There are lots of reasons to care about productivity — we might want to have less stress, we might want to get more done in less time, or we might simply find the subject interesting in itself. And those are all good reasons. But there are deeper, better reasons to care about productivity. There are, in fact, some amazing and incredible reasons to care about productivity that few people ever talk about.
Chief among these reasons to care about productivity 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 are getting your email inbox to zero, you aren’t just getting your email inbox to zero. You are doing good works. When you’re going 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.
And therefore we are doing good works all day long — and consequently need to learn how to be more effective in them so that we can be of greater service to others.
And that’s 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 are able to serve others better.
Or, to put it another way: Everything we learn about productivity (and at all levels — work, life, organizations, and society), every productivity practice we might implement, and 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 we, as Christians, need to think about productivity.
Matt is an author, speaker, and consultant eager to help you do work that matters, and do it better. More than that, he wants to help you do your work and influence the culture in a gospel-centered way. Matt is the author of What’s Best Next and Creating a Business Plan that Actually Works.
He worked for 13 years at Desiring God leading the web department, serving as director of strategy, and helping build the ministry for greater spreading. With an M.Div. from Southern Seminary and experience consulting with churches and organizations, Matt started What’s Best Next to equip Christians theologically and practically.
