Be Productive, Not Busy


In the early 1900's a management specialist, named Ivy Lee, was hired by Charles Schwab to improve his company's efficiency.  Lee suggested that Schwab needed to create a list of daily tasks to complete before moving on to other items on his "to-do" list.  Lee's idea was so brilliant that Schwab would go on to say that,during his entire business carrier, this was the most profitable piece of advice he was ever given.*

With his idea Lee introduced Schwab to the difference between being busy and being productive: intentionality.  Intentionality is a deliberate choice.  Intentionality does not just apply to the business world, but to our families as well.  In our families we must differentiate between that which makes us busy and that which makes us productive.

Prior to the birth of my son, I thought I lived a busy, fast-paced life.  Since his birth, I have come to experience a whole new definition of busy, in fact there are days when I could swear that someone stole a few of my daily allotment of 24 hours.  I imagine that I am not the only one who has had this feeling.  The fact is that life is busy and it makes many demands on our time and on our families.  There's work, the kids’ education, sports, PTA meetings, church commitments, and the list goes on and on.  Sometimes, if we are not careful, we can miss the forest for the trees.  Sometimes our lives can get so busy that we lose track of what is important and we trade our productivity for busyness.  

Satan is a master at taking that which is good and using it to distract us.  Satan takes things like sports, plays, work, school, etc. and tricks us into devoting all of our time and attention to these things in order to distract us from even more important things like family, our relationship with God, and our relationships with our church family.  He uses them to make us busy instead of productive.

I know I have experienced it, and I bet you have as well.  That moment when you are running a hundred miles per hour, your stress level is through the roof, and the people around you are on your last nerve.  In that moment, you wonder how it all got this way, how did you lose sight of what was most important?  The good news is that we serve a God who is all about beginning anew and it is never too late to stop being busy and start being productive.

Being productive instead of busy in our lives and in our families isn't necessarily about giving up the good things in our lives like sports, school plays, music, etc. but is instead about structuring our lives around what matters most.  This involves intentionally choosing to invest our time in what is most important to us before spending time on other areas that are of lesser importance.  Admittedly, this is sometimes easier said than done but the results are less stress, healthier family relationships, and a stronger spiritual life.  The process of evaluating whether our lives are productive or simply busy is not a one-time thing but is a process we should regularly observe.

I would like to encourage you to take a moment and evaluate if your family is being productive or just busy.  If you haven't already done so, set some goals for your family.  These goals should reflect where you would like to see your family in the future, what you want your family to accomplish, and how you want your family's relationship with each other and with God to be.  After you have set these goals, consider doing the following:
1) Ask yourself and your family, "Are the activities and things we do accomplishing these goals?"
2) Make a list of activities that would help your family accomplish the goals you have set.
3) Structure your schedule around the activities and goals you have set for yourselves.

Stephen Covey once said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."  The fact is that this is often easier said than done.  This is why it is important for each of us to take time to evaluate on a regular basis whether we are being productive or just busy.

I pray God will bless you and your family as you seek to put Him first in all you do.

*Dave Kraft, Leaders Who Last, (Crossway, Wheaton:2010), 60-61
**Ibid, 58


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