Productivity is about good works

Matt Perman July 16, 2019

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There are lots of reasons we care about productivity—we might want to have less stress, get more done in less time or simply find the subject interesting. Those are all good reasons.

However, there are deeper, better reasons to care about productivity. In fact, there are incredible reasons to care about productivity that almost no one talks about.

Chief among these reasons is this: Productivity is really about good works.

That’s worth saying again: Productivity is really about good works — which we were created in Christ to do (Ephesians 2:10) and which we are to do eagerly and enthusiastically (Titus 2:14). That’s why productivity matters, and that’s why I write about productivity. My aim is to help Christians be effective in good works.

This changes how you think about everything.

It means that when you get your email inbox to zero, you aren’t just getting your email inbox to zero—you are doing good works. When you go to a meeting, you aren’t just going to a meeting. You are doing good works. Everything that we do as Christians—in faith—is a good work.

Therefore, we do good works all day long—and consequently, need to learn how to be more effective in them so we can be of greater service to others.

This is where understanding productivity and productivity practices comes in. By learning how to be more effective in our everyday lives—in all of the work and projects and initiatives and intentions that come our way—we’re able to serve others more effectively.

Every productivity tool we might use ultimately exists for the purpose of helping to amplify our effectiveness in good works, for the glory of God.

That’s the essence of the framework in which, as Christians, we need to think about productivity.

Photo source: istock 

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Matt Perman is the director of career development at The King’s College and co-founder of What’s Best Next, which aims to empower Christians to be more effective in all areas of life. Perman is also author of the best-selling book What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done and a frequent speaker on leadership, productivity and theology from a gospel-centered perspective. He lives in New York City.

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