If you know anything about me, you know that I love organization and productivity. Sometimes I really have to catch myself before I get too deep in the task list and miss out on the relational opportunities around me. I’ve heard a lot about Matt Perman’s book What’s Best Next and was excited to dive in and read it this past week. I loved the way that he looked at productivity through the lens of the gospel…the way that we should be looking at everything. Most productivity books are all aimed at showing you how important you are and how you need to look out for yourself and your mission and your goals. This book flips all that on its head in reminding us that we don’t have anything to prove…God proved it all when Jesus went to the cross on our behalf. The idea of “It is Finished” should impact my theology and philosophy of productivity. I’m sure some of my students will read that to mean…don’t do your homework! It’s really not that at all, it’s more of a realignment of our focus and the heart behind why we do what we do. Everything we do should be done to God’s glory and for the good of others.
I highlighted several things while reading and have posted my notes below…definitely pick up a copy of this one!
- Productivity is about effectiveness first, not efficiency.
- Productivity comes first from character, not techniques.
- We cannot truly be productive unless all our activity stems from love for God and the acknowledgement that he is sovereign over all our plans.
- The only way to be productive is to realize that you don’t have to be productive.
- Productivity comes from engagement, not tight control; when we are motivated, we don’t need to tightly control ourselves (or others).
- Productivity is first about doing good for others to the glory of God.
- We become most productive by putting others first, not ourselves.
- Basing our peace of mind on our ability to control everything will never work.
- Time is like space, and we need to see lists as support material for our activity zones, not as sufficient in themselves to keep track of what we have to do.
- The greatest evidence of productivity comes from intangibles, not tangibles.
- We need to measure productivity by results, not by time spent working.
- We will (sometimes) suffer from our work, and it is not sin.
- We miss something important and amazing if we don’t think about productivity from a specifically biblical perspective.
- The essence of Gospel-Driven Productivity is this: We are to use all that we have, in all areas of life, for the good of others, to the glory of God—and that this is the most exciting life.
- What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits his soul? Luke 9:25
- We’ve done pretty well as a society at learning how to do the content of our jobs. But we haven’t been so great at learning the overarching process of how to manage our work: how to keep track of what we have to do, make decisions about what’s best to do next, keep from overcommitting ourselves, and do all of this in the midst of seventy-five emails, twelve phone calls, and eighteen interruptions a day. In past eras, this wouldn’t have been such a big deal. But today it is because of the rise of knowledge work and the consequent ambiguity, couple with the overload that comes from mass connectivity.
- “Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.” Peter Drucker
- Simply speeding up doesn’t help if you aren’t going in the right direction in the first place.
- True productivity is not first about efficiency—doing things right and doing them quickly—but effectiveness—doing the right things.
- We will give an account to God of how we spent our time.
- Excluding God is the ultimate in unproductivity.
- God offers ultimate productivity.
- God answers our need for fulfillment.
- God does a better job of planning our lives than we ever can.
- Where do you look to define what matters most? What would change if you looked to Christ to define what matters most in your life?
- “Aimless, unproductive Christians contradict the creative, purposeful, powerful, merciful God we love.” John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life
- To be productive, in fact, glorifies God because when we are productive we are not only obeying him but imitating him.
- Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17
- “Do all the good you can, but all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.” John Wesley
- Don’t just try to get things done; seek to serve others to the glory of God in everything you do.
- Reduce the friction in doing good.
- Good planning and productivity practices exist to make us more effective in doing good and advancing the gospel.
- Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16
- The Christian ethic of generosity and service puts all of our work in an entirely new light. It means, for example, that shoddy work is not simply shoddy work—it is a failure of love.
- “Am I desiring and seeking the temporal and eternal good of my neighbor with the same zeal, ingenuity, and perseverance that I seek my own?” John Piper
- Always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 1 Thessalonians 5:15
- Gospel-driven Christians are Christians who are enthusiastic in doing good not to gain acceptance with God but because they already have acceptance with God.
- Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:14
- Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
- Decide what really matters, and then do it.
- The core principle of effectiveness is to know what’s most important and put it first. Don’t prioritize your schedule; schedule your priorities.
- The direction we set for ourselves needs to be God-centered. John Piper captures this well: “Whatever you do, find the God-centered, Christ exalting, Bible-saturated passion for your life, and find a way to say and live for it and die for it. And you will make a difference that lasts. You will not waste your life.”
- For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. Romans 14:7-8
- We display God’s excellence in all spheres of life by doing good for others to God’s glory.
- I am a child of God who has been forgiven and redeemed by Christ alone, through faith alone, to the glory of God alone.
- I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24
- Do what’s before you with excellence.
- Increase your opportunity stream.
- The Bible teaches that our roles are not just areas of responsibility, but callings. Our roles are each callings given to us by God and through which we serve God and others.
- Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches…So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. 1 Corinthians 7:17, 24
- “You tame time through a routine—knowing what’s around the corner, and knowing how much time you have to do it. Not all of your time is routine, but enough needs to be to create a framework.” Bradley Blakeman
- If there is something you want to get good at, and which makes a difference for you and others and your organization, don’t leave it to chance or good intentions (even the good intentions of your next action list). Do it as part of a routine every day.
- Routines shouldn’t invent new work for you. They should capture the work you already need to do and put it into a framework that lets you do it more efficiently.
- Seek to be excellent in what you do.
- “It’s amazing how someone’s IQ seems to double as soon as you give them responsibility and indicate that you trust them.” Tim Ferriss, The Four-Hour Workweek
- There are four main ways to reduce the amount of things you have to do: Delegate, Eliminate, Automate, Defer
- God designed the world so that there will always be more things for us to do than we are able to do. This isn’t just so we learn to prioritize; it’s so that we learn to depend on one another. And that’s what delegation enables us to do.
- Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do (even delegating!), do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
- “The ideas that move industries forward are not the result of tremendous creative insight but rather of masterful stewardship.” Scott Belsky, Making Ideas Happen
- Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3
- He who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands. Isaiah 32:8
- Don’t get so enamored with your schedule or system that you aren’t able to think.
- See your day in terms of people and relationships first, not tasks.
- But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Jeremiah 29:7
- God calls us to use productivity practices for the sake of the poor. Technology provides the opportunity to do this on a greater scale than ever before.
- The Scriptures make a connection between making the most of our time (productivity) and the advance of the gospel.
- To change the world, first change your world. Be a positive influence for good in your family, your workplace, your community, and the nation. If thousands of people are intentional about changing their world by living out biblical and common grace principles in each of their vocations, the whole world will be changed.
- “The message of biblical Christianity is not “God loves me, period…” the message of biblical Christianity is “God loves me so that I might make him—his ways, his salvation, his glory, his greatness—known among all nations.” David Platt
- We need to look to God to define for us what productivity is, rather than to simply subscribe to the ambiguous concept of “what matters most.” For God is what matters most.