v1 Note – Kings should be in battle, yet David was at home.

The word battle is implicit, but not explicit in the text. In some translations (like the NASB) you’ll notice the word is in italics. The Hebrew word (pronounced yaht-sah) could be translated as “produce”.

Because David wasn’t actively producing in the season in which he was supposed to be producing, he was not protected against his own sinful proclivities.

There is a protection that comes with being productive. (Yes, there can be other problems that arise, like overworking. But, I’d rather be a workaholic than an alcoholic!)

This isn’t a new idea.

We’ve heard the quote, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.”

St Jerome also said…

When we are actively producing, we are protecting ourselves from the snares of idleness or inactivity.

No matter how unproductive you are, you will find something to do — but what will “that something” do to you?

• Binge
• Eat
• Sleep
• Down the hole
  • Conspiracy
  • Endless Learning

The longer we continue in inactivity, the more open we are to things that please the unfruitful parts of our nature.

Not all productivity is productive (or fruitful)

Frederick Winslow Taylor was an American engineer around the turn of the twentieth century who pioneered industrial engineering in order to improve the efficiency and output of large manufacturing factories. Basically he evaluated and created processes that allowed factories to make more stuff while operating cheaper and easier. He wrote a book called The Principles of Scientific Management that outlined his philosophies consisting of four major principles for how management would deal with “the workers”.

Frederick’s Four Principles:

1. They develop a science for each element of a [worker’s] work, which replaces the old rule-of-thumb method.

2. They scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the [workers], whereas in the past [the worker] chose his own work and trained himself as best he could.

3. They heartily cooperate with the [the workers] so as to ensure all of the work being done is in accordance with the principles of the science which has been developed.

4. There is an almost equal division of the work and the responsibility between the management and the [workers]. The management take over all work for which they are better fitted than the [workers], while in the past almost all of the work and the greater part of the responsibility were thrown upon the [workers].

The fourth principle, in more basic terms, this means “we’re going to separate the intellectual tasks from the manual tasks.” The outcome essentially separated labor into white-collar and blue-collar workers. This became the typical model for all labor throughout the industrial age until today.

This led to white-collar workers doing thoughtful (and thought-filled) work, while blue-collar workers would do simple routine tasks that anyone could be trained to do… repetitive and thoughtless. (i.e Rather than workers building a bicycle, one person would attach the wheels, another the chain, another the seat.)

Thanks to the age of computers, this methodology evolved to be incorporated into white-collar work as well. Where they once were the brains of the operation, now most white-collar workers simply put the necessary data in the computer and it spits out the solutions they seek.

—

The separation of intellectual and manual work leads to mindless manual labor. Eventually, and more concerning, that same separation eventually leads to mindless intellectual labor.

Productivity is the marriage (or reconciliation) of manual and intellectual work.

When our minds and our hands are occupied, we limit the access points for distractions… and access points for destruction!

Illustration: Senior Pastor Affairs

Over the past few years, it seems like we hear about affair after affair happening with senior pastors of large churches. This is not an attempt to bring any judgment or shame, but hopefully, we’ll be able to look at the root cause.

While your favorite Christian Youtuber would have you believe that this happens because these preachers are charlatans and wolves-in-sheep’s-clothing, I think it might be more innocent (if it can be) than that.

For most pastors of exceptionally large churches (we’ll call that 8,000+) the primary issue is that they have built the organization to the point that they are no longer actively involved in building and developing the organization. An executive pastor runs the ministry, a CFO handles the finances, a ghost-writer is turning their sermons into a book, the executive assistant places calls, etc… In fact, if not for preaching on Sundays most Senior Pastors in these environments could leave and no one would ever know.

Now, I have an interesting insight from an interesting source.

A close friend of mine, while working on his Master’s Degree, interviewed a counselor who works with high-level leaders in really large churches, including the who’s who of senior pastors. The counselor, speaking to the issue of senior pastors having affairs, essentially said,

Dopamine Nation

In fact, I’m reading a book called Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (a chemical… I think)made and released when your brain is expecting a reward. It just so happened that I read this section this morning.

Again, this reiterates that when we have nothing to do, when we’re being unproductive/unfruitful, we’re going to find a way to fill that space with something. This book, suggests that we do that because we are craving, knowing or unknowing, a hit of dopamine.

The book goes on to give some really insightful information. Now, listen to this crazy stuff…

This starts a cycle where we’re positioned with more free time and a growing need to more and more dopamine. While we’re not being productive, we have an opportunity to do things that that release that little chemical satisfaction. The book deals greatly with actual and proper addiction, but in 2022 we’re getting our dopamine hits through the day by grabbing our phone and browsing social media.

Here’s where it gets super concerning… Lembke goes on to say,

In other words… when we have too much free time from being productive, we find ways to fill it that produce dopamine. And when we’re getting that dopamine hit, we’re less likely to go back to being productive! It’s a vicious cycle. (I’m unhappy because I eat… and I eat because I’m unhappy.)

Tips for staying productive.

In the text we began with, there are a few key phrases that I want to extract in order to explore some helpful practices that can make us (or keep us) productive.

Let’s look at that first verse one more time…

1. Practice peer observation.

“Time when kings”

A major part of being productive is doing the things that are actually productive and not just busy. I’m sure you’ve had moments like this as well, but there are some days I seem to be so busy that I don’t accomplish anything! We need to make sure we’re doing the right things concerning our intended outcomes.

One of the best ways to figure out what you should be doing is by practicing peer observation. This is simply looking to other people who do the things you do, or the things you want to be doing.

Concerning David, we know he wasn’t being productive because he was a king, but he wasn’t where kings were supposed to be. It was the time when kings go to battle. He wasn’t in battle.

When pastoring, I looked to other pastors to see who they were listening to, what they were reading, methods they were implementing, what they’re schedule looked like, etc… As a business person and media producer, I’m asking the same questions respectively.

Observe, Don’t Compare.

A word of caution… this is not to say that we compare ourselves to everyone in our profession or field or expertise. The goal is to become productive or more productive, not to feel inferior or superior to others.

Mind the Gap.

Another word of caution… when observing peers, be mindful of the gap. For instance, as a preacher, I could look to someone like Steven Furtick’s daily schedule and glean lots of insights. But I also have to be mindful that when if he has a team of people dedicated to his administrative life, he’s going to be able to remove some key elements from his schedule that are critical to success that you’re going to have to find time to do.

When the gap is massive it’s better to observe these people for inspiration. (i.e. you pastor a church of 25 and they pastor a church of 25,000) Regarding implementation, you should look to someone with whom you have a much narrower gap. (i.e. you pastor a church of 25 and they pastor a church of 100)

2. Get on a Schedule.

“The time”

I don’t care who you are or what you do, you’ve got to get on a schedule. It amazes me how many things people are unable to accomplish simply because they never scheduled the time to do it.

The most well meaning, well intentioned people will end their day and suddenly realize they forgot to do something crucial.

If you’re going to be productive in a way that moves you towards a finished goal, you’re going to have to start scheduling your activities. This is the only way you’re going to be able to be certain that you’ll continue moving towards the finish line. Without being intentional with your schedule you’ll keep saying I need to and never get around to actually doing it.

Your schedule essentially works in three phases.

Routines

Routines are the things you do everyday. For instance, I can tell you with certainty that the first 4 things I’ll do tomorrow are: go pee, make a coffee, journal, read the Bible. You know how I know that…? I do it every single day.

Getting a routine in place isn’t easy. In fact, it can be really difficult… but it’s worth the return on the investment. Routines can help keep your head above water in the most difficult seasons of your life.

Reading the Bible is very important to me. And I’m not hyperbolic when I say that I read the Bible every single day. I’m only able to do that because it’s part of an intentionally crafted routine.

Also, routines aren’t limited to the morning. You can have blocks of time throughout the day that initiate routines. You can have a morning routine, lunch routine, bedtime routine, etc…

Activities

Activities are the things you do during the day. These aren’t routines, but things that need to be accomplished. For instance, editing video is something that’s super important in my world, but I don’t do it everyday. When there’s a video that needs to be edited, it’s an activity that gets added to my calendar.

Some activities occur every single day, but still aren’t routines. Routines are all about same-bat-time-same-bat-channel, but some projects will require daily activity. For instance, when I wrote my first book Money From The Master’s Hand, I scheduled time every day for writing. Now, that amount of time or time of day might vary from day to day. It wasn’t a routine, but still something that needed to be steadily chipped away at.

When it comes to activities you might immediately think I need a to-do list. Well, I’m actually pretty against to-do lists. I’ve found that we overestimate how much we can do in a day and underestimate what we can do in a week.

I’m a fan of what’s called calendar blocking. Rather than throwing everything I need to do on a list and starting on those activities, I put everything I need to do on my calendar and assign what I think is an appropriate amount of time to finish the task. Keeping all of these activities on a digital calendar helps me to access the information quickly, but also make quick changes when interruptions occur.

Interruptions

Interruptions range from a text message to a full-on-emergency. Not only do they vary in form, they also vary in the amount impact they take on your time.

For instance, my 9 year old loves to come into my office and ask for me to check the weather. (I’m not kidding…) Then, last summer I was hospitalized for 10 days. Both of those are interruptions, but the form and impact are quite different.

You need to settle it in your heart… interruptions will occur. At some point one of your kids will start vomiting at school. At some point, you’ll get the call that the family member passed away. The interruptions are coming… and you can’t stop them.

But! Yes… the all important word.

But you get to be the gatekeeper of what interruptions you allow though the “changes my schedule” barrier. That’s right! You don’t have to respond and react to everything everyone asks you to respond and react to.

So if your kid breaks an arm at school, you’re going to drop everything you’re doing and get over there as fast as you can. However, a text message asking for a photo doesn’t have to warrant the same response.

In fact, you can turn your phone on do not disturb and ignore all requests from all people until you’re done with the important work you have to accomplish.

But what about those unavoidable and urgent interruptions? Well, like I mentioned before, keeping your activities in your digital calendar makes it really easy to move things around. And that’s what you have to do… you just have to move things around. You don’t allow your emotions to overwhelm you, you deal with the issue at hand, and then you get your activities sorted back out on your calendar.

Part of the recovery process for interruptions is the gatekeeping before hand. The more things you allow to completely disrupt your activities, the less margin you have to respond when it really matters. Don’t let small stuff through the gate. Don’t let things that really aren’t your responsibility through the gate. Don’t let someone’s obliviousness to google.com through the gate.

3. Something that requires you to explore beyond yourself.

“Go out”

Now remember, we’re talking about being productive and not just busy. In order to be truly productive, we need to go out beyond the borders of our comfort zone.

There’s something about having to get your mind wrapped around solving a problem that is good for the soul. It’s brain growing and character building. It reminds you that the world is bigger than you. It draws your attention away from yourself.

If at all possible, I would encourage you to do something that requires your hands.

I’m a problem solver… but I typically operate solely in a digital world. I’m not saying that digital work isn’t work… and I’m not saying it’s not productive. Never the less, there’s something about putting your hands on a project.

I have found that the moments I go into the garage and build something (which I’m terrible at) I do better emotionally and I gain lots of clarity. Involving your mind and your hands in your work can be an exceptionally rewarding experience.

4. Be patient in the season of producing. Don’t quit too soon!

“In the spring”

If you’re anything like me, you like to do things quickly. I have a tendency to go all in on one thing and a time so I can complete the one thing in its entirety. I’ve had to build systems in my life to help me not build Rome in a day in certain areas. Many areas of our life need to be build slowly and steadily.

When you’re engaging in productive work it’s important to remember that life happens in seasons. Some things will take longer portions of time to complete. Get comfortable with that now. If you don’t, you could find yourself discouraged to the point of quitting too soon.

Hang in there. Track your progress. Keep being productive!