Category: Productivity

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The Best Productivity System (IMHO).

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As we seek to fight the destructive forces of busyness at work in our lives, we have discussed the need to find our identity in Christ, instead of what we do. We have also looked at how to follow the Holy Spirit as He guides our calendar and daily activities. Now, if you can find a good productivity system to pull it all together, and stay organized, you will be able to have victory over “busy.”

I want to share with you the general productivity system that I currently use. Since I have put it into use, it has been a game-changer for me and my ministry! I continually recommend it to my leadership team and to others I coach and mentor. Now, I am happy to recommend it to you.

Let me preface by saying that other than a small kick back from Amazon, I do not get any financial or other benefit from recommending these products to you. I am sincerely recommending this system to those who struggle to maintain their course, accomplish their goals, and organize their day-to-day life. My ability to get things done has been revolutionized by this sytem. I am not an affiliate; I am just a fan.

The system I have been using for the last few years comes from Michael Hyatt. He is a former C.E.O. of Thomas Nelson publishers turned blogger and productivity guru. I discovered his blog many years ago, and I was always encouraged by his practical advice. However, I never went much deeper into his products, except for the occasional free webinar.

Over the last two years, however, I have engaged with some of his tools, and my life has been completely transformed by what I have learned. I am happy to share it with you.

Step 1: Creating a Life Plan

Though I casually followed Hyatt’s blog and leadership podcast from time to time, it all changed when I found one of his books on a clearance rack in my local bookstore. This book, “Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get The Life You Want” (with co-writer Daniel Harkavy), walks through all of the practical steps necessary to create a “life plan.” Like a GPS, a life plan is a personal guide to help you determine who you want to be in life, and how to get there day after day.

This book came into my life at the perfect time. I was already being impacted by a teaching from Andy Stanley, called “A New You Resolution.” The main point Andy made was, “it is always a mistake to determine what you will do, before you decide who you will be.” I had also recently been thinking through the life planning idea after walking through “Storyline: Finding Your Subplot in God’s Story” by Donald Miller.

It all came together for me as I worked through the steps in Living Forward. I wrote my own eulogy. I determined what mattered to me in life, and thought through the purpose of each area. This tool helped me to reverse engineer my life, in order to stay on course to get to where I want to be. This is the best $3 purchase I have made in the last decade!

Step 2: Setting and Achieving Annual Goals

As I began to spend more time on Hyatt’s various free resources, it wasn’t long before I began hearing about certain strategic seminars that he offered. One had to do with setting goals and achieving them in a practical, methodical system, and the other dealt with finding freedom in your busy schedule to do what matters most in your life. Unfortunately, at the time, I couldn’t afford the costs of those seminars.

To my delight, however, it wasn’t long until Hyatt released the first of those seminars in book form, titled “Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals.” 

I had always been one who sits down at the beginning of the year and set goals for myself. Someone gave me a Franklin Covey planning system in college. I have tried various productivity systems, since then, to keep focus and get things done. However, my failure rate was always much higher than my success rates. Over the course of time, distractions would come in, priorities would shift, and I’d end the year saying, “I’ll do better next time.”

Please note that I am not pointing blame at the various productivity systems I tried. It was my own inability to make them work for me. But they say the best productivity system is the one you will actually use.

Upon reading Your Best Year Ever, I found the best system for me! My thinking on fulfilling goals radically shifted. The way Hyatt differentiated between goals and projects already made sense to me. It was the practical side of breaking down your annual goals into smaller timeframes and achievable actions that pushed me forward.

Throughout the course of the year, you may have 8-10 goals you want to achieve. However, Hyatt urges you to divide them down into quarterly goals. You break these 2-3 goals each quarter down into actionable tasks. You then follow through on them by choosing a weekly “Big 3,” which are the tasks you must do that week to complete the goals on time. Then again, you divided those out into your daily “Big 3.”

As you keep your goals in front of you, take actionable steps, do weekly reviews, and intentionally move forward, it builds a momentum that keeps you going until you achieve success.

Personally, I have accomplished more of my goals in the last couple of years, after reading and applying the principles in Best Year Ever, than ever before.

Step 3: Managing Your Time

At the same time I read Best Year Ever, I was introduced to Michael Hyatt’s physical, daily planner, which is designed around his teachings. This planner helps you manage your goals, your weekly and daily “Big 3’s” and complete the weekly review.

It is called, “The Full Focus Planner,” and even in my work in Africa (where it is difficult to get them delivered), the FFP has become my daily companion for tracking my goals, my to-do’s and managing my time.

On the one hand, having a paper planner might seem like a hassle. However, what I have found is that it sets me free from my digital addictions, it keeps all my planning and note-taking needs in one place, and it has actually helped me to focus more on a moment-to-moment basis, because I can simply write down the mental distractions that come up, and delegate them to a future slot in my calendar for review.

For some, the cost of the Full Focus Planner might seem a bit prohibitive, at first. I understand the feeling. I can honestly say, however, as someone who runs an international ministry on a shoestring budget, that this planner is one of those rare things which are worth every dollar you spend, because of the return on investment it offers.

Step 4: Focusing on What Matters Most

Even putting the Full Focus Planner system into use, and using it daily for almost two years, now, I was still struggling to minimize my distractions, and clear unnecessary, burdensome tasks from my schedule.

Once again, in perfect timing to help me on this journey to productivity, Hyatt has released the second seminar as an easy to follow book called, “Free to Focus: A Total Productivity System to Achieve More by Doing Less.” 

After reading this book a couple of months ago, I am loving the process of eliminating, automating, and delegating tasks that hinder me from doing the work that matters most. I can already say with confidence that what I have learned from this book has filled in the gaps for me, and the areas I was struggling in are now coming under control.

I have put together daily rituals and designed my ideal week, and have been able to get more accomplished (that matters) in the last month, than any other in recent history. It has helped me find clarity on the work that requires my personal touch, and what can be given away. It has also helped me become a better leader and mentor to my ministry team.

Just last week, while my team handled some legal issues and oversaw a lot of day-to-day items that used to bother me, I was able to finish writing and editing an 80 page training manual, and then lead over 100 pastors in our area in the training the book provides.

Why I Recommend This Productivity System

Once again, I do not have an affiliation with Michael Hyatt, and do not benefit from recommending these resources to you. However, after writing on overcoming busyness in our lives for the past couple of weeks, I have been asked multiple times how I personally have been able to achieve this.

I can honestly tell you, that without the Full Focus Planner and the affiliated books which teach the system, I would be completely overwhelmed and burned out. As our family transitioned to Africa full-time last year, and with all of the demands on my time and resources, this system has been a great source of sanity.

I am so thankful to Michael Hyatt and his team. I am also happy to see a Christian business flourish, with integrity and true care for their customer. So it is simply out of that gratitude and a changed life that I can point you in their direction for the absolute best productivity system I have found.

Even if you are not interested in Michael Hyatt’s system, you can download my own goal planning worksheet for free. I use this worksheet every December to think through my goals, before writing them in the Full Focus Planner.

Download My Free Goal Planning Worksheet

Let’s Connect

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If you’re enjoying the content I produce, a little caffeine to keep me going would be appreciated!



© Anthony Scott Ingram 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

Please note that I do get a small kickback from Amazon for purchases made using the links on this site. 
Should you choose to purchase from them, I just want to say thank you for further supporting my work in ministry! 
You can also donate to my missionary work and ministry through Sozo Ministries, here.

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3 Keys to Redeeming Your Time

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Being busy is not a priority in life. We must break this tendency of western culture, which has even taken hold in the Body of Christ. It keeps us too engaged with activity to even stop and breathe. We must learn to redeem the time and live the life God has for us.

As we discussed in the last post, one way we do this is to learn to find our identity in Christ alone, rather than in what we do. Yet that, by itself, will not break the cycle of overwork and stress. If we are to beat the bondage of busyness, we must also learn to rely fully on the leading of the Holy Spirit in how we spend our time each day.

We said that a daily habit of prayer is necessary to reveal our new identity in Christ. Most often, it is not a lack of time, but a lack of priority that keeps us from deep, meaningful prayer. What we must see is that not making time for the Holy Spirit to speak to us daily will affect more than just finding our identity in Him. Without His daily guidance in our activity list through prayer, we will also not be in sync with God’s plan for our day-to-day lives.

Redeeming the Time

Ephesians 2:10 tells us that “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus (that is identity) for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (that is our activity).” God cares about who we are becoming, and is shaping our “new man” after the image of Jesus, but He also cares about how we spend our time.

This should automatically tell us that in order to be onboard with the works God has for us, we must be living in relationship with Him continually. We should find His priorities, daily, for our lives.

The truth is that having families, careers, friends, and other commitments in life will always bring demands that we cannot say “no” to. We simply cannot control everything that gets onto our schedules without isolating ourselves. However, the reality is that we usually have way more control of our time than we take responsibility for.

The Apostle Paul gave some important keys to the Ephesian church for redeeming the time. He said, “look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15-17, ESV).

Key #1: Walking in Wisdom

In this command, He first says that it takes wisdom in determining how you walk in this world.

Too many people simply float through life in an unwise way. They do not strategically think about how they prioritize their lives or how they accept new items on their to-do list. They simply let life happen to them. For example, how many times have you found yourself spending hours on social media, binging Netflix, or wasting time in countless other ways, without giving it a second thought? Yeah… me too.

In order to change this lifestyle, we must first make a commitment to wisdom. 

Where do we find wisdom when it seems to be lacking? In relationship with the Lord, of course! 

James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

So the first step in overcoming an out-of-control busyness, is to come to the Lord and ask for wisdom in how you will live your life. It is His delight to guide you in your calling, your activities, and how to make decisions going forward. He will instruct you on the things that should be a priority. He will also reveal the things that will lead you down the wrong path. Trust His wisdom.

Key #2: Make the Best Use of Your Time

Once we have asked God for wisdom, we must walk in it. This is where calling Him “Lord of our lives” actually takes affect, and we let Him be the one in charge; the master we submit to.

To be honest, there have been many times in my life that the Holy Spirit has told me to say no to something I really wanted to do. And there have been times I have ignored Him, and done what I wanted. And it has usually turned out bad for me.

Sometimes, it becomes very obvious that what I thought would be the best option was not, and things have gone bad. At other times, I have found that by saying yes, rather than listening to God, I have actually missed out on other, better opportunities. Now, of course there are times when I have ignored God’s leading and do not see the negative affect it has. However, in making the best use of our time, we should realize that the one who controls the universe will always lead us in the best option for our lives.

Submission to God means listening to Him guide us, and then obeying what He tells us to do. That is how we put the wisdom of God into action, and make the best use of the time.

Key #3: Understand the Will of the Lord

Finally, Paul says that in order to redeem the time, we must understand what the will of the Lord is, because left to its own devices, time defaults to “evil.”

Of course this means we must be reading the Bible, daily, and understanding the “full counsel” of the Lord. However, if we believe that God has a will for our lives, that is personal to each one of us, then we must remain in the posture of prayer and listening throughout our day, as well.

If you are married, intimacy with your spouse cannot happen in a 15-minute private time each morning, before you move on with your life. It takes an ongoing relationship, throughout the day. We send texts, make phone calls, share a passing glance or touch on the shoulder, and make time for long conversations whenever possible. Relationships require ongoing connection.

In the same way, intimacy with the Lord means that we give Him our time. We desire Him to speak to us, continually, in everything we do. We seek Him out, even in the busy moments.

If we are making an important decision at work, we should inquire of the Lord. If we are spending time with our family, we should be asking Him how to be a better spouse or parent. In everything we do and every decision we make, we should be consulting with our “Lord.”

His divine will for our lives is not an abstract, far-out idea. It is a moment-by-moment desire that we should be becoming like Christ, and a plan to make that happen in every action. You must make it a priority to determine His will in all things, every day.

Our Divine Assistant

The good news for us is that God did not intend on us to live our lives on our own. He wants to lead and guide us, and to show us the way in all things.

Jesus says, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).

He went on to say that when the Spirit comes, “He will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-15).

If God cares, so much, about how you live your life each day, that He sent His own Spirit to dwell with you and guide you in all things, then you should rely on Him, fully, to do so. 

Although I do not intend to limit Him in any way, you can think of the Holy Spirit like a “Supernatural Life Coach,” who will lead you into Christ-likeness. He is also like a “Divine Executive Assistant” who will help you plan your calendar and to-do list.

No matter how you choose to think of His help in your life, what you cannot do is neglect the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance. If you see being busy for busyness sake as the distraction and destructive force it is, then you must rely on God to be the one to lead you into His abundant life, rest, and peace.

I would encourage you to begin right now. Before you move on to the next thing, take a moment and ask Him what you should do next; how you need to do whatever it is, and to lead you in any decisions that will come of it. He wants to be involved, if you will let Him.

In the next post, I will show you the best productivity system I have found, and that I use in my own life and ministry to keep myself moving forward in what God has called me to do. Stay tuned…

If you find this blog to be helpful, why not subscribe? You can also follow along on Facebook and Instagram, to never miss a post.

Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash

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Identity Before Effort: 3 Ways to Find Ourselves in Christ in the Midst of a Busy World

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In my last post, I discussed the various dangers of always being busy. One of the major problems I shared is that it hinders our relationship with God, and we can even begin to find our identity in the work we are doing, rather than in Christ. This is a problem which must be overcome!

Busy or not, as a Christian, it is in Jesus alone where we must find our identity. It is so easy for other things in our lives to slip in and claim that role, we must remind ourselves daily of who we are in Christ because of what He has done on our behalf. The way we do that is by cultivating our relationship with Him, so that He can transform us into His image.

I want to share three daily spiritual disciplines you can begin practicing today, that will help you find your identity in Christ alone. (While these should be regular practices, we should also remember that this is a relationship we are cultivating, not just another item on our to-do list.)

A Daily Routine of Prayer

There is an old cliche which has been used by Christians for longer than I’ve been alive. It says, “Christianity is not just a religion, it’s a relationship.” Unfortunately, this little statement has not settled in for too many of us. 

We are supposed to enjoy the presence of the Lord, daily, and have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Too often, however, our prayer life dwindles down to confessions of guilt and giving the Lord our list of needs. In the worst case, prayer gets limited to a ritual blessing before a meal! Instead of taking time to simply be with Him, our prayer life becomes part of a religious practice that gets checked off a to-do list, or brings guilt when we forget.

If we are going to find our identity in Christ, this must change! We must learn how to be with Him, to hear Him speaking, and to rest in His presence. He will take the lead in the relationship, if we will simply give Him time in our busy schedule. Just like husbands and wives begin to be shaped by one another as a result of time together, we, too, will begin to be shaped by our relationship with Him.

If most of us would be honest, it isn’t even a lack of time that hinders our prayer life. It is a lack of priority. I am my own proof of this statement. Some mornings I wake up with a worship song in my heart, and begin the day with prayer, before my feet touch the floor. Other days, I grab my phone to turn off the alarm, and immediately go to facebook and emails to see what I missed during the night.

Until we get the relationship right, our identity will continue to be determined by all the other things we give our time to.

A Daily Time in the Word

A friend of mine said something back in high school that has stuck with me for years. “The Bible is God’s love letter to us, written in blood.” If that statement is true, then we should want to know the scriptures by heart.

As I think back to the days of dating my wife, Liz, we were separated by a six-hour drive. We couldn’t always be together, and it is impossible to stay on the phone constantly, so a lot of our communication happened via text messages, email and social media messengers.

You can bet that when my phone sent a notification that there was a new message from Liz, it didn’t take long for me to read every word. It did not matter what I was doing at the time, my first priority would shift to finding out what she had to say.

In the same way, if God has written the Bible for us to know Him and His love for us, then we should read it. We should study it. We should know it from front to back, and want to know it even more. This isn’t because the Bible takes the place of an active relationship with the Lord, but because it enhances it. Through the scriptures we learn everything He wants to reveal to the church in every generation.

Unfortunately, too often we cannot seem to make the time to read His love letter to us. It gets pushed to the back of our daily priorities; exchanged for everything else vying for our attention.

The truth is, however, that not only does the Bible reveal the Lord to us, but it also reveals who we are in Him. If we are going to keep our identity grounded in who Jesus says we are, and not in everything else we do, then we must take time every day to read His message to us!

A Daily Affirmation of Who We Are in Christ

One final practice that will help us to keep our identity grounded in Christ is to habitually remind ourselves, every day, of who He has called us to be. When we get busy, it is easy to forget, so make it a priority to help yourself remember.

“I am a child of God, walking in holiness, and living for the Kingdom of God!”

“I am loved by my creator.”

“I am forgiven of every sin and freed to walk in righteousness.”

“I am made to love.”

“I am called to serve.”

There are so many truths we believe, yet do not live out because we lose them among the distractions. Make a list. Read them every morning and night. Post them where you will see them. Send yourself an email at night, so that it’s the first thing you see at your desk in the morning. Set reminders on your phone to pop up before that stressful meeting. Listen to music or podcasts that keep your focus on Him throughout the day.

However you decide to do so, you must remind yourself every single day of who you are in Christ. Do not let the busyness of life sneak in and steal it away.

I promise, as we practice these disciplines and live out who we are in Christ, it will begin to change the way we interact with our busyness. We will learn to work from our position as sons and daughters of God, rather than being consumed by the ever-expanding to-do list.

What other practices do you do to remind yourself of your identity in Him? I’d love to hear from you in the comments. 

In the next post, I share 3 Keys for Redeeming Your Time. If you find this blog to be helpful, why not subscribe? You can also follow along on Facebook and Instagram, to never miss a post.

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The Destructive Power of Always Being Busy

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I hate the word “busy!” 

Each year, as the summer months approach in the U.S., our ministry enters the most packed season of work. This season is filled with conferences, travel, international visitors, trainings, and outreaches.

In the last week alone I have travelled to three different districts of Uganda. I did a two-day training with a small group of leaders in northern Uganda. Back home, I hosted our monthly prayer breakfast, then visited the construction site of one of our churches in the mountains two hours away. I preached at our ministry’s church an hour away on Sunday. I travelled there again on Monday to sign legal documents to receive a land donation.

Still ahead this week I have to finish editing a 100-page training manual for pastors and leaders in discipleship and I have to file our annual Form 990 with the IRS next week. We have 7 upcoming training conferences through the beginning of June, and then we kick off the annual Global Outreach mission, which runs all day every day for 3 weeks. All of this is among the normal, daily work that is required to keep the ministry functioning.

All of that is to say, the word ‘BUSY’ absolutely describes my life right now… It probably describes yours as well, as it does most people in the modern world. 

Busy is also my most hated word in the English language.

It seems like not too long ago, when someone asked how we are, the standard reply was “I’m fine.” It didn’t matter how we actually were. “Fine” let us respond in such a way that would not be a burden to the one who asked, yet still convey that, despite minor frustrations, life is progressing as normal. 

Today, however, in most conversations I engage in, it seems the expected response when asked how you are has changed to “busy.” This is oftentimes even said with a certain pride. It is meant to convey a level of importance to the other person. “Not only do I have a life, but I have so much of a life I can’t handle it all…”

Busyness is Not a Core Value in Life

Years ago, as I began my international ministry travels and was learning to balance the practicals of my calling, God made it very clear to me that busyness is not something that should be sought after or valued. Being busy is not a mark of success. In fact, instead of proving you have a life, it usually means you are incapable of having one at all. 

The worst part of busyness for me is that my most important relationships are usually the first things to suffer.

Busyness Separates Us from God

My relationship with God IS a high priority for me. Yet what has been proven true, over and over again, is that if I don’t intentionally make time to spend with Him in my daily schedule, it won’t happen. Nobody accidentally takes time to read the Bible and meditate on it. We will never stumble into a quiet place of prayer and reflection.

Over the long term, this becomes very dangerous. When we don’t take time for Him, our whole attitude toward life and ministry can begin to change. The thing that keeps us busy will begin to consume us and give us our value. Rather than seeing ourself first and foremost as a child of God, we begin to find our identity in what we are doing – pastor, missionary, CEO, entrepreneur, teacher, etc. Our work eventually becomes the way we identify ourselves. Success in those things begins to give us a sense of self-worth.

Eventually, we begin to lose sight of God’s reality and value for our lives. We actually begin to believe we are capable of doing life on our own. Just like Adam and Eve, we decide, “we don’t need God.”

This automatically leads to a fundamental shift in the way the mind works. Instead of living in light of the Gospel, we functionally begin living as if our own work ethic determines our ongoing salvation and sanctification. As we succeed, it validates our self-imposed identity, and we continue to elevate ourselves in our own eyes; reaffirming the lie that we can go on without God. 

Busyness Devalues Other People

I am a hard worker. My goal is to be the best at my job, so I try to learn quickly and demonstrate my competence. I want to do more than what is expected of me. I desire to be able to help others in their work as well. A lot of this comes from the rural, west-Texas culture I was raised in, and these are good traits to have. 

The problem is that looking through the lens of a heavy workload, most people will eventually begin to get arrogant about how hard they work, comparing themselves to how lazy or incapable others are. This gives birth to pride and self-importance, and a belief that we are somehow more valuable than others. The self-loving ego rises up, and others are devalued in the process. 

Worse yet, when staying busy becomes the standard practice in our lives, we can actually begin to sacrifice others (their feelings, efforts, time, gifts, etc.) in order to attain our own success, because they don’t matter as much as the things we must get done. This is in direct opposition to our call to be witnesses for the gospel!

Busyness Self-Sabotages

In its wake of destruction, this endless cycle of busyness actually begins to take us out as well. The constant frustrations and stress, combined with a lack of rest leads to feeling overworked, burned-out, sick, or too exhausted to continue. For many high achievers, this moment of realizing limitations will lead to serious self-doubt and self-loathing. We begin to criticize and condemn ourselves for not being good enough. 

These frustrations in turn, can lead to a compromise in our personal moral standards. We begin giving minimal effort at work or leaving our own responsibilities for someone else to do. We spiral downward until we develop a “screw it” attitude toward the work, and just give up.

At the point of burnout, we can become so numb to the self-imposed standards we are not living up to, that we simply quit trying. When this happens, the frustrations and lack of self-worth spill over into other areas of our lives. Everyone around and everything we touch begins to suffer. We begin to compromise our family, our finances, our health, and even our holiness before the Lord. Unfortunately, compromise comes in many forms, and it leave an untold amount of destruction in its wake.

Busyness vs. The Gospel

Although our daily work is usually viewed separately from our ‘spiritual’ life, all of this undeniably has a major effect on our life in Christ. When we are not living up to the moral or ethical standards we are called to as believers, it is sin and it separates us from fellowship with Him.

(I am NOT saying that meeting those standards makes us acceptable to Him. It is by Christ having met those standards that makes us acceptable. Yet our disregard and even blatant rebellion against those standards makes fellowship with God difficult to maintain. It grieves the Holy Spirit, and makes room for the devil in our lives.)

To put it simply, it is easy for me to build my relationship with God when things are stress-free and I have margin to give to worship, prayer, and time in His word. However, when things get busy and the “work or die” attitude hits, I can too easily cut myself off from Him in an effort to find my own value in pursuit of success. I will end up working harder and longer until I succeed, reinforcing the negative cycle once again. Or I will wear myself down until I’m fully exhausted, spiritually worn down, and give up, devalued.

To make it simpler still, when things get too busy, I turn from Christ and look to my ability to be successful in all things to be my salvation. And it fails every time.

Busyness hurts my relationship with God because it undermines Christ’s role in my life. In a self-centered and self-seeking push, I go forward ignoring the help of the Holy Spirit in my sanctification.

Confessions

So, I confess that it is sometimes too easy for me to find my identity more in what I do than in Christ. I confess that when I successfully handle my busyness, I feel acceptable to God. I confess that when I fail at handling my busyness, I feel unworthy. And I confess that I know these are all false truths found in my sinful, prideful, idolatrous heart. Repentance is necessary. The only fix is in the Gospel.

What about you? How has busyness taken over your life? Has it proven to be a destructive force, or a beneficial and life-giving undertaking? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

In the next few posts, I want to share with you the lessons I have learned to overcome busyness as being ‘normal’ or ‘expected.’ How to manage my heart before the Lord, in the day-to-day realities of life. And the method I’ve been using to manage my time to achieve the goals I have set for my work, without sacrificing those around me. Let’s go.

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

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