productivity – Page 8

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 ESV

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
Genesis 1:31a ESV

She seeks wool and flax, and works with her hands with delight.
Proverbs 31:13 NASB

A few years ago, I designed and made a quilt with photos of hands doing a variety of things — from kneading bread to laying tile to holding butterflies. A final touch included stitching two phrases from the verses above onto the top and bottom border: “In the beginning, God created” and “she works with her hands with delight.”

Our desire to create and our joy when we do so is a reflection of the image of our Creator.

In my own experience, there is a little extra energy, beauty, and delight in the day when I have the opportunity to create anything — from a complete blog post to a beautiful dinner to a polished and accurate report to a finally-finished (Hooray!) studio space to an attractive dining table centerpiece. It can be big, the result of many hours of effort, or little, like putting a child’s gift of fresh-picked ~~weeds~~ flowers in a small glass jar on the sunny windowsill.

What have you created today? Comment below to share your delight.

You know those days where the so-much-to-do-so-little-time cliche is overwhelmingly true for you? When you are surrounded by fires and are spinning in circles, beating each blaze in turn? When you don’t even have a minute to think?

Our natural response to this is to go in swinging — do as much as we can as fast as we can and all at the same time. This is counter-productive. Our heart is in the right place, but our head isn’t driving.

Next time this happens, would you try something new? Take a deep breath and rapidly prioritize. I’m only talking about a minute here, no major planning. Just decide what needs to be done next and then next after that. Once you have a start on your priorities, start doing them. I’m all for plowing — but in a straight line! It works better than running in circles or a scatter-shot approach.

The deep breath gets you off on the right foot. So often we respond to others’ urgency or react emotionally before thinking things through. Remember, tension will work against you. Give yourself a few seconds to make sure you react wisely and think through your priorities well.

If you will focus on one thing at a time, knocking them off the list as you go, you will get more done faster. You will be thinking more clearly and be able to handle each item well. Once it is done, you have one less thing to think about, and that relief will snowball the more you do.

Tag: productivity

Creating

Deep Breaths