Questions & Answers

“How do I make time for Church activities, family home evening, and scripture study when homework takes so much time?”

Imagine eating nothing but ice cream every day. Sounds pretty great—until your body doesn’t feel so good. But can you be healthy by eating only broccoli? No, good health requires a balanced variety of foods.

Now think about the many activities in our lives. Our spirituality, relationships, and education are all key to our growth. So how do you prioritize the important things?

Look at what’s most important to you right now and pray to know what to focus on. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles encourages, “Keep foremost in mind the sacred covenants you have made with the Lord as you write down your daily schedules.”¹ Everything works out when you put the Lord first.

Remember that “some things are better, and others are best.”² Seek the Holy Ghost to help you decide what is most important. You might comfort a crying sibling before doing homework, but going to Mutual may come before seeing a movie with your friends. You might also identify distractions in your life. How about spending time with the scriptures before your Facebook friends?

Above all, don’t forget to rely on the Lord for energy so that you can “walk, and not faint” (see Isaiah 40:31).

Just Do It

If you just say, “Oh, I’ll do it when the time comes,” Satan will tempt you to never do it. Put time aside to do these spiritually uplifting activities, even if it means turning down other activities.

Allison R., 20, Utah, USA

Make Time for Things That Matter

If we can’t make time for the gospel, it means that we are doing too much and need to cut back a little bit. We need to plan activities around the gospel and our duties. This way we will have time for the gospel and the things that truly matter.

Noah H., 13, Arizona, USA

Study Scriptures First

I do scripture study before doing homework. When you do scripture study before your school studies, you’ll be more awake, and you’ll retain more of the information. With the weekly activities, you just need to plan those into your week first—then squeeze in everything else around them.

Elder Clark, 20, Chile Concepción South Mission 

Plan Your Time

It hasn’t been easy planning my time as a student. But I drew a timetable to plan my weekly activities, which involves classes, morning devotionals with my roommates, personal scripture study, institute classes, and others. I also place them on a scale in order of importance. Planning my activities helped me overcome procrastination.

Daniel A., 19, Edo, Nigeria

Remember the Eternal Things

I try to remember my mom’s words: we should give priority to eternal things, which last forever (unlike temporal things, which only last for a while). I have learned that when I give priority to God, all other things fall into the place where they ought to be. I am sure that when we do God’s work, God will help us do our work.

Vaishali K., 18, Andhra Pradesh, India

Work Smart

When I get home from school, I do my homework assignments so that I will not get behind and so I will have more time for Church activities. One thing that also helps is when my mother makes up a schedule with time slots for each thing that I will do every day. That makes it easier for me to participate in activities, do homework, and read the scriptures.

Rachel O., 13, São Paulo, Brazil

Create a Schedule

When you first wake up, you can read your scriptures, even if it is just a few verses. That might mean waking up five minutes earlier to read your scriptures. For family study, set a time with your family during which you can all take a break from what you are doing and study together. As for youth activities, the time is already set, so just go and bond with the youth in your ward.

Elena F., 15, Idaho, USA

Put the Lord First

Learning to set priorities helps us have time for everything we need to do, mainly for the things of the Lord. One of my main priorities was to attend seminary every day. If I attended seminary in the morning and then went to school, the day seemed to have more than 24 hours. Schoolwork was easier, and reading the scriptures personally and as a family became a delight. Remembering to put the Lord first in our lives helps us see everything else with a new perspective and helps us set priorities and reach our goals.

Bianca S., 19, Paysandú, Uruguay

Responses are intended for help and perspective, not as official pronouncements of Church doctrine.

Notes

1. M. Russell Ballard, Apr. 1987 general conference.

2. Dallin H. Oaks, Oct. 2007 general conference.

The Source of Strength

“Strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and light. It comes from placing our attention and efforts on the basics of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It comes from paying attention to the divine things that matter most.”

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, “Of Things That Matter Most,” Oct. 2010 general conference.

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Responses may be edited for length or clarity.