This week a listener question. We all struggle with focus and with organisation. We look at how to keep track of everything, plan ahead and prioritise and to keep focused without becoming overwhelmed and discouraged by what we can't get done.

Thomas Chalmers wrote his Essay in 1815 - The Expulsive Power of the New Affections. The only way to remove any unhealthy and unwholesome desires and habits from our hearts is to replace them with a new affections. This essay can help us in so many ways and Thomas Chalmers' thesis within it is at the heart of everything Effective Faith is all about.

This week we have another listener question - Our listener has been struggling to implement Time Block Planning for themselves and so this week I offer my thoughts on this approach to organising and managing your time.

E-mail is something that we all use every day. But we have a love/hate relationship with it. How can we stay on top of it? How can we manage our email effectively? Is email really all that great? And what alternatives might we use?

This week we are considering how to approach planning projects and what elements of a productivity system are most important? Should we start out with just some bits or should we try and set up a whole system all at once?

How do we know if we have the time to manage all the different requests that come into us each day? How can we keep focussed for the long term on what is actually important? How can we be sure we take time for important things that may not show up on our task manage or projects list?

We need an effective plan for the week ahead.

Most of us would like to be more organised but none of us want it to take over our lives. As we look at a question from a listener this week we consider how to become more effectively organised without it becoming a burden.

Know your enemy and know yourself. Knowing ourself is critical to our effective use of time and energy. Considering ourselves with sober judgement, with humility, is critical to knowing ourselves. If you want to be more effective, then consider yourself with sober judgement, with humility.

The technology and devices with us at all times have unlocked access to a wealth of knowledge that we often don't know what to do with.  There is so much value available to us right now and there is also a huge risk present in this access.  How do we have a healthy relationship with technology?