Reagan’s Roundup: August 8, 2024

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Your weekly roundup of insights and resources to help you get more done for the glory of God.

In Today’s Issue:

  • Vocational Stewardship
  • A Site for Finding Productivity Apps
  • The Curse of Knowledge
  • God’s Pattern for Productivity
  • Isaac Newton on Tact

Dear steward,

A few of you emailed me about a formatting issue in Tuesday’s email, In a Day’s Work: God’s Pattern for Productivity. Apologies for that! I’ve isolated the problem and will ensure it doesn’t happen again.

A quick note from this week’s sponsor, then we’ll dive into the roundup!


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THE ROUNDUP

The best links I found this week

Vocational Stewardship & Human Flourishing​ (4 mins)

Dr. Amy Sherman / Institute for Faith, Work & Economics

The work itself matters.

Too often in Christian circles “faith/work integration” is adverbial. We focus on the kind of employees we ought to be: ethical, caring, hard-working, conscientious. This is a vital part of such integration, but it’s not the whole. For the work itself matters. What we do—not just how we do it—matters.

Toolfinder.co

I get a lot of emails asking, “Do you know a good productivity app for X?” I’m always happy to share my preferences with you, but if you want to do your own research, Toolfinder is a great place to start.

I also recommend https://faith.tools which aggregates apps specifically useful to believers.

The Curse of Knowledge (4 mins)

Anne-Laure Le Cunff / Ness Labs

These are good tips for becoming a better communicator. Simplify, simplify, simplify!

Have you ever had a teacher who was very smart but terrible at teaching? An expert who used so much jargon you could not follow their explanation? This is called the “curse of knowledge”, a term coined in 1989 by economists Colin Camerer, George Loewenstein, and Martin Weber.

I think R.C. Sproul is a good example of someone who overcame the curse of knowledge in their teaching style. Though he was brilliant, you never felt like he was talking over you or down to you. Instead, when he taught, you felt like he was lifting you up to his level.

WHAT’S NEW

On Redeeming Productivity

In a Day’s Work: God’s Pattern for Productivity​ (4 mins)

At creation, God exemplified a pattern for our work days. And even with the curse, there is still a satisfaction that comes from the completeness of a day of work.

A DOSE OF WISDOM

Quote of the Week

“Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.”

Isaac Newton
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