Wake. Pray. Get the kids ready. Go to Mass. Work - at an office or at home. Juggle family schedules. Do apostolic work.

A Catholic's schedule can be tough.

A business executive and professional speaker and trainer, Dave Durand has led hundreds of seminars on leadership, sales and time management. Married with five children, Durand recently published Time Management for Catholics (Sophia Institute Press).

He spoke from his home in Waterford, Wis., with Register features correspondent Tim Drake about how Catholics can better manage their time.

Did you grow up Catholic?

Yes, I grew up Catholic. I have wonderful Catholic parents. My father is an engineer and my mother is a teacher, although she stayed home with us when we were young. I am the second-oldest child from a family with three boys and two girls.

From my late teens through my college years I was a “cosmetic Catholic.” I went to Church on Sundays, but it was just makeup, that's all. At about age 27 I went through a series of events — including having some Protestant fundamental-ists challenge me in my faith — that eventually led to my reversion to the Church.

Essentially, in my mind, I had left the Church for a few months to become a Protestant fundamentalist, but through the prayers and help of my parents I returned to the faith of my childhood.

What led you to write your book on time management for Catholics?

I felt that God was saying to me, “I've given you certain skills. It's fine that you're using them to help people make more money, but you need to use them to advance the Kingdom as well.”

So I wrote a manuscript titled “How to Wake the Sleeping Catholic” and sent it off to Sophia Institute Press. At first they were skeptical because I was a motivational speaker. They came back to me with a proposal to write a different book. I fought it for a while, thinking, “Let God's will be done, but let it be done my way,” but eventually wrote the book Sophia wanted.

What are the most common mistakes Catholics make regarding time management?

There are 10 time bombs that most people, not only Catholics, do that waste time. They include things such as procrastination and derailment.

Derailment is when you go to pay your bills, but you find that you don't have a pen, so you go to look for a pen and you see the dirty dishes. Intending to do the dishes you drop a cup and in leaning over to pick up the cup you find the lost television remote, which reminds you that you need to go to the store to buy batteries, so you go to the store instead of paying your bills.

Then there is the atomic time bomb, which is television. The average American watches 28 hours of television per week. That's a part-time job. When you add time spent on the Internet, it becomes a full-time job.

Overall, the biggest mistake that most people make is failing to establish a mission statement in life. Once a mission statement is established, people know where their priorities are.

There are six plates that people must spin every day — faith, family, finances, physical health, social contributions in light of Christ and continued education/vocation. If someone fails to spin even one of these plates each day, the plate will wobble, fall off, break and need to be repaired. And if one falls it has the potential ability to tear down the rest as well.

Sometimes when I give seminars people wonder, “Where is the golf plate?” When something becomes too important that it becomes a plate of its own, it threatens the others. If golf, for example, isn't put on the health or family plate — meaning that it isn't done for exercise, as a family activity or to conduct business — it becomes destructive.

You argue that Catholics must look at time differently than secular time-management seminars such as Franklin Planner. Can you explain?

A Franklin Covey survey showed that among their typical customers the No. 1 priority is their spouse. Their finances are typically second. Their children are fourth and spirituality comes in at about fifth.

Secular seminars will not help you to reprioritize the list — they'll just help you to reach your goals. In Catholic time management I would say, “Because of absolutes and right and wrong, we need to change our priorities.” Secular seminars that are working with major corporations can't do that. Ultimately, they have different philosophies than we do. They focus on self-esteem whereas we focus on self-knowledge. They speak about being a self-made man. We speak about stewardship.

Our mission is not necessarily to reach our goals but to reach heaven. We are not necessarily focused on our will but on discerning God's will.

Let's use an example, say, of a stay-at-home mother who home schools five children. What practical tips can you offer her?

Again, it boils down to a mission statement. If she has her priorities pre-established she will not have to spend a lot of time deciding what is important to put on her plate and what not to spend time with. It will come naturally.

I would also recommend developing a tomorrow to-do list instead of a today to-do list. As she goes through her day she can put those hot and heavy items on the list for tomorrow. If she puts this list together before she goes to bed, her anxiety will be lower, and she will wake up refreshed and will get the important things done that day.

I would also recommend that families cease using a duplicate-entry system. Perhaps they have a planner at home and at work or a calendar upstairs and another downstairs. This is the greatest way to create chaos. The average American uses 13 different methods to manage their time. People need one system that they can take with them anywhere they go.

I have found in my own life that when I offer my time up to God, things get done. God gives you more and he's not necessarily testing you, but our instinct is to run from our need for God's help. What he's asking from us is a more prayerful life.

The optimal way to handle your time is through daily Mass. While there are people who are unable to attend daily Mass, by and large most people could get to daily Mass. Most people overlook the magnitude of daily Mass.

You yourself are the father of five. How do you incorporate your suggestions into your own life?

There are two ways that I do this. In time management we tend to put the blame on other people. We say, “I'm great with my time, but others are not” or “If my wife would only do this for me.”

We would do better to ask, “What am I not doing to love my spouse or serve my spouse?” I find that I do my best by doing things to serve my wife — like doing the dishes, changing a diaper or suggesting she go take a nap. I find I can obtain the same graces and virtues from serving and listening to my wife as I can from praying the rosary. When I serve my wife I find she serves me better. When I offer to her to help her in her time, she offers to help me in my time.

The second thing is to pray unceasingly. If we are to pray unceasingly it means our every action must resonate with prayer. God gave us practical techniques to manage our time, but prayer is the most overlooked solution because it sounds unrealistic. God is the ultimate place to go for time management.

Look at what Mother Teresa was able to accomplish in her life. She managed and helped more people in her life than some denominations will ever do. The first thing she did was to go to God for help. If that's the first thing that people do, they will never have a need for time-management techniques, because it will be obvious to them. God will grant them wisdom like Solomon received.

Scott Hahn has said that if you do missionary-type work or charitable work but cannot find the time to pray, you should stop the missionary work. Generally speaking, people go to the wrong source for answers about time. We go to books, but we seldom go to the Creator. If your Ford engine breaks down, you don't go to Sony to fix it.

If we simply pray to the Lord and say, “I have more things on my to-do list than I can possibly do. Can you help me accomplish them?” God will help you take care of your priorities. God is the supreme authority over our time.

Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.