Review: Do More Better by Tim Challies
Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity
CruciformPress, 2015
Amazon Link
Tim Challies is a master at process simplification. His books always aim to make the complex easy to understand through the use of clear writing and visual aids. If you’re looking to get organized and put ideas into action as you begin 2021, Do More Better is the book for you. Let me explain why.
There are many books out there that can help you get organized and create action plans for getting things done. In fact, the book Getting Things Done by David Allen is a fantastic guide to productivity. The difference between Challies book and most other productivity books is that he spends no time on the psychology of productivity. A feature that proves helpful to those who just need to be told, step-by-step, how to be more productive. Challies offers a theological grounding for productivity and then plunges right into a concrete method for organizing your life, needing only 108 pages to communicate his plan for productivity.
Challies begins with a proper understanding of productivity, a key to truly getting things done for the glory of God. He defines productivity as, “effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God.” Challies provides the tools and accompanying habits needed to fulfill this vision of productivity.
Unlike other how-to guides to productivity, Challies assumes a Christian audience and that the reader has also adopted the mandate to do good unto others. He offers a guiding principle for the purpose of all activity in the Christian life, “to glorify God by doing good to others.” It’s through this aim that he instructs his readers to order their productivity process. The intended mark will always be to glorify Good by doing good—a worth aim for every Christian.
After grounding productivity in identity and purpose, Challies directs his readers to evaluate their commitments, channeling all of their obligations and duties into categories such as family, church, businesss, etc. Challies even provides free resources, such as worksheets and podcasts to help his readers analyze their current commitments, thier faithfulness to those commitments, and the priority of action to bring those commitments to order. All of these resources can be found at www.Challies.com/domorebetter This book is available on Audible, clocking in at only a 2hr 53min read (listen).
This book will help you declutter your mind. We often spend too much time with mental notes shuffling around aimlessly in our mind. Creating a system to regularly clear your mental space will give you peace and help you see the next right thing to do. Once your to-do list has been captured into a reliable system, your mind uses the trust in that system to relax. You feel confident that you will remember what to do, once you take the time to make a note about it. The feeling of relief that comes with this is truly freeing.
Here are a few key ideas from the book worth the price of purchase:
The book will also help you intentionally prioritize your commitments. So much of our anxiousness comes from not having a clear picture of what we have committed ourselves to do. Productivity stalls when competing commitments pull us in every direction. Challies’s method will help you sort out what comes first and how to start saying “no” to the right things.
To the organizationally challenged:
This book is specifically for you. If you’re struggling to get organized, the last thing you need is a book to read that tells you how bad it is to be disorganized! This book will have impact for you 10 pages deep, coming to the rescue with real steps to move forward in life. As a discipleship pastor, I will be handing this book out like candy to those who are ready to start a new year with a clear vision tied to their purpose and calling.
CruciformPress, 2015
Amazon Link
Tim Challies is a master at process simplification. His books always aim to make the complex easy to understand through the use of clear writing and visual aids. If you’re looking to get organized and put ideas into action as you begin 2021, Do More Better is the book for you. Let me explain why.
There are many books out there that can help you get organized and create action plans for getting things done. In fact, the book Getting Things Done by David Allen is a fantastic guide to productivity. The difference between Challies book and most other productivity books is that he spends no time on the psychology of productivity. A feature that proves helpful to those who just need to be told, step-by-step, how to be more productive. Challies offers a theological grounding for productivity and then plunges right into a concrete method for organizing your life, needing only 108 pages to communicate his plan for productivity.
Challies begins with a proper understanding of productivity, a key to truly getting things done for the glory of God. He defines productivity as, “effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God.” Challies provides the tools and accompanying habits needed to fulfill this vision of productivity.
Unlike other how-to guides to productivity, Challies assumes a Christian audience and that the reader has also adopted the mandate to do good unto others. He offers a guiding principle for the purpose of all activity in the Christian life, “to glorify God by doing good to others.” It’s through this aim that he instructs his readers to order their productivity process. The intended mark will always be to glorify Good by doing good—a worth aim for every Christian.
After grounding productivity in identity and purpose, Challies directs his readers to evaluate their commitments, channeling all of their obligations and duties into categories such as family, church, businesss, etc. Challies even provides free resources, such as worksheets and podcasts to help his readers analyze their current commitments, thier faithfulness to those commitments, and the priority of action to bring those commitments to order. All of these resources can be found at www.Challies.com/domorebetter This book is available on Audible, clocking in at only a 2hr 53min read (listen).
This book will help you declutter your mind. We often spend too much time with mental notes shuffling around aimlessly in our mind. Creating a system to regularly clear your mental space will give you peace and help you see the next right thing to do. Once your to-do list has been captured into a reliable system, your mind uses the trust in that system to relax. You feel confident that you will remember what to do, once you take the time to make a note about it. The feeling of relief that comes with this is truly freeing.
Here are a few key ideas from the book worth the price of purchase:
- We somehow assume that our value is connected to our busyness.” It’s not.
- “No amount of organization and time management will compensate for lack of Christian character.”
- ”So much of life involves attempting to strike the right balance between competing demands.
- “Accomplishing the nine or ten low-priority tasks while neglecting the one high-priority task make you feel better, but its the very opposite of true productivity.”
The book will also help you intentionally prioritize your commitments. So much of our anxiousness comes from not having a clear picture of what we have committed ourselves to do. Productivity stalls when competing commitments pull us in every direction. Challies’s method will help you sort out what comes first and how to start saying “no” to the right things.
To the organizationally challenged:
This book is specifically for you. If you’re struggling to get organized, the last thing you need is a book to read that tells you how bad it is to be disorganized! This book will have impact for you 10 pages deep, coming to the rescue with real steps to move forward in life. As a discipleship pastor, I will be handing this book out like candy to those who are ready to start a new year with a clear vision tied to their purpose and calling.
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