Godward Toil

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. 

Weekly review, the heart, and Satan

Many, many, many people have written about the importance of having a time each week when you review your commitments, calendar, and next actions toward goals.  Right now I have fallen out of the practice in a terrible way, and I'm seeing the consequences...I'm forgetting things, missing needed actions, slipping on my commitments to people, and frittering away time unproductively.   Why does this happen?  If I know that setting aside a couple of hours each week will make me more Kingdom effective ,and save time in the long run, why is it so hard to do it consistently?

With regard to sin, the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, said this:  "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."  His idea is that his heart does not follow what his head knows to be good, true, and right.  The prophet Jeremiah said it this way, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick.  Who can understand it?"  (Jer 17:9)  A colleague told me this week that there is a Korean saying that there is no greater distance than that which is between the head and the heart.   

Paul and Jeremiah are most directly talking about the way that pride works to undermine our judgment and lead us to sin.   Not having a weekly review is not "sin" in and of itself, but it is a neglect of a discipline that can lead (and does in my life) to poor stewardship of time, lack of diligence, lack of fruit and good works, failure to honor commitments (integrity), and poor leadership in my family.

When I look at this list of outcomes, I wonder what role Satan plays in stealing my weekly review.  The devil is prowls, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8) and he wants to render me ineffective--wants me to forget that phone call to a brother in need who I promised to call.  I do not pray against Satan nearly enough--and hardly ever about things like weekly reviews!   But I need to take a stand in prayer for my disciplines. 

Father, restore me to diligence in my disciplines.  Show me how to find time for weekly review.  Defeat Satan who wishes to render me fruitless, flailing, and purposeless.   Give me every tool to stay focused on you and the good works you've prepared in advance for me to walk in.   Amen.

Eric Mack e-Productivity Conference Going Strong!

Eric Mack's eProductivity conference is going strong in Manila.  He cleverly live-posted text and and picture of his audience as part of one of the sessions to demonstrate the ease and power of setting up a website.

I had the privilege of offering some input on some of the the conference content, and I've been praying for Eric and his team, so it's exciting to see the conference in full swing.

Eric Mack posts from Philippines productivtity conference

Eric Mack blogged this week from a productivity conference in Manila, Philippines that was hosted by a massive  Evangelical church (Cathedral of Praise) there. Eric was the featured speaker.  For anyone interested in the intersection between productivity and Christianity, I recommend reading the posts about the Philippines Conference (and his blog in general).

For those who don't know about Eric Mack, he is a Christian who also is a well-known blogger and eProductivity expert. Eric has worked for many years in the consulting, productivity, and technology worlds. He has worked with David Allen Company for years.  Of interest, he also graduated in 2006 from the Master's College with a degree in business (a speech he gave at 2006 convocation is worth listening to).

Killing sin as a GTD project

I have started applying GTD principles to battling the enduring sins in my life. Here is how I am thinking about it. 

The Apostle Paul often enjoined his readers to “put to death” their sin (Romans 8:13; Col 3:5). His foundation for encouraging this uncompromising stance toward sin is apparent in Romans 6: we died with Christ, and “the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.” So we too, who are in Christ, live for God and not for sin. It is more than metaphorical to talk of killing your sin.

The Scriptures and Christian wisdom have given us numerous means and disciplines for how to do this. Scripture memory, praying, fasting, meditation, fellowship, retreat, marriage….these and many more are means that God provides the Christian to put sin to death and develop good fruit. The ultimate active agent in all of these is Word of God, itself, which is the sword the Spirit (Hebrews 4:12) uses to expose our deepest motivations, so that we can sever our ties to disobedience and rest in God.

What I find hard, and what I see in others in the Church today is keeping my eye on the target. When Scriptures, a friend, my wife, a sermon, the Spirit, show me sin that is alive in me, that I am devoting myself to, I have a sincere desire to rid myself of it. I ask forgiveness, I pray, then, too often over time I lose focus. I don’t take steps I vowed (to myself, to others, to God) to take. I get distracted and busy with other things, and though I may strike a first blow to my sin I don’t work the process through to the point of death.  This “forgetfulness” reflects the frailty of my flesh and reflects the state of a heart that can too easily be wooed away from the most important things by less important things.  In God’s eyes it is a serious thing to neglect a vow made before him (see Deut 23:21 ).

So what to do about it? Well, the first is to pray for a desire for God and hatred of sin that are so strong that I need fewer and fewer mechanisms and reminders to stay focused.  (I am thankful that there will come a day in heaven when I even won’t need to put “pray” or “review scripture memory” on a to-do list: He will be in full view at all times!) The second thing to do is to do whatever I can to keep important things in front of my face. As David Allen often says, if you want to remember to take something to work, you put it in front of the door so you trip on it on your way out in the morning. That is where putting spiritual battles on a project list is helpful. Here is what I have started to do when, through whatever means God uses, I become aware of a habitual sin in my life and experience the desire to overcome it. 

• Capture the conviction in one of my “collection buckets” [Example: “Add fighting [name of sin] to project list”].
• Pray over and write down the Biblical outcome I seek: “The sin of [name] no longer owns me.”
• Enter this statement into my Projects and Callings List (GTD Project list) and pray for what would be the next step in faith (Next Action) associated with this project.
• List the identified step in my context-based Next Action list.  These actions range widely and can be anything that moves me forward. Examples: @Calls:  Call Tim to have breakfast. @Home: Tell to Amy about project; ask for accountability. @Internet: Go to CCEF bookstore to look for books about [name of sin] recommended by the faculty. @Prayer: Pray to overcome temptation expected on Tuesday morning. @Errands: Buy new journal for focused prayer.
• As I complete any action (and _before_ I check it off as complete), try to discern and write down what the next step will be--keeping the forward momentum needed for a battle-to-the-death.
• As with any project/outcome, include this one in my Weekly Review. If I fail to identify a next step after taking the first or second one (laziness, distraction, or self-satisfaction creep in), catch it as part of the review and assign one then. In that way, no more than a week of distraction/forgetfulness can go by.
• Keep the project on my list until I can say that the outcome statement is true (“The sin of [name] no longer owns me” ). It may stay on the list for a long or short time, but (oh!) what a glorious moment it will be to take it off the list.  Who ever thought that a check box on a to-do list could cause so much celebration in heaven?

(Note: Unfamiliar GTD terms can be found in David Allen's book or in this this chapter-by-chapter primer by Blackbelt Productivity.)   

I would love to peek into the details of the daily disciplines of Jesus to know how he managed perfectly to keep his spiritual battles in front of him, despite the many distractions of everyday life and ministry. As the God-Man, he was perfectly at one on the Lord’s will, yet we know that he, too, was tempted by distraction, busyness, and forgetfulness.  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15). I don’t know precisely how he stayed so focused and pure, but I know that He is pleased when we use all available means to kill our sin.  After all, He is the One who advised cutting off my own hand if it would help (Matt 5:30; 18:8).

My Godward Toil Story (Part 3)

...Continued from PART 2.

I tend to have a preference for orthodoxy, so once I decided that I would try GTD I wanted to implement it by THE BOOK.   But the book said it could take 3 days to start!  How would I find 3 solid days (!) to reorder my work and home life?   I decided that I would try to do it in 2 days, and set them aside during the week of Christmas when things are quieter around my workplace.   I prayed that God would be pleased with this step, and honor it by giving me great speed.   Instead, God provided an additional two days!   We were visiting out-of-town family for Christmas and both of my kids got sick, causing us to come home early.  It was sad and hard for us to leave early, but by the time we got home the kids were much better and my wife and I decided to seize the moment for me begin my GTD implementation  It turns out I needed it--it took 4 full days to bring order to my complicated life.

It is appropriate at this point to note my wife's role in this.   By nature, she is a more organized person than I am.  She never criticized me for the way I managed things (or didn't), but my attitude when tasks around the home would come up was terrible.  I often grumbled and complained, and she bore the brunt.  It pains me to think about how it must have discouraged her to have a husband so full of energy and ideas, yet so ineffective in responding to the day-to-day details of our family's life.   Many times, I forced her into a position of having to organize me with lists and schedules, which wasn't good for either of us, nor is it how God intends a marriage to be.  When I told her I was ready to try a new system, she was probably skeptical but was extremely supportive.  She gladly gave me the time, and the space in our home I needed to implement my plans.

to be continued...