Do More Better: A Practical Guide To Productivity (Book Review)

Do More Better (DMB) is published by Cruciform Press and authored by Tim Challies. The author opens the Introduction with a bold claim.

I believe this book can improve your life. This is a bold claim, I know, but the book would not be worth my time writing, or your time reading, if I did not believe it (Pg.5)

The above self praise appears like a usual book marketing gimmick. But by the time one finishes reading, the truth in that statement indeed emerges. Right from the onset the author is clear what he means by Doing More Better. To do more is not taking on more responsibilities and projects. But rather efficiency at what one already does. “I don’t want you to do more stuff or take on more projects or complete more tasks….I want you to do more of what matters most, and I want you to do it better.” (Pg. 5)

DMB is unlike many other productivity books because it is written from a Christian perspective. In the first Chapter, Know Your Purpose, the author lays a foundation upon which a life of productivity will be built. In Catechism style, he leads the reader to a simple definition of Productivity and Purpose. “Productivity”, according to Challies “is effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God.” (Pg.16). From this definition, Challies succintly defines Purpose as “bringing glory to God by doing good to others.”

Having established the foundation for the book, Challies goes on to direct the reader into the practicalities of DMB. He calls on the readers to eliminate their “Productivity Theives” identified as laziness, busyness, busylazy, thorns and thistles (Pgs 20-22). These are described as the root problems for lack of productivity. Also, to be productive, one needs to define their areas of responsibilities in life: Personal, Family, Church, Social and Business (Pgs. 29-30).

When this is well defined, systems need to be established by the reader for the purpose of achieving productivity. The author recommends a number of apps that can be used in scheduling ones life and priorities towards this one purpose of Productivity. This book doesn’t only propose productivity, but also proposes Christian character development.

No amount of organization and time management will compensate for a lack of Christian character, not when it comes to this great calling of glory through good—bringing glory to God by doing good to others (pg.25)

Despite its promising tone, there is a difficulty in engaging the various productivity tools proposed. One needs to be a tech savvy to follow through those tools.

This is a good book I will recommend especially for believers who want to bring some order to their lives. One can head to amazon for a copy or to the authors website for further enquiry about the book.

Disclaimer:

This review has been independently done without any reward of any kind from the author. Review was done from a PDF copy and hence page numbers may differ from other formats.