Productivity

Ownership: Productivity According to God’s Principles

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Many churches and Christians have the right ambitions for ministry but fail to develop the proper systems to achieve them. Discover scriptural concepts and practical tips to be the most effective and efficient version of yourself for the sake of God’s Kingdom. 

The Three Things You Have to Do Today

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People often miss the essentials due to distraction, laziness, or busyness. Don’t allow these mindsets to rob you of accomplishing great things with the time you have this very day.

Nothing Gets More Orderly by Accident

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All of us talk about how stressful our lives are as we seek to work through frantic schedules and numerous tasks. The fact is that nothing gets more orderly by accident, and we must be proactive to make the most of the time we have.

Stop Making Excuses for Laziness

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We talk about laziness as if it is a character trait that some people just can’t help, but that doesn’t address the seriousness of the issue. If you lag around life, you miss out on the wonderful opportunities God has given you.

Strategic Staff Meetings

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We work hard to make our church’s staff meetings efficient and effective because that’s not the typical experience for many. By using a shared slide, we prepare before the meeting and get more accomplished together.

How to Make a Big Project Manageable

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If you undertake a massive project, you must create some reasonable steps along the way. If you don’t, you will get overwhelmed with the immensity and never make any progress.

Keep God’s Day Holy

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Exodus 20:8-11 – The fourth commandment standardized a week by six days to work and one day to rest. Keeping the Sabbath day holy is about ordering our time to remember who we are not.

Organization Precedes Continuation

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Exodus 18:1-27 – Jethro encouraged his son-in-law, Moses, to alter his leadership practices to focus on what God had called him to do. This simple yet significant change at Rephidim paved the way for what would happen at Sinai.

Intentional Daily Plans

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If you have ever wanted to simplify your organization but are unsure of where to start, I want to help. It’s a biblical ambition to live your life wisely, but we all need practical help to know where to start. Maybe these considerations can encourage change.

Developing Godly Ambition

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While we have plenty of examples of ambitious people eager to succeed for all the wrong reasons, that shouldn’t discourage you from being ambitious for godly motivations. Desiring to make your life count for God is as noble a motivator as possible.

Reorganizing Your Life

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If you are like me, there are days when I feel like my life is spinning out of control. There are so many expectations, and I sometimes struggle to do the bare minimum, let alone what I desire to get to do. If you feel like me, decide to make some changes.

It’s Sunday (But Monday’s Coming)

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Many ministry leaders know how to operate intentionally on Sundays but fail to capture the rest of the week’s potential. Be the most effective and efficient version of yourself for the sake of God’s Kingdom.

Evaluating New Adjustments

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It’s a new year that guarantees exciting opportunities and unexpected challenges. To ensure your life is heading in the right direction, it’s appropriate to evaluate your headings right now. More than making resolutions, we need to make changes.

Reestablishing Your Plan

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It’s that glorious time of year as you are considering making new year resolutions that will most likely not last the week. Instead of making promises, what about making a plan?

Scheduling Your Week

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We all say that we are busy, but are we really busy with the most important stuff? If you don’t schedule your week, someone will do it for you. To honor God with the time he has given us, we must start scheduling our priorities. Let’s make the days count.

Being Faithfully Productive from a Home Office

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As we each grasp with learning how to function during an international pandemic, we have to innovate among restrictions. We all have stuff we still have to do, and we want to be used in a purposeful way, but everything is different now. If you want to faithfully productive, we must go the 2nd mile while working at home.

You Can’t Progress Until You Process

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If you are like me, you often feel overwhelmed. The standard answer to someone asking, “How are you doing?” Is apparently supposed to be “busy.” We all say we are busy, but are we effective? Are you satisfied with the progress you are making in life? It’s time to go the 2nd mile in evaluating your progress.

The Lamentable Legacy of Laziness

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While laziness seems to be an accepted cultural disposition, it significantly lessens an individual’s overall opportunities. God’s Word highlights both the blessings and the benefits of hard work. Excuses When you blame laziness on your personality, you covertly attempt to blame God for your lack of effort. Laziness is not a disease or a dysfunction but a decision. Laziness leads …

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When Disorganization Becomes Detrimental

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You might acknowledge your struggle to stay organized, but has it reached a point of being detrimental in your life? Ignoring reality won’t help you. You only have so much time during this day and during your life. Are you doing what you can to ensure a healthy version of productivity? Organization is a spiritual issue. I used to disagree …

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Making Time for Your Marriage

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Romance, nurture, and communication takes time.  Setting an appointment to spend together is going the first mile, but that isn’t enough to have a thriving marriage.  Do you want your relationship to feel vibrant again?  It’s time to go the second mile by making time for your marriage. Subscribe to The 2nd Mile Podcast >> 5 Reminders The tragedy of how …

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The Right Productivity Tools for the Job

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After we moved into our home, I had the challenging opportunity of getting grass to grow in a new yard. The ground was so compacted, I had to break it up. I bought an aerator for my lawn but it first required some assembly. I didn’t have the exact size wrenches I needed, but I was sure I could make …

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Going the 2nd Mile in the Wrong Direction

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My wife and I had just enjoyed a wonderful night of worship with some of the dearest people in our lives. The miles spent to the church out of town was well worth the time. As we all got back in the car for the ride home, our spirits were energized but our bodies were depleted. My wife wanted to …

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Different Sizes of Plates

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Have you ever found yourself comparing your workload with another’s? It’s natural to do. Someone tells you about the great stress regarding what he or she does and inwardly you are somewhat skeptical of how hard that job actually is. You might have even thought to yourself, “Your job sounds easy – you couldn’t handle what I do!” We often …

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Leaving Laziness

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I used to be so good at being last-minute that I was dangerous. I was dangerous because I knew that I could cram things in right before the deadline. Whether it was a school paper, a home responsibility, or a work project, I figured out where my limit was, and I kept trying to push it. The scary thing was …

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10 Biblical Tips on Productivity and Laziness

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Many people neglect reading the Bible due to a false assumption that it doesn’t speak to where a person is in life. That couldn’t be further from the truth.  Even as it relates to work, productivity, effort, and laziness, the Bible is very clear regarding how we should live in this world. Here are 10 biblical tips on productivity and …

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Overcoming Email

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In this 6th post on productivity, I want to talk with you about a tool that can help you if you use it wisely.  If you don’t, it can dictate your life!  I am talking about the dreaded tool known as email. In his book, Do More Better, Tim Challies, offers a unique perspective on how so many people handle …

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Moderating Social Media

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In this 5th installment of a series on productivity, I want to throw out some ideas for you on how to moderate social media.  While there are so many positives concerning social media, it can turn into an addictive time-waster like no other. Social media is like a walk through Walmart. You spend more time than intended & walk out …

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Organizing Projects

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In this fourth post in a productivity series, I want to give some tips on how to organize projects. I was speaking at an event recently, and someone came up to me who had read a book I had written.  As we talked about the content for a while, she eventually acknowledged, “I’ve always wanted to write a book myself. …

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Choosing Tools

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In this third productivity post, I want to discuss the importance of choosing the right tools to keep you organized and focused. A few years ago, we remodeled a good portion of our home.  As we went from project to project, I was on a first-name basis with all the employees at Lowe’s.  I am a penny-pincher, so if I …

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Learning Discipline

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In this second post in a blog series on productivity, I want to talk about the importance of learning discipline.  I mentioned in the previous post on “Disguising Laziness,” that I struggled greatly with procrastination.  I tried to blame it on my wiring, but ultimately, I was simply succumbing to laziness. My close call with an online Greek course in seminary …

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Disguising Laziness

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I used to brag about being a procrastinator. I could wait till the last-minute and get anything done.  While I would drive people close to me crazy, I just accepted that’s “how I was” and barely made it through everything I did in life. That’s until my second semester of seminary came along. Prior to seminary, college had pushed me academically. …

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Think Projects – Not Tasks

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What I find is that it is very difficult for me to get into a creative and productive rhythm when I jump from role to role and task to task. I find when I do the same task over and over, I get faster and more effective as the time goes. And that is why I choose to think projects instead of tasks.

Don’t Evaluate What You Do – Evaluate How You Do It

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When I look at my work week, so much of how I do things came from time spent evaluating how I have done things. I have found so many wiser ways of doing things and that process has allowed me to be a part of more Kingdom-focused projects as a result. Don’t evaluate what you do. Evaluate how you do it.

“There Aren’t Enough Hours in the Day!”

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  Time is one of those things that you can never get back.  We all have an appointed time to live, and we will not see another second of it.  Everyone has a certain purpose to live for on this earth, and when that purpose is accomplished, our time is done (Acts 13:36).  No magic wand will ever be able …

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1 Week Offline (And the Return Back…)

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We had a family vacation at the end of July.  It was great.  I decided to turn my email off and really, really be on vacation (which by the way, is a great recommendation for all).  I replied to all emails Sunday night around midnight before vacation officially started.  I went on vacation on Monday.  On Friday night, I decided to turn my email back on, and it kept rising.  Below is the number of emails that I received that week:

743.  Within 5 days, I collected 743 emails.  When I started going through those emails, I was overwhelmed and excited all at the same time.  And here what was in those emails:

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Book of the Week: Getting Things Done

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This week’s book of the week is David Allen’s Getting Things Done.  The funny thing is I am a week late on this book review because I have had too much to do!  I made it 7 weeks into the new year with a book a week, and I failed miserably on the week I was reading a productivity book. …

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Worship Team Communication

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It has been a few weeks since I posted a worship team training thought on here, so I wanted to post something I had been working on.  This month’s value is unity: leading with selflessness. We are a team.  The musicians, technicians, and host team.  We all work together to make one thing happen: we want to create an environment …

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