Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity

by Tim Challies

“Only God gets his to-do list done each day.”

You do not exist in this world to get things done. You exist to glorify God by doing good to others.

One of the common misconceptions about productivity is that productive and organized people always hit their deadlines, never have to request an extension, and never feel a crunch at the end of the week. But that is not the right way to measure productivity. Why? Because God is sovereign, and you are not.

Sinful men and women that we are, we may subtly assume that our top priorities should be those tasks that make us feel good about ourselves instead of actually doing good for others.

Expect Interruptions There is at least one unavoidable weakness to any productivity system: your inability to see the future.

The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s “own,” or “real” life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life—the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one’s “real life” is a phantom of one’s own imagination.14

You need to free yourself from thinking that organizing your life is a one-shot deal. Far from it. Productivity is not a system you set up and then forget about, but something that demands dedicated attention on a regular basis.

serve and surprise.

[Get Focused] Pray •[Get Clear] Bring: Email Inbox to 0 •[Get Clear] Bring: Evernote Inbox to 0 •[Get Clear] Bring: Task Inbox to 0 •[Get Clear] Tidy: Desk •[Get Clear] Tidy: Desktop •[Get Current] Review: Calendar for next 30 days •[Get Current] Review: Evernote notebooks •[Get Current] Review: All projects •[Get Current] Review: Next 7 days •[Get Set] Review: Mission •[Get Focused] Plan: Serve and surprise •[Get Going] Decide: Next week’s deadlines, deliverables, and priorities

Break giant tasks into a series of smaller tasks and work through them progressively.

Create a not-to-do list.

Toggl or RescueTime.

Don’t leave email open.

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Plan to rest.

Make sure you make time to get fit and to stay fit.