“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” – Matthew 6:34
Hello stewards,
Hope you’re doing well this Thursday!
I’ve been working on a new course on how to keep an effective to-do list. And this week as I was working on the daily lists section of the curriculum, I was reminded of Jesus’ words quoted in the passage above.
“Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
In that verse Jesus wasn’t saying we shouldn’t think about tomorrow, we’re just not to worry about it. A life of faithfulness does require diligence and planning, after all.
But how do we plan well while resisting the urge to be anxious about tomorrow?
I wrote a new article about one practical way I’m fighting this tension. It’s called Sufficient for the Day, and it’s about how I keep my long-term plans separate from my daily plans so I’m not tempted to worry about the future.
Anyway, there are lots of good links in this issue of the Roundup. So let’s get into it!
✨ Redeeming Productivity
✍ ️Sufficient for the Day (4 mins)
Planning for tomorrow is good, worrying about it isn’t. Here’s how a daily list can help you fight the urge to fret and better focus on today’s work.
🎙 How to Overcome Overcommitment (31 mins)
We’ve all known that hopeless feeling of having more to do than you could possibly hope to accomplish. Why is it that we overcommit? How does productivity actually make the problem worse? And how do we break free from an addiction to overdoing it?
Subscribe to the Redeeming Productivity Podcast
🧑💻The Roundup
The Flowtime Technique: A Pomodoro Alternative (7 mins)
I’ve been testing this method for doing deep work this week and have quite enjoyed both the process and results.
“The Flowtime Technique, while not as well-known as the Pomodoro Technique, has been around for some time. In many ways, it’s a direct descendent of Pomodoro. It’s the brainchild of Zoe Read-Bivens, and she thought it up as a means of dealing with some of the shortcomings she experienced while using the Pomodoro technique.”
(Chris Porteous / Lifehack)
Live Like You’ll Live Forever (5 mins)
“Eternity exists, we believe, and all men are immortal. The souls we come in contact with at the ballgame, in the restaurant, walking the dog — shall be a million years from now. The mailman, the bus driver, the nosy neighbor — immortal beings. The most decrepit among us shall outlive the galaxy.”
(Greg Morse / Desiring God)
Is College Worth It? A Comprehensive Return on Investment Analysis (25 mins 😅)
“While prospective students often ask themselves whether college is worth it, the more important question is how they can make college worth it.”
This study estimated the ROI on almost 30,000 bachelor’s degrees. They found that over a quarter of programs actually had a negative ROI, meaning the jobs the degrees landed you would never make back the cost of the degree.
(Preston Cooper / FREOPP)
Setting Up a macOS Hyper Key Using BetterTouchTool (1 min)
A “hyper key” is where you remap your CAPSLOCK to simulate hitting all of your modifier keys at once. The benefit is that it allows you to create universal keyboard shortcuts that don’t interfere with the default shortcuts of other apps. I’ve been doing using a hyper key on my mac for years but was pleased to see that BetterTouchTool has implemented an easier way to enable this feature.
This short article will show you how to get it set up.
(Mike Schmitz / The Sweet Setup)
▶️ A Craftsman Explains How to Be More Productive (13 mins)
Stumbled across this video of a man building a wheelchair ramp while he talks about the merits of the phrase “work smarter, not harder.” So much wisdom in here.
(Essential Craftsman / YouTube)
🎓 Redeeming Productivity Academy
Join the community to grow in your personal development, get accountability for your goals, and connect with other productivity-minded believers!
Here’s a peek at what’s currently going on in the community:
- To-Do Lists Done Right. Each month I release a new course for RPA members. Next month we will be exploring how to effectively manage commitments and tasks.
- The ONE Thing Essentials. James Parker came by to teach us the skill of prioritization.
- Book Club. For the month of October, we are reading and discussing Doug Wilson’s Ploductivity: A Practical Theology of Work & Wealth.
- October Habit Challenge. Members are committing to specific daily habits for the month and their progress is tracked on our habit scoreboard so we can give each other accountability and encouragement.
- Offices Hours. From time to time I do open office hours where RPA members can drop in and talk through productivity and time management issues.
- And more. The membership also includes access to all past trainings, Tool Shed sessions, and our vibrant online community. Come connect with the coolest group of Christian productivity nerds on the internet. Registration will be reopening soon. I’d love to see you there!
⌛️That’s All for this Week
Hit reply to send me articles for future issues or just to say hey.
I’ll see you next time!
– Reagan
