As I journey through life and grow older, I have increasingly learned to cherish the value of time. Each passing day reminds me of our existence’s finite nature, urging me to number my days and make them count for Christ. This pursuit of redeeming my time has led me into the fascinating realm of productivity, particularly from a Christian perspective. I have recently encountered another insightful work, Make the Most of Your Productivity: A Guide to Honoring God With Your Time, by Ana Avila.
In this book, Avila offers principles and practices to help us honor God through effective time management. She challenges the conventional secular definition of productivity—which often prioritizes efficiency—and posits that true productivity is “a life that seeks to honor God with all that you have.”
The book has 13 chapters neatly organized into three parts. The first section, “Foundation,” lays the foundation of Christian productivity by exploring its meaning and how the gospel transforms our productivity. Avila explains that in a Christian context, productivity is embracing God’s work within us and responding to it in worship through our labor and rest. Moreover, she explores the parable of the ten talents and identifies character traits and principles that underpin a productive life.
In “Principles,” the second part of the book, Avila delves into six essential aspects of productivity: time, limits, decisions, focus, habits, and tools. Each chapter offers valuable insights into these areas, demonstrates their significance in fostering productivity, and provides practical principles.
The last section, “Practices,” examines three core practices for nurturing a productive life: aligning your life, planning your week, and making the most of your day. This section is the most practical section of the book. Avila offers useful techniques for organizing our time and showcases examples that integrate the principles laid out previously.
Overall, Make the Most of Your Productivity is a fun, refreshing, and timely reminder to steward our time wisely for God’s glory. I resonated with the principles Avila puts forth in this book and the practical action steps at the end of each chapter. I particularly benefited from her insights on tools; Avila reminds us that tools and gadgets do not make us productive; they only help already productive people work better. This mindset is interesting to me as I often view tools as the driving force to become productive.
Whether you are new to biblical productivity or a seasoned productivity enthusiast, I trust this book will be valuable. Avila’s biblical wisdom and practical advice provide a solid foundation for anyone seeking to cultivate a productive life that honors God. I recommend it!
Crossway graciously gave me a copy for an honest review.
Favorite Quotes
“The productive life is a life that seeks to honor God with all that you have.”
“To be productive is to embrace the reality of what God does in us and to respond in worship through our work and our rest.”
“When we waste our lives, we are not wasting something that belongs to us; we are wasting something that belongs to God.
“You are the person you spend the most time with, so you are the person who can most hinder your own path to true productivity.”
“Productive people use tools effectively and build systems that help them be who they are, enabling them to honor God and love others by making the most of all their resources.”
