A Proposed Plan for Studying Scripture

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One of my goals for the year is to start actually studying Scripture, not simply reading it. Consequently, one of my last posted "weekly goals" was to make a plan of attack for said study (yes, I know I haven't posted weekly goals in a couple of weeks... tomorrow, I promise, I will do so!).

Here's my ideal plan. In an ideal world, every morning I would take a deeper look at the passage in Mark from my Bible Reading Plan by:

• Reading it three times.
• Writing down every question that perplexes me about the passage.
• Reading one or two free online commentaries about the chapter (such as Matthew Henry, or John Calvin, perhaps).
• Finding the answers to my questions (as best as one possibly can), via the commentaries or other tools (online and off). 

Like I said, ideal. Each day I am also reading three other chapters from my Bible Reading Plan, and working at developing a stronger habit of focused prayer time. I'm also working on memorizing Scripture.

This is a lot to do every day... and I don't know if I can keep up with it all in my current season of life. 

Part of the problem could be that I've slid out of my habit of early rising. I'm down to pumping only once a day now (woohoo!!!!), but pumping times were what I used to work on these things. So now I have to figure out a new way to incorporate them into my every day routine.

Over the next few weeks I will be working on a new routine, and attempting to cement these Bible study habits into it. We'll see how it goes and if it is feasible. So far in the past two weeks I've done it maybe twice :).

What methods and tools have you found most helpful in personal Bible Study? And how do you squeeze time for study into your daily routine? I'd love to hear!