thoughts on what i should do with my time

(This is a repost from November 9th, 2009.)

I can vividly remember reading Rick Warren when I was in college and him saying a phrase that stuck with me. He said something like "God gives you enough time to get everything done He wants you to do." Therefore, if there are things you know God wants you to do that you don't have time to do... you must be doing something else that's not necessary.

That impacted me so much that it has stuck in my head all the time ever since I read it.

I struggle with it too. Like this week for example I have so much on my plate that there is no way I can get it all done. I am consistently (for the past few months) empowering others and getting tons of stuff off my plate. BUT I still can't get it all done.

I feel like I am a pretty good time manager. I don't waste very much of it... if any.
So, I am trying to figure out what I'm doing that is not something God wants me to do? because (if Rick's statement is true) I should have enough time to do everything God wants me to do... and I don't think that's the case right now.

anyone else have this problem?
any thoughts on Rick's quote?

50 books (the 2nd 25)

i recently posted the 1st 25 of the 50 books i read this year. You can read that HERE. Today's post is a quick review of each of the last 25 books i read this year.
i also give them a 1-5 star rating after the author's name (5 stars being the best, of course).

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling     *****
My 2^nd step into the world of Harry Potter. I think the 1^st book was better, but this has still got to be the best fiction ever written. Absolutely amazing. I lose myself in another world every time I dive in and I can’t rip myself away from this book.

(Re)Understanding Prayer – Kyle Lake     ****

Kyle died in a 2005 baptism accident and I’ve heard from so many people that he was an such a unique guy! I learned a lot about prayer from this book. Kyle was one authentic and transparent pastor.

Developing the Leaders Around You – John Maxwell     ****

This had the practicality of and usefulness of a business school text book but was also easy to read. Excellent must read for anyone leading a team! So good i'm going back through it to start putting into practice all that i learned.

Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ – John Piper     ***

Good book to read to renew our awe in Jesus. really short and easy read.

How Soccer Explains the World­ – Franklin Foer     ****

This was a really interesting book and fun for me to read. It's basically a study in Globalism via the soccer cultures all over the world. Brilliant! The last chapter was the best as it was a breakdown of why conservative Americans have an agenda of hatred for soccer... eye opening and brilliant! Anyone who is interested in soccer and world culture will love this book.

A New Kind of Christianity – Brian McLaren     ****

I always love reading McLaren. He is one of my favorite authors. This is perhaps the most challenging of all his books. Challenges all my assumptions and many things we're taught in theology classes in seminary. i also love his heart and his reason for challenging the status quo in search of truth. i recommend this book, but would recommend starting with some other McLaren books 1st.

Good to Great and the Social Sectors – Jim Collins     ****

What an awesome idea. Since all of us churches and non-profits already strive to follow Collins' Good to Great principles anyway, why not give us our own book? That's exactly what this book is. It takes the genius principles and tweaks them for the social sectors. every social leader should read this.

Made to Stick – Chip and Dan Heath     *****

Probably the best book i read this year! it is amazing! i couldn't get enough of it and it is extremely relevant for everything i do and will do in the future. it's basically great principles for how we can consistently make our ideas stick in people's minds and help them actually act on them!

God is the Gospel – John Piper     ***

I'm a big Piper fan, but this definitely was not the best of his books. Maybe the worst? It felt like he wrote it in a weekend from some random notes he had around the house. it was just "ok" for me.

                                                           

Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches – contributors include Mark Driscoll, John Burke, Doug Pagitt, and Dan Kimball    ***

Finally got around to reading this while we were in Kenya. I really liked this conversational style book with the authors talking back and forth as they wrote. This book will make you think for sure. Unfortunately, Driscoll is the dark spot in the book... sounds like they invited a mean old fundamentalist pastor to contribute.

The DaVinci Code – Dan Brown     **

Decent story. Decently written. i wanted to see what all the hype with Dan Brown has been about. i must have missed it.

Angels and Demons – Dan Brown     *

If the above book was just decent, then this book was no good at all. waste of time and not really even that entertaining.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey     ***

i can see why it's a classic. Very practical and helpful. i need to be putting these habits into practice!

The Next Christendom - Phillip Jenkins     ***

The concept is awesome & something we all need to be aware of. It is written more as an academic book though and fairly boring. Basically, the bottom line is that the Global Church and Center of Christianity is moving SOUTH. This will change things dramatically as the Southern Church will be driving things and not the American/Western church. I would love a 25 page summary of this book instead of having to read the whole thing.

He is There & He is not Silent - Francis Schaeffer     **

I have never actually read a Francis Schaeffer book, so this one seemed like a good one to start with as he was "the man" for a couple decades. He had good stuff to say, but it was obvious that he was a champion writing for modern people still in the modern era. Unfortunately, most of his major points are now irrelevant in this new postmodern era (imho).

Emerging Churches - Eddie Gibbs & Ryan Bolger     ***

Started reading this back in 06 and i finally finished. the 1st half of the book is GREAT! the 2nd half dragged on. Great job by these authors to pull together the main distinctions of emerging churches. a very helpful book overall.

LOVE – Mother Teresa     ***

The best of Mother Teresa all in 1 book. Very inspiring. what an awesome lady.

The Power of Positive Thinking - Norman Vincent Peale     **

Straight from my late grandfather's shelf. Didn't know what to expect from this guy that my grandfather read religiously. Some of it was good stuff and some of it felt more like heresy.

The Hole in Our Gospel - Richard Stearns     ***

Good, simple book from the President of World Vision. Nothing new, but all good reminders. Pretty recent facts, stats, and stories.

BELIEVE – Desmond Tutu     ***

Great stuff from Tutu. This guy is always inspiring.

The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch     *****

One of the best books i read this year. Audio book on the way up to NY for Christmas. This Carnegie-Melon professor had terminal cancer and a few months to live. So he wrote this book of everything he would want to say to and pass down to his young children. FULL of practical wisdom. It felt like i was reading a modern day Proverbs (although pretty sure this guys isn't a follower of Jesus).

The Emerging Church - Dan Kimball     ****

My parents gave me this book as a birthday gift when i was back in college. i started it then and finished it just this week. Great stuff from 5 years ago from Kimball. Level headed guy who gets it. A VERY simple intro to postmodernism and how the church can react to it.

The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer     ***

Classic. Many would say a top 10 Christian book of all time. I wouldn't rank it that high, but it was definitely a great book about living "radically" from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. After that part of the book it kind of drug on and didn't feel very relevant.

Das Kapital - Karl Marx     ***

So close to the Way of following Jesus and the life of Jesus. Yet, SO FAR away in the end. Without Jesus this gets pretty jacked up. I see what Marx was getting at and it could be a beautiful thing... instead he just made it ugly with the killing people thing and all.

Grasping God’s Word - Duvall & Hays     ***

I read most of this for a hermeneutics seminary class but finished it this week and it's a lot of great practical stuff for understanding reading the Bible.

have you read any of these books? how many stars would you give them? Are there any of these you've been thinking about reading?

THIS is amping my productivity

i stumbled on a great article from the 99% blog the other day. i love their tag line = "It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen."

the article was a 1 step idea to be extremely more productive. i took the challenge and it's working! i'm loving it. it's a principle that i believed and followed in theory, but now i have a much better handle on it because of the tips you can read below + i'm making it work for me. if you are someone who likes to accomplish things - any goals, if you have any vision or dreams, etc... then you MUST read this!

(i have edited down the article to make it shorter. *Don't miss the really helpful list of hints at the bottom!) you can read the full great article by Jocelyn K. Glei HERE.

[my thoughts are in these brackets!]

 The 1-Step Plan for Super-Productivity

"[speaking of highly productive people...] So what is the secret ingredient in their productivity regime? It’s simple: They get up early. To take a (very) random sample of creative luminaries from the wonderful Daily Routines blog, Charles Darwin, Toni Morrison, Le Corbusier, Stefan Sagmeister, Benjamin Franklin, Emily Post, Gerhard Richter, and William Wegman all make (or made) a habit of getting up early.

A recent study conducted by Christoph Randler, a biology professor at the University of Education at Heidelberg, backs up the theory that early risers tend to have a more proactive – and thus productive – mindset:
 [Randler] surveyed 367 university students, asking them when they were most energetic and willing to change a situation. It was the morning people who were more likely to agree with statements such as “I feel in charge of making things happen” and “I spend time identifying long-range goals for myself.”

The data makes sense: If you’re getting up early, you probably already have a good idea of what you want to accomplish that day – otherwise it would be hard to motivate to get up in the first place. Being an early riser also indicates a natural affinity for ritual and discipline – both key traits of especially productive people.

[When getting up early] You accomplish tons of meaningful work before most people even get started – allowing you to coast through the rest of your day with a sense of achievement and significantly less anxiety. [this is perhaps what i enjoy most about it!]

What if you’re not naturally an early riser? Or just hate the idea of it?

[this is definitely ME! i am this person!]

I’ve talked to loads of folks who insist that their most productive time is late at night – their creative energy naturally peaks when everyone else is asleep. And, to a certain degree, our ingrained biorhythms are a factor. Some of us are predisposed to late-night creation, while others naturally wake with the sun. Age is also a factor. (How many elderly people do you know that sleep in?)

Like it or not, most of the world works on a 9-to-5 schedule, which naturally provides the early riser with a certain advantage. In a great piece Cal Newport wrote on the habits of successful professional writers, he notes that they all get up early, adding: “Several [writers] did mention that they might also be efficient working very late at night (and sleeping through the day), but that this seems incompatible with being a productive member of society.”

Certainly you can be a productive night owl, but when it comes to the business details we all have to attend to – the emails, the scheduling, the negotiations – there are definitely benefits to being on a daytime schedule.

In a recent conversation with energy management guru Tony Schwartz, he argued that less than 10% of the general population possess the unchangeable biorhythms of the die-hard night owl. In short, most of us can re-train ourselves to become early risers if we’re motivated.

So how can you become an early riser?

Getting up early is like most any habit that makes you a more productive creative: It’s hard at first. Here are a few tips to get you started:  [GREAT tips that work for me, i might add!]

1. Set an exact time to get out of bed.
If you normally get up at 11am, it’s unrealistic to start abruptly getting up at 6am. Think about what time you’d like to be getting up in the morning, and work up to it. Try to wake up 30 minutes earlier every week, until you get to the desired time.

2. Move up your bedtime in sync with the time you plan to get up.
Seven to eight hours of sleep is the recommended dosage for maximal productivity (with a few super-human exceptions). So if you’re getting up at 6am, you’ll want to go to bed by 11pm at the latest. If you try to go to bed at midnight and get up at 5am, you’re eventually going to run into some problems.

3. Get out of bed immediately.
The moment that you start procrastinating – read: hit the snooze button – it’s very easy to convince yourself of a multiplicity of reasons why you wouldn’t want to get out of bed yet. Don’t even allow those thoughts to kick in – just get up!  

[my new rule = my feet have to be on the floor before i turn off the alarm!]

4. Expose yourself to sunlight. [unforunately, this one is impossible this time of year.]
Sunlight is key to adapting your circadian rhythms. If you’re having trouble getting up, don’t close your blinds all the way, so you have some natural light as your wake-up call. Once you’re up, a short walk (or run) outside helps reinforce the message with your body.

5. Develop a routine for your morning.
Whether it’s taking in the sunrise, brewing a cup of tea and reading the paper, or walking to the café down the street for a cup of joe, you’re more likely to continue to get up early if you develop a brief routine that is, in itself, a reward. 

[this has worked marvelously for me! i think about that "reward" as my feet are hitting the floor]

6. Stick with it.
Know going in that it’s going to take some time to adapt to waking up early – probably about 30 days. Don’t expect to feel bright-eyed and bushy-tailed from Day 1. But if you stick with it, getting up early is likely to become one of your favorite rituals.

***
It’s a lot better to sail into your business day feeling like you’ve already crossed a finish line, than to put off your vital creative work until after you’ve devoted your best energy to other people’s demands. As designer and early riser James Victore said in a recent 99% interview, “I get more work done by 9am than most people do in a full day.”

----------------------------------------------

and that sums up EXACTLY how i feel since i've been doing this. i feel like i've knocked out A LOT by the time everyone else wakes up and starts moving. it's a great feeling and removes all the pressure. i don't feel rushed anymore!

are you a natural morning person or night owl like me?
Have you tried getting up early - did it work for you?

less for more

i love that phrase = "less for more". it applies to SO MANY things.

it applies to me daily in relation to communicating (speaking, etc...) - i've GOT to say less if i want what i say to be heard and effective. but we usually say too much.

recently i read:

“If you say 3 things, you don’t say anything.” 

– James Carville 

that is brilliant. i don't know much about Carville (other than him being in that coke commercial shot in DC)... but i do know that he churned out 3 brilliant campaign slogans for Clinton in the 90s, but because of this philosophy he threw out 2 great slogans! 
they went with "it's the economy stupid" and many say that won them the election.


i know most of us aren't big Clinton fans, but we can all learn a lot from this piece of James Carville wisdom.

it's why i only have 1 point in every talk i give. if i tried to say 2 things i might as well shut up and say nothing. it's about saying less... for more.

must have iPhone Apps (via NY Times)

i really feel a lot smarter when i read The New York Times. you know what i mean... i just feel like a smart person holding that newspaper.

When they pass them out on the airplane i like just holding it because i feel like a professor who actually reads it.
Or i just picture myself at some hotel in Paris in a fancy bathrobe eating breakfast out on the balcony reading the NY Times.

anyway, maybe that's just me. i do have the NY Times iPhone app and read it from time to time as i walk my dog. yesterday i was reading it and found a GREAT article!

the author was pointing readers to the BEST iPhone apps. i've started using several of them already and i think they're really helpful and cool, so i thought i would share them with you.
i trimmed it down to be about half the length... but now i present to you the (partial) great article by Bob Tedeschi from the NY Times:

Top 10 Must-Have Apps for the iPhone, and Some Runners-Up

"In this column, I’ve compiled 10 must-have apps that will save you time, make your life easier and make you smile. You won’t see Twitter, Slacker or Facebook, among others, on this list. Although I find them indispensable, the services aren’t unique to a mobile phone. To make my Top 10, an app must deliver an experience you couldn’t find on your computer — something, in other words, that exemplifies the smartphone at its best.

REDLASER (FREE) It may not tell you if a clothing item makes you look fat, but otherwise RedLaser is a perfect shopping companion. Scan a bar code and it retrieves product information, including prices at online merchants and local stores (in case you are in the mood to haggle). Or follow a spouse or child around a store, scan what they like and you have an instant gift list.

SOUNDHOUND (FREE AND $5) You’ve probably heard of Shazam, the app that identifies songs. SoundHound is faster, and it offers a broader range of ancillary features. You can hum a tune into the phone and it’ll find the song, look up lyrics and run YouTube videos of song performances.

EVERNOTE (FREE) The company advertises this as a personal digital assistant, and it’s an apt description. Evernote is a traveling notepad that synchronizes with desktop and browser software (also free). Use your iPhone to copy an image, take a photo, record a voice memo or jot down a note, and it appears on your computer (and vice versa). It also recognizes your written text, within limits.

HIPSTAMATIC ($2) Scores of photography titles are in the App Store. Many are terrific, but not one matches Hipstamatic’s blend of simplicity, serendipity and art. At heart, the app is a filter that will unpredictably saturate, blur or discolor your images, among other things. The results are always surprising and often stunning.

URBANSPOON (FREE) Not sure what to eat, or where? Spin Urbanspoon’s slot machine and it will dial up a suggestion. You can also select certain attributes — Japanese food, for instance, or inexpensive food — and local eateries appear. The app includes user reviews and contact information, and you can press a button for a map and directions.

GOOGLE (FREE) You can find Google through your mobile browser, but the app is a major time-saver. The voice search function is seamless. Ask it for specific Wikipedia entries, for instance, and it complies. Or just say "Starbucks" and the app uses the phone’s GPS to find the nearest location. A recent update put the "Goggles" service within the app, so you can snap a photo and let Google search for information on that object. And given Google’s emphasis on mobile, the app will continue to improve.

ANGRY BIRDS ($1) A runaway favorite among the iPhone crowd, the app tests your ability to break down the barricades that protect green pigs. The weapon: flightless birds, launched by catapult. No wonder they’re angry. The game is easy to learn, yet challenging to play, with witty touches throughout.

FIREFOX HOME (FREE) In the same vein as Evernote, Firefox Home is a way to synchronize your desktop and mobile lives. Once you load the app and register, Firefox Home will show your browsing history and bookmarks. If you’re reading an important document online when you leave the office, you can start the app later and pick up where you left off.

STAR WALK ($3) Point your phone toward the heavens and this app identifies all you see — constellations, planets, individual stars — in brilliant clarity. If you pivot in another direction, the app follows. It’s an astonishing app that’s great to pull out during dinner parties, beach walks or sleepless nights in bed. You needn’t have a clear view of the sky to experience the starry night.

QUICKOFFICE MOBILE SUITE ($5) The next time someone e-mails you a Word, Excel or Powerpoint document, Quickoffice will open it and allow you to make quick edits from your iPhone. (Otherwise, you can open, but not edit, Microsoft Office files.) You can also create documents with the app, but it is far less useful for that purpose. Rather, Quickoffice offers a way to complete small work tasks easily while you are on the move.

Quick Calls
No Top 10 list is fully useful without an “honorable mention” list. The following apps should not be overlooked: Instapaper (free, with $5 “Pro” version; for saving and reading Web pages after you’ve moved offline); Yelp (free; find local services, restaurants and bars, including reviews); Layar (free; see customized information about your surroundings); Ocarina ($1; turns your phone into a musical instrument); and Glympse (free; let friends track your location temporarily and easily)."

any of your fav MUST HAVE apps to add?

philosophy of sickness, work (& rest)...

a lot of times I work out my philosophy of something or my "theology" of a certain topic as i'm going through it. My philosophy and theology tend to be way more practical that way instead of just theoretical.

So, currently I am sick, but of course I also have to work.
I guess my philosophy of working while sick could be summed up as = "always show up if you can drag yourself to do it (unless it is harmful to you or someone else)."

Those are pretty much my practical thougths on the matter. If I'm sick (but not contagious - which would be harmful to others) then I drag myself to staff meetings on Mondays.
Yesterday morning I was pretty sick but was able to drag myself out of bed and into load in at Ridge at 6am. I functioned OK and went through all my responsibilities and I'm guessing most peeps wouldn't be able to tell that I was sick.
then i came home and crashed & rested hard the rest of the day.

This morning I woke up still sick and really wanted to stay in bed, but I always tell myself = If i lay in bed i'll just feel sick laying in bed, but if i get up and go to work i will feel sick while getting work done. May as well get some work done, right?

That's my philosophy. I try to at least do/accomplish something when I'm sick. Even if it's the easy tasks. Some things aren't worth it when you're sick, but still... you can at least do something.
Maybe this was ingrained in me from my Dad, who to my knowledge never missed 1 day of work due to sickness in all my 18 living at home?

I also put "rest" in the title because I recognize that sometimes you do just need to rest in order to get over a sickness. + I am a big time advocate of sabbath and that rest is a beautiful God-ordained & God-glorifying thing. You can read some more of my thoughts on rest/sabbath HERE and HERE.

Do you have a philosophy and/or theology of work & sickness?