Your weekly roundup of insights and resources to help you get more done for the glory of God.
In Today’s Issue:
- My 3-App Productivity Setup
- Acting Christian in the Workplace
- I Lost My Job to AI
- Should You Get a Desk Treadmill?
- Quote: The Image of God & Your Calling
Dear steward,
With the proliferation of productivity apps available these days, choosing your productivity toolset can feel a little overwhelming. It’s all too easy to flit from app to app, searching for the magic bullet that will transform our messy lives into an oasis of order and organization.
But, as I wrote last month, the perfect productivity app doesn’t exist. So, there is wisdom in resisting the urge to try every new product that promises to revolutionize your life. Nevertheless, with a bit of restrained experimentation, you can likely find a set of tools that meets your productivity needs.
With that caveat in mind, I wanted to share the three primary productivity apps I use daily to organize my life.
THE ROUNDUP
The best links I found this week
WHAT’S NEW
How Can I Be a Christian in My Workplace? (4 mins)
Alex Chediak / Ligonier
“You know, Alex, other than a source of income, what I do for my work is pretty meaningless.” That’s what a successful Christian businessman told me in my mid-twenties. A humble man, his point was that work often seemed like a necessary evil.
I appreciated Alex’s 4 part answer to how to view our work as meaningful:
- Work as Worship
- Work as Neighborly Love
- Work as Calling
- Work as Pre-Evangelism
- Work as Sanctification
I lost my job to AI this week… (11 mins)
Nadestraight / YouTube
This video detailing a designer’s experience with having his job outsourced to AI went viral on YouTube earlier this month.
I’m not an AI doomer, nor am I particularly optimistic about it. But I’m sharing this by way of warning, and to make a larger point for believers. It seems we may be transitioning from “AI could eventually take our jobs” to “AI is beginning to take our jobs.”
The big takeaway I have about this AI shift is that if you are in a position where there is a potential for AI to replicate what you’re doing, the most important thing you can begin doing right now is looking for ways to increase the value of what you are doing—not simply so you can keep your job, but so that you are working as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23).
I’m not trying to blame the victim, having your job—or possibly entire career field—be replaced by computers is devastating. But I have noticed a common thread in these stories, and you may pick-up on it if you watch this video. Replacement is often precipitated by complacency. This guy saw that he only had about 2 hours of work to do per day, yet he was being paid for a full day. But he did nothing to rectify that situation, he simply milked it—until he was replaced.
Disruption of jobs through automation and technology cannot always be avoided. Plenty of diligent, responsible workers were displaced in the Industrial Revolution, for example. But in the era of work-from-home, many are taking advantage of the lack of oversight instead of being diligent to provide value to those God has called them to serve through their work.
So, my point is this: Do your job with excellence, primarily as a way to please the Lord. This attitude tends to produce valuable work as a byproduct, which goes a long way in protecting your ability to earn an income.
For more on this attitude see my series on The Heart of a Christian Remote Worker.
On Redeeming Productivity
I got a desk treadmill to improve my productivity (13 mins)
I’ve been using a YGZ under-desk treadmill for the past several months to walk on while I work. Here’s my experience with it so far as well as some tips for choosing and make the most of a walking pad while you work.
My 3-App Digital Productivity Setup (4 mins)
These are the primary productivity apps I use daily to help me get more done and steward my time more effectively.
A DOSE OF WISDOM
Quote of the Week
God has created us in his image so that we may carry out a task, fulfill a mission, pursue a calling.
Anthony A. Hoekema
