Many years ago, I came across a very simple principle. 

It was found in perhaps the first series of blog posts I had ever read about this whole issue of productivity.  It is a principle that I now live by. 

I do not set arbitrary deadlines.  Not ever. 

Many people do though and so I am writing this to provide my logic as you think through the question - are arbitrary deadlines helpful?

Every single one of us at some point in our life will start to feel like things are just getting messy. 

We are just not on top of life the way we want to be.

When that happens - we need to press the reset button. 

But - how do you actually do that?

Sluggishness.

Brain fog.

The 3 o’ clock slump!

Are these things that effect you? 

These are all things that affect me, most of every day.

They rob us of our focus.  They rob us of our effectiveness.

I am no scientist in this area of life but I know that to neglect our physical well being and health can have a huge impact on our productivity.

It's my view that effective time management is all about serving others. 

There are so many angles that I could explain this from and argue my case from but I will pick out just a few in order to build out my position on this for you.

This is episode 35 of the Effective Faith Podcast - Effective Time Management is all about serving others. 

My name is Chris Wood and I run Effective Faith - helping you to be more than just productive. 

At Effective Faith our aim is to intentionally focus on what matters most, to resist the ‘productivity’ idol and to help Christians live effectively for Christ in their everyday work

Where will you set your focus? 

What will you consider to be important in life such that given you cannot do everything, this will be what you pursue? 

That was the question we asked.

Godliness picks up that question, pops the hood on it and asks - what will determine your answer to that question?

Many people will tell that answering the question of what matters to you and what will be important in your life is THE single most important question you can ever answer.

It’s not. 

It’s the one behind it. 

What will govern your answer to that question?

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.  

You've made some intentional plans. You've made hard choices to determine what is actually important in your life. You've said no to good things, things you want, in order to preserve your focus for the things that really matter.

But, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

So we come to the next aspect of saying no to ourselves. 

The issue of discipline.

Every solution needs a problem...

Here’s the point - we cannot begin to propose a better way, until we have effectively diagnosed the problem.

The presenting issues - the manifestations - are merely symptoms and they are not the problem.

What is needed is a shift in our mindset and our thinking.

This is the only way to solve the problem of Toxic Productivity...

When productivity tools and techniques are harnessed appropriately - they are inherently creative. 

When productivity goes toxic - it becomes destructive. 

It destroys our health, our relationships, and ultimately it makes us totally ineffective and unproductive.

Toxic Productivity comes with a price tag