Godward Toil

Matt Perman on Connected Kingdom Podcast

Tim Challies, a brother whose work on the web I admire and appreciate, has a relatively new podcast called the Connected Kingdom (iTunes link). This week (episode 9) he hosted Matt Perman, the senior director of strategy for Desiring God. Matt blogs about productivity and other kingdom work at What's Best Next. The discussion between Tim and Matt this week will be a great interest to readers of this blog. These two godly men tackle many of the themes I've blogged about here, and do so from an intelligent, gracious, and measured way.

Here are some of the topics they discussed and the approximate timecode when each starts:

• Matt's testimony and recent biography (0:55)
• Defining productivity as getting the right things done (7:30)
• Risk of making efficiency and productivity functional idols (10:15)
• Productivity and list management software, and the "strange" mindset one can fall into  (12:50)
• Getting Things Done (GTD) strengths and weaknesses from a Christian perspective (15:15) (includes incisive contrast around the 23-minute mark between the approach to peace of mind in GTD and Philippians 4)
• The value of forgetting, and the potential tyranny of lists (27:00)
• Recommended books (28:15) (includes helpful discussion about reading Covey with discernment)
• Life at Desiring God Ministries with John Piper on leave of absence (33:30)
• Gospel-oriented book on productivity Matt is planning to write in August (35:00)

Near the end of the episode, Matt mentioned that he is writing a book this summer on productivity in the context of the Gospel. That is a book that I have desired to write (and read!) for a long time, but which I've never believed God had called me to commit to. I'm thrilled that God has given a reformed brother like Matt that desire, and the resources to accomplish it. I will pray for him in this effort. Please do the same--the Church needs it!

 

Morning checklist includes potty

About a week after my last post about my four year-old son using Mommy's inbox for a birthday request, I found this index card on his dresser. I guess he's getting the checklist habit as well as the inbox habit!

Mommy's inbox is a good place for a birthday wish

 
My four-year-old son seems to have adopted at least one part of the GTD workflow. My wife found this note in her Inbox yesterday. This made me smile. He's watching our habits and he likes what he sees!  He sees stuff go in to Mommy's box--notes from Daddy, party invitations, educational articles, church bulletins. He watches Mommy faithfully process these many inputs onto action lists each day (note the InboxZero state in which he found her--what a wife!). And then he has the privilege of seeing the whole process culminate into action as she diligently works her lists. The boy knows a fruitful process when he sees it. He figured out that his chances for a "higHer Bascetball hoop.For my Birthday" are best if he presents the request to Mommy in a context in which she put it on an action list.

He has also started to put his preschool work into my box when he gets home at lunchtime each day. I think he enjoys having a place to put things where he can (a) trust I will see them soon and (b) not have to clutter his brain or room with things that can't be acted upon until I'm home from work. When I get his little treasures, I bring them to him so we can enjoy them together.

Now, all of this asynchronous communication through inboxes could lead a person to object, "OK, you're getting things done, but isn't this a sterile form of communication? I mean, is he your son or your employee?" Fair question. I can imagine scenarios in which children can only communicate their needs and love through the inbox of an absent parent. Daddy works 14 hours a day, so the kids can only share their drawings by placing them in an inbox where they get processed along with the utility bills. Mommy is so preoccupied with her own life that she wouldn't remember her son's birthday if he didn't put it on her list. 

The sin and sadness of those scenarios don't have to do with the inbox, of course. The problem is in the parents' hearts and lives. My wife and I are not immune to such selfishness. We need the gospel everyday to cleanse us and turn our foolish hearts back to the superior pleasures of God. As that happens, though, He does orient us toward nurturing, teaching, and encouraging our children. And as they experience us pouring ourselves out for their good, the inbox becomes an extension of a trusting relationship--a symbol of affection meeting action. The inbox and project lists bring the security that Daddy and Mommy guard their attention and keep their commitments.

Speaking of project lists, my wife and I have an active project to carve out some space in our home for each of our children (turning 3, 5, and 7 year-old soon) to have their own in/outboxes, files, and work surface. Although they are so young, God is bringing inputs into their lives all the time. They have ideas and goals and responsibilities. We keep a wiki for my daughter of writing ideas for her 1st grade assignment--our goal is for her to take that over some day. Whether our children will ultimately adopt these habits as their own, only God knows. But we're trying to share with them as much of what we've learned as we can. Whatever their habits, may they be productive for the Kingdom!

Related Posts:

A Heritage of Habits: GTD for the family

You're list will never get shorter!

One of the principles I appreciate about GTD, and often remind people when I'm counseling them about living more productivity for God, is that your list will never get shorter.  God is always working, His kingdom is always advancing, the world is always decaying.  So every time you cross something off, something new will appear.   One of the first rules I share with people (and try to remind myself every day) is "Give up the fantasy of completion."

In my daily Bible reading, I came across this passage in Ecclesiastes which caused me to meditate, once again, on this principle:

All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
Ecc 1:7-8

The work I have to do in my life--for my job, for my ministry, for my family--is like the streams running to the sea, and sound going to the ear.    If the stream had as its goal to fill up the ocean and be done, it would be sorely disappointed, and badly confused about its purpose.   That doesn't mean that the stream's work isn't important;  it's essential.  It's just that the goal is not clearing my list, any more than the goal of listening to music or of looking at my wife as to fill my ears and eyes so that they don't ever need to listen or look again.

Praise the Lord for his wise and perfect Word, sufficient for every circumstance of life!

Can a Christian do GTD and Col 2:8?

A dear brother emailed me this afternoon to alert me to an interview with Wayne Grudem by C.J. Mahaney.  Grudem is a theological giant of modern orthodox Christianity.  I have heard several Christian leaders (including Sally Michaels of Children Desiring God) say that Grudem's Systematic Theology is the most important book, outside the Bible, for anyone with a teaching ministry to own.

In the interview with Mahaney, Grudem says:   "As far as human advice and counsel, I have found the system described in Getting Things Done by David Allen to be very helpful—I am just now rereading that to try to get all of my “in box” items back under control again and listed in one place, and then processed. I should add that I find effective use of time to be a continual challenge and I keep making small modifications here and there."

I have mentioned before that I approached GTD with a fair amount of skepticism because of Allen's New Age background and aims.  I'm in the middle of reading his latest book, Making it all work and I remain on guard against the promise of "Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life" (as the full title offers).  The Bible is about victory in life and everything else!  And because it is, there is a part of me that wants to throw into the fire any other book that makes a similar claim.   I think that part of me is righteous and I want to keep that fierce rejection of claims that compete with the Bible's claims.   And, at the same time, I have found that, as a bottom-up approach (set of tools) for managing what God puts in my life, GTD has helped me serve my family, teach, fight sin, lead, pray, and respond to the Spirit in church more effectively.  I love and desire productivity for the Lord, and want to steward his time and tasks well.  The disciplines associated with GTD are not essential for me to do that, but they do help.

So it is comforting to hear that someone whose heart and mind I admire as much as I do Grudem's has come to similar conclusions.  I do think it takes an enlightened mind and a strong foundation of faith and theology to read David Allen and remain true to Paul's exhortation in Col 2:8, "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."  But it is possible.  And if the heart and mind conditions are right, GTD can be a powerful tool in the hand of a Christian.

A Heritage of Habits: GTD for the family

I desire to have children who are fruitful and focused for the Lord, and family that lives in a next-action mindset, ready to take whatever next steps in faith we are called to take.   

In that vein, I have been thinking a lot over the past two years about how to incorporate the GTD methodology and other principles of productivity in our family's life, and how to instill these practices in our children from a very early age.   I mindmapped a bunch of ideas about this a couple of years ago, including how to leverage knowledge of child development to instill next-action thinking in kids.    Here is an example (.pdf) of one such map (note: it's pretty busy, so you'll need to zoom in to read small font in some parts).  I have others that I hope to share as I blog more about this.   

I was inspired to re-look at these old maps by a terrific post by Micheal Sliwinski that I read today at GTD Times.  The article offers good, concrete advice for families based on Michael's experiences implementing GTD at home.   I recommend checking it out if you're thinking about how to do this with your family.    From what I can tell, Michael Sliwinski will be contributing regularly about this topic, so I'm eager to learn more from his experiences.

The inspiration to revisit my maps and ideas about GTD in the family comes at a good time.   First, I am preparing to teach a three-part seminar in Sunday School at our church.   This seminar will build on the pilot seminar I presented a year ago to three couples from our church.   The presentation this month will have many more participants, God willing; and I suspect those who attend will be at various points in the life cycle.   I know that family life and child rearing is important to this group, so I need to refocus myself on these ideas in order to be as helpful and relevant as I can be.   

Second, it's a good time for this to resurface because our family is preparing to move to new home in June.  So, we're in major planning and set-up mode.   We're doing lots of things to try to build GTD into our new living space.   For example, we've dedicated what was the dining room in the house to be a "family office," with the idea of having a dedicated productivity hub for the kids.   I'm also building a home office where I'll have my own hub.   It's an exciting time to think through how we want to order our lives and our children's habits.

With a move and a job change coming in the next two months, I doubt I'll blog any more than my usual 2-3 posts per month.   But I'm eager to use some of these opportunities to gather and pray through my developing ideas about GTD for God's family.

Do you (I) need an Internet diet?

Eric Mack has written a great post about a three-month "Internet Diet" where he unplugged and really got things done.   It is a persuasive and, for me, convicting post.   I highly recommend it.  Before you read it, ask the Spirit to do Psalm 139 in you as you read:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts! 
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! 

Scientific paper about GTD

A group from Brussels has submitted for publication a paper examining the cognitive science theories behind GTD.   One of the authors posted to the Efficient Academic Google Group that this is the "first academic paper about GTD."   The paper is  interesting, if you like to read academic slants on things and get new words for familiar things.  The full paper can be downloaded using the link above.  It should be noted that this paper has been submitted for publication, which is different from published or peer reviewed, so we'll have to wait to see what the expert scientific community thinks of it.

Getting things done with prayer

In a recent sermon on prayer, John Piper made the following staggering assertion:

...God has ordained to make our prayers real causes of real events. Real causes. The words of James 4:2, “You do not have because you do not ask,” do not mean, “You would have had anyway, even if you didn’t pray, since God had a plan and your prayers don’t matter.” “You do not have because you do not ask” means prayer causes things to happen that do not happen if the prayers don’t happen. This is breathtaking. And if you neglect this privilege—your participation in God’s moving the world—you are acting very foolishly. We pray because it is a staggeringly awesome privilege.

I nearly gasped when I heard this.  And it has changed my prayer life.   Why?

Anyone who knows John Piper's mission and theology knows that no one on Earth has a higher view God's sovereignty and supremacy.  In the very paragraph before the one I quoted above, he says,  "God runs this world with infinite wisdom. You and I never inform him of anything he doesn’t already know. We never add to his wisdom about what he should do next."    So when I heard him say "prayer causes things to happen that do not happen if the prayers don’t happen," I knew that  He was not taking about an open theism position in which God lacks foreknowledge and therefore is ever improving and responding.

That meant that I really needed to come to terms with this radical statement.  Does he really mean "cause"?   Do my prayers matter in a "cause" kind of way?   I knew that I hadn't been praying like that.   I asked God to show me truth, to enlighten and enlarge my mind so that I might possibly hold onto such a potentially glorious paradox long enough to examine it and let it touch me.    With that prayer, I went to the Scripture and found just what John Piper found:   We have an inscrutable God who knows and causes all things, and who has taken pleasure in causing prayer to cause things to happen in the universe.   This reality is so profound, that I can barely begin to think about before I exhaust my mental capacity.

Yet, marvelously and inexplicably, my soul can respond to it.  When I was first born of God, I prayed this way.  And I have begun to pray this way again.  Early this week, while I was reading the Bible in the morning, I felt overwhelmed by all of the tasks and responsibilities I had this week.  I could not see how I could possibly do everything that I had to do.  Next actions and projects identified, but not nearly enough time to fit them in.  In my prayer journal, I asked God to help me.   And I asked with the fervency that came from the meditations on prayer that had been sparked by the Piper sermon.   Later that day, one of the huge things I had to do was completed and taken away in 30 minutes.   When it happened, I knew with certainty (with as much unprovable certainty as I know I love my children) that my prayer had caused that to happen.  I thanked and praised Him.   An unbelievable interaction had taken place with the One who holds the universe in His hands.  I participated in God moving the world.  He caused my circumstances (the work I had, the sermon, everything), moved my heart to pray,  heard the prayer, and made it happen.   He ordered all of this such that my prayer was the only way it would happen--and/because it is the way He gets the most glory.

Prayer:  a trusted system for getting things done.

GTD overview for creative types

There is no shortage of GTD resources on the web, but Mysterious Flame recently did a nice concise overview.  The author of this blog is interested in productivity in creative endeavors.