Tag Archives: Productivity

The last time I looked, Amazon.com lists 97,616 books under the topic of “time management.” Titles range from Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress‐Free Productivity by David Allen, a helpful book I recommend, to Time Management for Dummies, a book I have not read, although it appears I represent the target audience. “Time management” books are hot and it’s obvious why—we all want to discover some previously unknown secret that will enable us to become more productive. Yet in this…

There is a certain folder with stuff in it that I force myself to read and review each year. It’s stuff about time management, goal setting, productivity. It’s not stuff I’m excited about reading and reviewing but I need to review this material each year because, well, because I tend to be lazy. If you followed me around you might think I’m diligent and productive but all too often I’m busy doing things that aren’t most important, just urgent or…

My tendency is to charge into the day intent on getting stuff done, attacking my to‐do list motivated by self-sufficiency rather than by humble dependence upon the grace of God revealed in the gospel. And given the active presence of pride and self‐sufficiency in my life, it is imperative for me at the outset of each day to devote time to humbling myself before the Lord and acknowledging my dependence upon him for all that awaits me. As I devote…

Due to my tendency towards procrastination, the following quote by preacher Alexander MacLaren is posted under my computer monitor as a daily means of confronting that procrastinator within. My hope is that, by the grace of God, it will provoke diligence to attend to the most important matters each day for the glory of God. It reads: No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and…