It’s maddeningly easy to spend a lot of time learning about God. He’s left us his word. We have centuries worth of writing from people who followed him. We can go to church and hear all kinds of interesting facts about him.
And in all of that, we can come away not knowing him.
Christ adds some scary words at the end of the sermon on the mount (Matthew 7:21–23):
On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
These are clearly people who know of him. They participate in religious practices, consider themselves a part of a community. Yet Christ’s response will be that he did not know them (and the inverse is implied, they do not truly know him). How do we ensure we’re not in this camp of people?
He gives that answer in the preceding verse:
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
That’s a clear, concise answer. But it then causes us to ask, “What is the Father’s will?” I’ve always loved Jesus’s answer to this in John 6. After telling the crowd to stop working for food that perishes, but rather to work for the food that remains to eternal life, the people ask, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds God requires?”
He answers:
This is the deed God requires - to believe in the one whom he sent.
But this believing is more than an intellectual knowledge. After all, even demons believe in the existence and power of the son of God (Heb James 2:19). This believing is a recognition of our need for a saviour. In the passage in John 6, Christ goes on to claim to be the bread of God, and invites the people to eat of his flesh and drink of his blood. There’s a lot of different ways to take that, but we can (hopefully) agree this invitation institutes an intimate relationship.
And that’s my point here. As we quickly approach Christmas, I want to make sure I’m making time to spend with my Lord. In one on one, intimate, personal conversation. Not to merely read my Bible, sing familiar, loved carols, or engage in the pageantry of the event. All good things.
But I want to make time for the best thing. Christ himself.
I enjoy the more practical nature of these tips. Especially the advice to have three questions he wants answered from each meeting prepped ahead of time. If he can’t come up with theee questions for a given meeting, the question then becomes, “Why is this on my calendar?”
And on the lost art of punctuality:
Two minutes early. For everything. This means I look at my calendar at the beginning of the day and account for transit time. This means I gracefully leave the prior meeting five minutes before the scheduled end. This means I profusely and honestly apologize for wasting people’s time when I walk in two minutes late and this means I don’t let this failure become a habit.
Amen. It’s odd to see how meeting start times morph to be later in so many organizations. But it starts at the top (which is why this is a “leadership hack”).
Last month, I had the privilege of heading to the east coast to meet with our entire Customer Success team for a week. And a busy week it was. It included a stop in Georgetown (just oustide of Toronto) to visit my son, 4 days in Philly, and a quick 2 day trip to NYC.
The purpose of our train ride up the Big Apple was to take in SupConf, a relatively new event from the folks who run the Support Driven community. This was the second iteration of this event, this time run from the Digital Ocean office in Soho.
Overall, this conference was a little less polished than most I’ve attended. Which is a compliment. Where many conferences focus on the talks given, SupConf seemed to have two primary focuses:
give informative content for each talk
get conference attendees talking to each other
What I appreciated about the first area of focus is that the team behind the event mixed in a few speakers who were further into their career and used to giving talks with people who had never done this type of thing before. And each speaker worked with a team to polish their talk. Each was required submit an outline, then their slides, and work with the team to improve the presentation as needed. This showed in that no talk was terrible.
I did state that the event was “less polished”. That showed in some talks, as some speakers were clearly doing this for the first time. However, that added to the charm and the mood in the room was encouraging, rather than embarrassed or condescending. Web events need more of this: encouraging and aiding people in all stages of their career to be involved. This added to the charm of SupConf.
The second area of focus was also a bonus. As each talk ended, a question would be put on screen that was related to the talk just given. The audience was encouraged to turn to their neighbour and discuss the question at hand. And the overall intention was to move around, so you would find new people to meet during the event.
Apart from that, there were breakout sessions where each speaker was located in a different spot in the room and attendees could ask questions about their presentation or experience.
There was also the usual conference stuff. Sponsors giving swag, good food, and a photo booth. But, like any conference, the value derived is from the conversations you have. I’ve been blessed to attend some fantastic events in the past (XOXO, Brooklyn Beta), as well as some less fantastic events. SupConf was a really cosy middle ground, smaller in size and focused on the right things.
As for the content itself, there was some good value. For our team, it was a great reminder of how good we have it at Wildbit. A good number of the talks were focused on how support teams can improve their standing in their company, something we never have to deal with. However, there were a couple of talks focused on how to use data and how to make compelling cases from that data that helped me think “big picture” … always a good thing.
Mike Vardy talks a little about how he uses paper in conjunction with his overall digital productivity system. While his overall list of tasks is in an app, he uses paper for a few purposes. One stuck out to me:
There are times when I feel stuck, and that’s when I’ll bring some of the items in my task manager onto the larger paper pad/notebook. This gives me a good view at what I’ve got on tap for the day. Then I’ll evaluate those items in tandem with other factors (energy level, whether it is a heavy-lifting or a light-lifting day, etc.) just to give me a better chance to push through it.
This is similar to a link I shared a couple weeks ago, and I subscribe to this practice. And like Mike, my hybrid system uses paper to manage my day to day as well as to “clear the decks” from time to time.
I wanted to remind you that The Focus Course is open for registration as of today. Shawn and his team have refreshed the course and added new content (including the recent Focus Summit videos). For all those who sign up early on, there is also the chance to win some cool prizes.
Full disclosure: as a guest of the Focus Summit, I benefit from referring people to sign up for The Focus Course. I hope that you’ve been reading here long enough to know that I don’t recommend products & services because I benefit, but because I use them myself and am a fan. That is the same for The Focus Course. There will be no regular endorsements of this type, nor ads of any kind, included in The Weekly Review.
This is a special situation because I value how The Focus Course benefitted me. As I wrote in last week’s issue of The Weekly Review:
As I’ve written about many times in the past, this course benefitted me greatly. As I worked through it over the better part of 2015, it really solidified my thinking on these topics. But even better, it helped me hone how I work. My routines and habits. Combined with Deep Work, nothing has changed how I approach my work more than this course.
If you dislike referral programs of any sort, please go to The Focus Course site directly: https://thefocuscourse.com. It’s worth your time — and money!
This one is an interesting link. It’s not to an article, but rather to a response to a response. Jason Fried wrote about why Basecamp does not conduct status meetings, then followed up on several responses to his post. This one stuck out to me, as he followed up to a person who stated, “Some of us just are not that good at writing stuff down.”
His reply:
It’s worth working on becoming a better writer. So much communication these days is written. It doesn’t matter if it’s chat or longform — if you can’t communicate through the written word you’re at a major disadvantage.
I couldn’t agree more. Working remotely for 7 years has taught me the importance of being able to articulate my thoughts in written form (and I still need so much improvement). The benefits of writing are myriad.
The sentiment expressed above is a form of laziness; whether in a remote team or not, most teams can benefit from team members taking some time to hone their thoughts. That’s part of the issue of meetings: it’s easy to throw out any thought that come to mind, regardless of how valuable or unformed it is. The process of putting these thoughts to “paper” results in better contributions.
From my 15 year or so years of being involved in a church, I’ve come to see two basic approaches to being a Christian. Our pastor summed this up really well recently, putting this way. One way seeks to answer the question, “How do I fit Christ into my life?” The other way understands that Christ is my life.
This is such a profound way to look at things. Let’s contrast the two approaches.
How do I fit Christ into my life?
In this approach, life is full of responsibilities & commitments, joys & delights, and all the things that take up our time and attention. A Christian who takes this approach to life (whether consciously or unknowingly) feels the pressure of looking for spaces to fit in some time with God.
When that does not happen, there is a sense of guilt. There is a sense of should … as in, “I should spend more time reading my Bible and praying.” With this mentality, it is easy for the relationship and the activities that should bring peace, clarity, and purpose to instead feel like a burden.
Christ is my life
In comparison, coming to understand the concept that your entire life is in Christ can bring significant change.
It flips the motivation. Rather than a feeling of should, there is more of a desire on our side. We want to spend time with the one who brings us peace and true comfort (not physical or material comfort, but comfort of the soul, the sense of blessedness and acceptance).
It’s all encompassing. Instead of compartmentalizing your life and trying to create a space for God, you enjoy and fellowship him in every part of your life. If you miss your daily devotional time, you do not pile on guilt because he met you did your chores, hung out with friends, or spent your day at work.
This is part of why suffering is good for us. When we’re hurting and vulnerable, it’s far easier to remember how wholly dependent we are on him. When life is comfortable and pleasant, that is easy to forget.
Two approaches to how we think about life, to approach each day. Early in my walk with Christ, it was easy to slip into the first approach. My focus was on me. It still is many days, but over the years he has helped me gain some ground and shift my thinking.
To remember that my life is hidden in Christ and when Christ who is my life appears, then I also will appear with him in glory.
Chris Savage, co-founder of Wistia, shares a little about how he had to change how he approached his own work. As their business grew, his time became more scarce as more and more things filled it up. And that was a problem:
There comes a point when your effectiveness falters, though, when you’re no longer focusing on the right things or doing your best work. In fact, you may have already passed that point, but you didn’t realize because your busy schedule made you feel successful.
His solution? To go on a holiday. While there, he had the “a ha” moment that feels so good. As he was not in meetings or answering emails, his mind turned to the bigger questions for their team.
It began to dawn on me that in some strange way by not “working,” I was starting to do some of my best work again.
I’d suggest this applies to all knowledge workers, not only CEOs. We all need to step away from the desk to do our best work.
It’s been 8 years since I developed the habit of getting up long before the rest of the house. There is something about those early morning hours; the blessed stillness before the bustle of a family of 6 begins their day. I’ve long treasured the opportunity that this time offers, the ability to get the day started in whatever way suits me best.
And it’s these times where I develop most as a person. Whether it’s time spent in prayer, meditation, studying the Word, or writing and creating in any capacity, these morning sessions have led to the person I am today. These moments provide the anvil where I shape my ideas and beliefs about what my life should look like, and how to get there.
The problem I have is how to meld these moments to the rest of my day. Once the caffeine kicks in, the household awakes and gets moving, how do I ensure the convictions of the quiet time are on the front of my mind when the whirlwind comes at me?
What were we created for?
If I look to the Bible to answer this question, I find one consistent theme: good works. If you’re a Christian, God himself has chosen you and prepared you to do good works. To bear good fruit.
For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.
Eph 2:10 NET (emphasis mine)
This theme is stressed through the Bible in different ways. OT prophets (Micah 6:8) would state it simply, the Psalmist(s) would summarize the internal motivations required (Psalm 51), and Jesus himself used many illustrations to express the same idea (Matt 7:15–20 and 24:14–46, John 15:1–17).
The Westminster Shorter Catechism starts this way:
Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
But what is the result of this? How does man glorify God?
Good works
What are good works?
I confess that a big part of this issue for me is how I have defined “good works” in the past. What does this phrase entail? For me, I would read that and think good works entails serving as a missionary overseas, running a shelter for the homeless, or any other super spiritual acts of serving others. But is that truly what it means?
It’s only been the past 2 years that I’ve started to this in a different light. And it may be best summed up in this verse:
And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Col 3:17
Perhaps these good works entail all that we do.
My service in my church and any mission I support, for sure. But also taking care of my home. How I treat my wife and children. Welcoming the neighbourhood children into our home. All the way down to the mundane, things like chopping wood to keep our house warm, or helping with the dishes and housecleaning.
And even my job.
Matt Perman nicely outlines this concept in What’s Best Next. With chapters like “Does God Care about Getting Things Done?” and “Why the Things You Do Every Day Matter”, Perman builds a case for this mentality. And he starts with the words of Christ:
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matt 5:16 NKJV
And these good works include all that we do. Perman puts it this way:
The things that we are doing every day when we are being productive — answering emails, going to meetings, making supper for the family — are not just things we are doing. They are good works.
It’s very easy to gloss over the mundane and focus on more overt forms of service. But that would contradict what we see in Scripture. And Perman goes on to state that these good works are for the benefit of all:
Hence, being productive is not just about getting things done. It’s about being a useful person, making a contribution, and leaving things better than you found them.
Of course, I must stop to explicitly state the central idea of the Christian faith: these good works do not save us. Christ himself and his completed work is what saves me from my sin. Any good works I do, big or small, are a result of my salvation, not the cause.
But that’s a topic for another day :)
How to incorporate this to the every day
Back to the struggle. How do we tie this into our daily lives? I know that once I open the laptop, allow in the floodgates of communication (email, Slack, and the rest), all of the above starts to slip from my mind. And I don’t seem to be alone in this. Here are a few thoughts some of you shared in my reader survey earlier this fall, which well sum up the reality:
Busy-ness … makes the spiritual aspects of life hard
And:
I get so caught up with my daily tasks … I’ll forget to read my Bible
I must confess, this has been one of my biggest struggles as a believer. Not that I forget to read my Bible, do wrong things when working, or become a different person. It’s just … so easy to lose my kingdom perspective. To remember what is truly important when the flurry of activity that is my work day begins.
But, I have finally started to find some small victories. If you desire the same, I’d like to share a few ideas that have helped me, as well as some advice from those who have come before.
Practice “being still”
Stillness is the opposite of busyness. Being still means being centered, having the ability to focus.
There is every reason not to be still in our time. But that is not a new struggle. There’s a reason why we see exhortations in Scripture to do just this. Humans have struggled with keeping their eyes on God from the very beginning.
However, in our current time of “always on” connectedness, making time to seek stillness is going against the culture. How exactly does one achieve this stillness? Here’s a couple verses that come to mind.
Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah
Psalm 4:4 NKJV
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Isa 26:3 NLT
Do note that stillness does not necessarily equate to (fn)inactivity. One can be still in the midst of performing any number of tasks. But attempting to do a number of tasks at the same time (the misnamed multitasking) is a sure way to achieve the opposite affect, to experience a lack of peace.
During the fall, I was preparing to teach a class on the “peace of God” and came across this great thought from Wayne Grudem:
Furthermore, although God is a God of peace, he is also the one who “will neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps. 121:4). He is the God who is continually working (John 5:17). And even though heaven is a place of peace, it is a place also of continual praise to God and service for him. Thus, God’s peace can be defined as follows: God’s peace means that in God’s being and in his actions he is separate from all confusion and disorder, yet he is continually active in innumerable well-ordered, fully controlled, simultaneous actions.
Of course, we are not infinite, omnipresent, nor all powerful. So we cannot be continually active in simultaneous actions. However, I feel it is important to be mindful that stillness and our work can go hand in hand. We can enjoy the peace of God while giving our best to our vocation and the responsibilities of our lives.
Taking a little time each day to seek a stillness in mind and spirit goes a long way. And practice is required!
Give it your all, but with a different motivation
If we can remember, moment to moment, that we exist to glorify God rather than ourselves, then we’ll improve at keeping our faith in focus while we work. But that is so much easier to say than do.
But I can tell you this is an area that has improved in my time as a Christian. In my early years after recognizing my need for following God’s ways instead of my own, it was a natural tendency to focus on how I should live and act. That’s a mistake, with legalism the end result. But it’s an easy one to make and experienced by many of us.
But as I matured, through the work of the Spirit, I learned to focus less on what I should do and more on Christ himself. On what He did (not on what I try to do), on how wonderful and graceful and altogether lovely He is. In the Scriptures, verses speaking to the heart of God started to grab my attention, rather than exhortations on how to live. Both are important, but if you don’t start with the former, your focus is on the wrong person (you).
Now, my motivations are less from what I know I should do, and more from what I want to do.
Keep a record
As I’ve talked about recently, keeping a journal is a great habit to adopt. The record is good for reference in the moment, but you also keep yourself accountable when missing days.
Repetition
Like any new habit we try to form, if you’re serious about it, you need to keep it in mind. And when it comes to following Christ, keeping his words close to you is a great way to ensure you bring about change.
In my heart I store up your words, so I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11
Finding verses that remind you of who are you in Christ and committing them to memory is one way to keep your focus amidst the busy. This is essentially the heart of Moses’s command about how God’s people should remind themselves in Deut 6:8,9:
You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead. Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.
How can one keep what’s important close to heart and mind without revisiting what’s most important to you? When the busyness of the day comes, unless you frequently revisit the important, it will get lost in the shuffle.
This does not apply only to believers struggling to keep Christ in mind during their workdays. People of all walks and beliefs struggle with this type of mentality in our work. This is why Corbett Barr (from Fizzle) suggests the following technique for managing your time: reconnect with your why. In his words:
Sometimes we put our heads down and focus with such intensity that when we finally take a moment to look up and take in our surrounding, we discover we’ve gone way off track. It is in these moments, when you’re struggling with self-doubt and making decisions only to second guess them moments later that you should reconnect with your “why”.
As a child of God created for good works, this is an important truth.
Build good habits and routines
The end results of our lives are built on the little things we do with regularity. If you want to improve this aspect of your life, be sure that you’ve instilled a healthy set of activities that will enable it to occur.
You’re not going to develop a kingdom focus if you do not read scripture each day. You will not look to God for wisdom in making decisions each day if you rarely pray to him. And you will never pause in the whirlwind of your day to reflect on how you’re using your time if you never learn to seek stillness.
If that last paragraph describes you, choose of the suggestions in this article — just one — and try it for a week. Then stop and reflect on how it changed your days. As Shawn Blanc states:
Doing a little bit on a regular basis is far more powerful than doing a whole lot at once. It’s also far more sustainable.
Or, as John Maxwell puts it:
You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.
Think of these habits and routines like building blocks. You won’t end up with anything grand in the end without doing well at the little things.
Pray
Last suggestion, one that could be applied to any issue a Christian struggles with. I almost hesitate to add it here, except that I know many of us feel that we don’t pray enough. And we don’t! I’m very guilty of this myself.
And this is a chicken and egg scenario. Do you pray first so that you can think kingdom-ly during your work day? Or do you build the habit of focusing on Christ, which then results in increased prayer? The truth is a little of both.
But a good start is to simply pray to God and ask him to help you focus on him through your day
Again, I confess this is an area where I’ve struggled, and where I struggle still. And it’s one where I desire to see growth. My aim is to say, as David does in Psalm 16:8, “I have set the Lord always before me.”
Sanctification is a journey, not a destination. Sharing in Christ’s glory is the destination, but the process here in this world is a long, tough slog. But it’s also so very worth the struggle!
It’s no secret that I think a bit lot of how people work. That’s one reason why I enjoyed Shawn Blanc’s Focus Course so much and why I’ve talked about it so much over the last 18 months. And so I’m also excited for his upcoming Focus Summit.
What is it?
An online summit featuring candid and powerful video conversations with some of the world’s best creative entrepreneurs.
I was flattered to have Shawn invite me to be involved. And now that it’s almost here, I feel unworthy to be included with the likes of Jocelyn Glei, Mike Vardy, Paul Jarvis, and Jeff Sheldon. But if you’re interested in hearing more about how I think about work and focus, sign up for the summit. For no cost!
