
• I grew increasingly obsessed with work. I couldn’t leave it alone.
• My feelings of isolation from reality increased. At holiday parties I sat numbly watching everyone else enjoy life.

Despite the warning signs, I told myself, “It’s not so bad. I’m still focused and tuned in at work.” Then came the final tragedy—I began to feel the same distance and isolation at work. I wasn’t getting better, but worse!

How can someone find their way out of the morass of time embezzlement? By the grace of God I learned two things: a plan and a principle.

The plan is called Time Budgeting, a realistic method to accurately and fairly spend an appropriate number of hours from all your time accounts. You will rejoice about what you do get done, and you will live without guilt about what you can’t get done. You will learn to tell others “No,” and not regret it.  Best of all, you will be free to live a multi-dimensional life, with time for work, family, home, health and community.

The principle is this: God created us for a life with significance and purpose, a life that will last forever and yet not grow tedious. This isn’t just wishful thinking. It’s the theme of the Bible. It’s why Jesus came: to give us life in all abundance. Knowing this principle, you can give up running through life hectic and harried, fearful that these short years are all the time you’ll ever enjoy. You can slow down the express train, which is you, and enjoy life, because God has promised you life without limit.

Possessing the gift of eternal life in Christ, you won’t have to work or strive to gain God’s favor. You will simply rejoice every day, because you are already saved by the work of Christ, not by your own striving. Even though you have limitless time, it will be more precious to you than ever, as you invest it wisely in your time accounts. You will accomplish things that truly matter, but the burden of having to justify your own existence will be gone.

That’s why Jesus promised, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Even in the midst of life’s ongoing challenges and turmoil, His constant rest will bring you peace.

You will have a life—forever.