Do more better

'Productivity is effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God'

Tim Challies, Do more better, p.19

'Do more better: A practical guide to productivity' by Tim Challies is a great January book and is all about getting sorted, productive and organised 'for the glory of God'. 

To some, this sort of thing comes naturally and I confess I am not one of those folk. Hence, the beginning of the year tends to be a time when I try to remind myself of my life vision ( I wrote one down over a decade ago), my responsibilities and goals and get them into some semblance of order. You do need to have a bit of a system for getting things done and getting 'on purpose'. All of us are able, Tim Challies believes, with some help, to 'do more better'.

My mother recently introduced Pete, our Ops manager, to someone by saying 'This is Pete- he runs the church for David' and that is in so many ways true. He is a natural administrator and sorts, orders and works through lists, finances, complex documents and spreadsheets like a man who was born for it. He was indeed born for it and has what the Bible calls 'the gift of administration'. Now, not everyone is an administrator as gifted as Pete but those of us who are not can certainly learn from those who are like him. 

Tim Challies is one person we can all learn from and has written all the best tips down on this ever developing subject of productivity. The book is a thin book -one that anyone looking for a primer on all this would do well to check out. The first half is essential reading about the point of doing anything at all and don't be tempted to skip this bit. I have read lots of books like this (GTD etc) and 'Do more better' is among the most accessible because it's simple, practical and rooted in God's grace. It will give you some very helpful tips and tools that will enable you to achieve tasks more effectively, store your information more logically and plan your time more prudently. 

All in all, this is one to read as you tee up all you are hoping, planning and praying for in 2016 and these things may actually then come to pass. That's, of course, only if you do as Tim recommends.