Tag: productivity

Contentment

Published on by Kim

Are you content?

Handling all your responsibilities day in and day out can be draining. Feeling drained can quickly tempt you to be discontent.

Fantastically beautiful pictures on social media and stories from friends about things they are doing, or things they have that you don’t have, can add up quickly as well.

Do you want what you don’t have today? Do you want a different life?

If so, then as Esther Engelsma says in How Can I Feel Productive as a Mom?, “it is time to strive for contentment.”

When we are happy with the gifts God has given us, we witness to the world that He is a good God. This glorifies Him. When we are not content with what He has given us, we witness to the world that we think He is not a good God, that He does not have the best interests of His people in mind, and that we don’t trust Him to make us happy.

Satan uses this issue of contentment to try to take God’s glory away.

So how do we fight back and glorify God and love Him with all that we are?

We trust God. We show quiet confidence in our Father, knowing that He loves us and has planned good for us in whatever our life holds. We remind ourselves of who He is and the promises He made that He will absolutely keep. We make ourselves stronger for the fight by feeding on His Word. We practice gratitude by thanking Him for what He has given us.

We obey God. We do the work he has called us to today. We love those He has placed in our lives. We follow the path of wisdom, knowing that God has given the best directions. We get up and move and get it done, even when we’d rather have a pity party or take a (very long) break.

We obey God all day long and then trust His wisdom when the allotted 24 hours runs out, knowing that He created the day and night, the work and rest cycle, and that only God can do everything.

It is as basic as “Trust and Obey” for this.

Race Against Yourself

Published on by Kim

So many things need to get done every day. When they don’t, it’s not so much fun to catch up (like laundry). But it’s not always so much fun doing it every day either!

A friend recently shared a tip she uses in the morning to motivate herself. She races to see how much she can do before her coffee is done in the morning. This includes emptying the dishwasher, washing any pans soaking from the night before, etc. She challenges herself to keep moving and to get as much as possible done in that short amount of time.

That’s such a great idea.

  • Because it’s a short time, it’s manageable instead of overwhelming.
  • Because it’s a race, there’s a little more energy put into completing those mundane tasks.
  • She knows what needs to be done and makes it fun to do. Who doesn’t need a little more fun in the daily task list?

You may have used this or seen it used with kids, but it’s just as fun for grown-ups — and for the same reasons.

Ready! Set! Go!