“I believe this book can improve your life.”

Admittedly it’s quite a bold sentence to begin your own book with, but that’s what writer Tim Challies chooses to go with as he invites us into Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity. 

You may be forgiven for raising a sceptical eyebrow or two. After all, we’re talking about productivity here! ‘Improve’ seems a subjective word at the best of times, but applied to a realm often associated with task management and to-do lists? Well, it just seems a bit over the top.

And yet by the end of Do More Better, I challenge you not to be inspired to try and do life differently. In fact, more than just wishful thinking, I think you’ll actually be equipped to do life differently.

Of course on one level this book is completely inadequate to change your life. But the beauty of Do More Better is that the author recognises that straight-up. I’ll explain:

The concept of productivity seems to be one that divides people. Some people lap up new tricks and techniques to order their day and priorities, perhaps in the hope that they’ll become more efficient in the workplace, or they’ll be able to straddle the work/life balance that little bit better. Others seem much more sceptical. Isn’t it all just buzzwords and baloney?

However, before Tim Challies dives into any such practicalities, he begins with a ‘productivity catechism’, using the question and answer format to unpack an overall ‘foundation’ or framework, setting productivity within the context of what life’s all about. His point is that productivity cannot be considered as an end in itself. Rather, given we’ve been created by God for his glory and the good of others (i.e. we are not meant to be the star of our lives), then that must be the lens through which we understand productivity. Thus, these Christian convictions lead Challies to define productivity as follows:

 “Effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God.”

In other words, it’s not only about what you do, it’s also about who you are; “productivity is not what will bring purpose to your life, but what will enable you to excel in living out your existing purpose.” And whilst the rest of the book goes on to emphasise tools and systems, Challies is adamant that this prior foundation cannot be lost sight of. Only then does Challies go on to share his own methods for ensuring he effectively stewards according to the productivity definition above.

To give a bit of detail, essentially Challies’ method is as follows:

• Define your various responsibilities in life.
• State your personal mission for each of these areas of responsibilities.
• Select tools to enable you to effectively carry out the various tasks that you have in each responsibility. Here Challies advocates the importance of three particular tools:
  • A scheduling tool, i.e. a calendar
  • A task management tool, i.e. somewhere where you store your ‘to-do’ list, but broken into different projects according to each role of responsibility that you have.
  • An information storage tool.

Challies’ underlying rule for using these tools is: “A home for everything, and like goes with like.” In other words, everything needs a place to go, and you stick similar things in the same place. Just as all your keys might go in a key draw (and thus you never wonder where you put your keys), so all your information goes in the same place, all your appointments are put in the same tool, and all your tasks are kept together. And then within these tools, you’ll create more specific ‘homes’ (along this same principle of ‘like goes with like’) for each of the different projects in the various responsibilities you have. Follow?

• Collect your tasks. As tasks come up, add them all to an ‘inbox’ (i.e. a list) so none are lost.
• Get into the pattern of giving a daily and weekly slot to ‘Workflow’. Essentially this means using a small amount of time each working day to go through your task inbox and allocating them to the particular responsibility they are associated with, and then to the particular project within that responsibility. Add deadlines as necessary. Then spend time looking at up-coming tasks and deciding which to take on today. Challies commends three questions to focus this process:
  • What are the possible tasks for the day?
  • What are the necessary tasks for the day?
  • What time is available?

On top of this daily routine, Challies commends having a weekly version of this ‘workflow’ meeting which allows you to focus on the bigger picture and be mindful of the next 30 days or so.

1. For a start Challies is aware of the deceptive nature of our own hearts, hence the need to consider our own ‘idolatries’, i.e. the unhealthy influences and desires that may be motivating us, such as taking on too much on because we’re seeking to please people, or overworking to try and make a name for ourselves.
2. Likewise, his reference to embracing tension also reflects the important understanding that productivity is not about getting everything done, as ultimately we can’t see the future and there will always be unexpected turns. God’s sovereignty means we needn’t get angry or despair at this. As C.S. Lewis said: “The truth is, of course, that what one calls the interruptions [of life] are precisely one’s real life.”
3. And then, whilst Challies generally advocates for “planned neglect,” (i.e. being content with saying ‘no’ to truly good opportunities out of an awareness of our own limitations and a desire to faithfully steward the various responsibilities we have prayerfully prioritised), he also acknowledges that, particularly as a Christian, there will be tasks which, whilst they don’t fit perfectly into any of our responsibility mission statements, we will yet still find time to do them out of a love for others.

It seems that there’s been a plethora of Christian productivity resources out recently. Tim Chester blogged about busyness just this week, and has also written a book on it. Matt Perman’s much-anticipated What’s Best Next came out about a year ago (check out my review) and though that’s a more substantial offering, I’d now happily suggest starting with Do More Better. 

Do More Better is currently available in paper, or in eBook forma  in PDF or EPUB formats. You can download it from the publisher, Cruciform Press, here.

Full disclosure: The publisher sent me a copy of the book for free, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review!

The irony about reviewing this particular book on productivity is that I received my copy from the author nearly 200 days ago. Oops.

Now that could mean one of two things: either I really needed to read the book, because I’ve got serious organisational issues.

Alternatively, it could mean I read the book but it was so effective, that in my reorientated-organisational-self I simply prioritised not writing the review until this point. 

I’ll leave you hanging on that one.

Suffice to say, that having now finished What’s Best Next, I’m convinced it is an excellent book and will get you well on your way to both thinking biblically about your approach to ‘getting things done’, as well as helping you act wisely as you seek to be more effective. Perman states that his aim is to “reshape the way you think about productivity and then present a practical approach to help you become more effective in your life with less stress and frustration, whatever you are doing”. Boy, does he achieve it.

The sharp rise of knowledge-based industries has meant productivity has increasingly become an in-demand subject. At the heart of the abundance of ‘productivity lit’ has been David Allen’s hugely influential Getting Things Done (GTD), and it is this work that is referenced in What’s Best Next ‘s subtitle: “How the gospel transforms the way you get things done”. However, although the GTD methodology and its variants have their fanboys, there’s also a fair few sceptics of the movement. And so, despite Taylor Swift’s observation that “the haters gonna hate,” a cynic might remark that it was only a matter of time before someone jumped on the bandwagon with a ‘Christian approach’ to productivity. Is this book just going to be a few Bible verses wrenched out of context to support some quasi-Christian self-management tips?

It’s a valid concern, but happily author Matt Perman isn’t guilty of this, and it’s partly the book’s foundational sections that make it so strong. As the former Director of Strategy for Desiring God, Perman is well placed to write such a book. His popular blog regularly reflects on productivity, leadership, theology, and culture, and he’s particularly given a lot of time to thinking about the recent productivity movement through a biblical lens.  

For starters, Perman is clear from the outset that productivity is not about efficiency, but about effectiveness. And the minute you bring in a biblical worldview, then this is not a vague effectiveness but becoming effective specifically in the realm of fruitfulness in doing good works, as labours of love prompted by a gospel motivation. This is not about getting lots of the things-I-want-to-do done more quickly, as if it were just for my sake. Neither is Perman oblivious to the messy reality of life and the need to be flexible. Ultimately he is arguing for serving and loving others in all of life; it is about people, not things or tasks.

Even if you agree with Perman up to this point, you might still dismiss the need to examine your own productivity. But Perman perceptively notes that whether we like or not, we all have some sort of approach to getting things done, even if that approach is the absence of any real strategy. And if we’re Christians who are called to be stewards of our lives, gifts, hours, etc, for God and for others, then it’s right that we seek to ‘manage our time well’.

And so, having made his case for effectiveness in serving others, Perman then argues that this needs to translate into personal leadership (knowing what’s most important) and personal management (putting it first and actually doing it). Of course, this idea won’t be groundbreaking to anyone who’s familiar with the likes of David Allen, Peter Drucker or Stephen Covey, and Perman is the first to acknowledge that. In fact he suggests these ‘what’s best next’ approaches are a gift of common grace. The difference lies in that fact that Perman has already spent a third of his book building up a biblical approach to redefining the category of ‘best’, as well as examining our motivations for doing it.

Perman then spends the rest of the book unpacking four key steps for actually becoming more effective, using the acronym D.A.R.E. These stand for Define (knowing what’s most important); Architect (creating a flexible structure); Reduce (freeing up your time for what’s most important); and Execute (doing what’s most important). Throughout these I found myself underlining again and again. Perman writes with the aim of his work being useful for any work situation, but as someone who is in a situation where I am responsible for ordering most of my time it was gold-dust. He argues convincingly for the likes of personal mission statements; setting up your week and creating the right routines; harnessing multitasking, interruptions and procrastination; managing email and workflow; as well as managing larger projects in the midst of the everyday.

What’s Best Next is a treasure trove of general wisdom for working effectively, whilst all the way through compellingly directing one’s overall aim to that of using our lives to serve others, with the gospel as our motivation. It is very easy to read, and Perman’s use of chapter abstracts, summary boxes, and headings ensure one processes the headlines. I can’t think why someone would not benefit from much of this book. I plan on re-reading regularly, confident that each time will gradually sharpen my approach to my ‘getting things done’.

Go get yourself a copy. That’s what’s best next.

Full disclosure: The author sent me a copy of the book for free, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review!

I love being productive. I love Getting Things Done and OmniFocus and Evernote. I love blogs like Matt Perman’s What’s Best Next. I love syncing between devices using the Cloud so that I’m not even  aware of doing it. I love boshing through a To Do list like there’s no tomorrow.

But perhaps too much focus on productivity can also distract us from what really matters. Productivity tools are exactly that: tools. Tools to help us in the particular roles and responsibilities we have. And for Christians that means tools to help us serve God, his people, and his world.

And yet sometimes I sense within myself that the completion, perfection, and achievement these tools offer instead become a means to serve simply me. I slip into measuring myself by my productivity, and that is what matters most to me in a day. Life become about me being productive at all costs, and God help anyone who puts themselves in between me and my To Do List.

And so my heart was prodded when I read this:

“The gospel teaches us that we are not machines, we are creatures, and in our creatureliness, we cannot work out with any certainty the various values of individual actions. If we think we can identify and accurately calculate the fruit of our labours, we fool ourselves into thinking we are God.

…

The application of modern management practices to the Christian life ends in ungodliness because it results in the maximisation of things that can be quantified – like hours spent, sales made or products produced. But godliness cannot be quantified in any absolute sense. At least in part, this is because it is a matter of the heart.

…

We will not grow in godliness by squeezing more productivity out of life, but by learning to obey the word of God in all its fullness.”

Paul Grimmond, “Trusting in the Dark,” in Facing Depression Together (ed. Paul Grimmond; Matthias Minizines; Kingsford, Australia: Matthias Media, 2010). 8.

What do you think? Agree? How do you balance productivity and having a gospel motivation?