Reagan's Roundup

In Search of the Simple Life

August 19, 2021by Reagan Rose4 min read

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Read time: 3 minutes

Good day to you! Reagan here.

I’m back from vacation and back on that productivity grind. But I couldn’t help but put pen to paper and spell out some of my vacation musings on productivity, simplicity, and the Christian life.

Check out my latest article: In Search of the Simple Life (4 mins)

There’s also a new episode of the show: Why Productivity Can Never Give You Peace (21 mins)

Also, be sure to subscribe on your favorite platform so you don’t miss next week’s interview with Darryl Dash, author of the excellent book 8 Habits for Growth.

That’s all from me. Now let’s get into the Roundup! 👇

🧑‍💻The Roundup

Children Grow Slow and Leave Fast (5 mins)

If you have kids, you need to make time to read this article today.

“Increasingly, the clocks of modern society are synced to technological innovation and the pace of unmarried men and women idolizing their careers. Biblical childrearing, and the investment of quality time it demands — and the pace it takes — often feels at odds with our modern desires for efficiency and productivity. Even this very moment, is some anxious voice in your head whispering, Hurry up and finish this article so you can get productive?”

(Sam Crabtree / Desiring God)

Good Email Habits (25 mins)

Enjoyed this conversation on the Life of Productivity podcast. Here are a few of the tips they discuss:

How to conduct “email sprints”
The two types of work that we all do
Creating different “email environments”
The “Five-Sentence Rule” for answering email
How to take an email vacation
Creating the illusion of responsiveness

(Chris Baily / A Life of Productivity)

Why Obedience in Small Things Means Everything (3 mins)

“Sometimes as a Christian, I find myself looking for a great advance in my spiritual life—something like a brand new ‘born again’ experience. It’s easy to forget that the real growth doesn’t typically happen overnight, but over a life spent getting up early and planting seeds.”

(Adriel Sanchez / Core Christianity)

Alfred Adds Universal Actions with 4.5 Update (1 min)

One of my most used productivity apps for mac got a major improvement. This is a good rundown of the new Universal Actions features in Alfred.

(Mike Schmitz / The Sweet Setup)

Christian Reflections on Networking (6 mins)

Professional networking has always been a struggle for me because it seems like a lot of the advice about networking comes down to being a shameless self-promoter. But as David Qaoud points out, that doesn’t have to be the case.

“The biggest difference that distinguishes a Christian perspective on networking from a secular one is that Christians are called to serve others without expecting anything in return.”

(David Qaoud / Gospel Relevance)

The Bible in Notion

This person put the entire Bible into a Notion template. She has some interesting use cases you might find intriguing if you use Notion to organize your Bible notes. It’s in the open-source World English Bible (WEB) translation.

👍 Something I Like

My friend Ernie Bowman has written a new fictional novel about a pioneer missionary. Death is no Stranger packed with suspense and drama.

And even though the story is fictional, these are the very types of situations pioneer missionaries throughout the history of the church have faced and it’s a welcome reminder of just how much dear brothers and sisters in Christ have sacrificed to bring the gospel to the unreached.

So, if you’re looking for an exciting read with some truly redemptive themes to finish out your summer vacation, check out Death is no Stranger by Ernie Bowman.