Do More Better – a Review

Tim Challies. Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity. Minneapolis, MN: Cruciform Press, 2015. 120 pp. $8.85.

 

Tim Challies is a well-known Christian blogger and author. His web site is a great source of information, encouragement, and resources. In his latest work, Challies has taken on the task of helping believers to address, from a godly mindset, the important issue of personal productivity.

 

I found this book to be solid in a variety of areas. First, Challies has presented productivity, not simply as a business strategy, but as a means of being a good and God-honoring steward of life. The author focuses his readers on the goal of being productive in order to do as much good as we can for others for the glory of God. This is a noble and biblical desire, and not one that is overlooked even though the book is highly practical.

 

Speaking of practicality, this book, unlike some books that simply spew forth generalities of getting organized, offers one, clear, simple system of personal productivity. Challies offers very clear steps for seeing what are our areas of responsibility, developing project and task lists, managing our schedules, collecting data, and reviewing our system. Also, Challies is not afraid to recommend to his readers specific web sites and apps to use in order to do the things he is suggesting. It is nice to have an author actually tell me that he likes Evernote or Google Calendar instead of telling me to pick from the hundreds of options out there. However, he also shares other options for those who for some reason do not want to use his suggestions.

 

Of course, as a book published by Cruciform Press, this work has another positive feature that we must not overlook: brevity. Cruciform Press books are all short, readable, and useful. Challies has done a great job of saying quickly and clearly what many other authors have written volumes attempting to accomplish. This work is something that a person could read in an afternoon, and yet rich enough to be very helpful if implemented.

 

The weakness of this book is actually a part of its strength, its brevity. Because this work is so short, simple, and practical, there is only one system that Challies presents. There are not a lot of extra chapters for nuances. Instead, readers will have to take the counsel Challies offers and adapt it to their own unique life circumstances.

 

I would happily recommend Do More Better to any Christian who desires to better organize his or her life. This system will be a helpful tool for pastors or others in the workplace. This book will also be useful to stay-at-home moms who want to better get a handle on all the tasks that their unique and treasured role requires. Thoughtful students would also be helped by taking advantage of this God-honoring system of productivity.

 

Note: I received a free PDF copy of this book in exchange for the posting of an impartial review.