What's Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done Paperback – September 13, 2016

MY REVIEW:
Perman does a great job of building upon popular productivity principles and presents them in a gospel-centered framework. Perhaps you have tried adopting principles, patterns and methods from other productivity books but have got burned out using them and found that they just don't translate well for you. This book is different! If you want to live a life of purpose this book will help you become a better steward of the time God has entrusted to you by helping you define what is productivity, what things are truly productive, and how they fit into your life.

MY TOP TAKEAWAYS:
Here are the top 12 Myths this book will help the reader overcome in regards to a gospel-centered view of productivity:

Myth #1: Productivity is about getting more done faster.
Truth: Productivity is about effectiveness first, not efficiency.

Myth #2: The way to be productive is to have the right techniques and tools.
Truth: Productivity comes first from character , not techniques. The only way to make the right decisions is first to be the right kind of person (Rom. 12: 1 – 2; 2 Peter 5: 1 – 8).

Myth #3: It is not essential to give consideration to what God has to say about productivity.
Truth: We cannot be truly productive unless all our activity stems from love for God and the acknowledgment that he is sovereign over all our plans.

Myth #4: It is not essential to make the gospel central in our view of productivity.
Truth: The only way to be productive is to realize that you don’t have to be productive.

Myth #5: The way to be productive is to tightly manage yourself (and others!).
Truth: Productivity comes from engagement, not tight control; when we are motivated, we don’t need to tightly control ourselves (or others).

Myth #6: The aim of time management should be our peace of mind.
Truth: Productivity is first about doing good for others to the glory of God.

Myth #7: The way to succeed is to put yourself first.
Truth: We become most productive by putting others first, not ourselves.

Myth #8: We will have peace of mind if we can get everything under control.
Truth: Basing our peace of mind on our ability to control everything will never work.

Myth #9: To-do lists are enough.
Truth: Time is like space, and we need to see lists as support material for our activity zones, not as sufficient in themselves to keep track of what we have to do.

Myth #10: Productivity is best defined by tangible outcomes.
Truth: The greatest evidence of productivity comes from intangibles, not tangibles.
More and more, productivity is about intangibles — relationships developed, connections made, and things learned. We need to incorporate intangibles into our definition of productivity or we will short-change ourselves by thinking that sitting at our desks for a certain number of hours equals a productive day. Truth: The greatest evidence of productivity comes from intangibles, not tangibles.

Myth #11: The time we spend working is a good measure of our productivity.
Truth: We need to measure productivity by results, not by time spent working.
Deadlines work well for execution tasks (the realm of personal management), but they do not work well for creative tasks and ambiguity (the realm of personal leadership).

Myth #12 : Having to work really hard or even suffer in our work means our priorities are screwed up or we are doing something wrong.
Truth: We will (sometimes) suffer from our work, and it is not sin.

This is a great book. It's great for people like me (who supposedly have the gift of administration) because it reminds me to keep the bigger purposes and priorities in mind (glorifying God and loving people) rather than just cranking through a list of todos or trying to find the perfect 'system'. It's also great for people who might be on the other end of the spectrum, who may not feel like a lot of organization is necessary in their lives, because he makes it clear that doing our work well glorifies God and is actually a practical demonstration of love to others.

If you're a GTD addict who has tried every system and tool available, this is for you. If you're a person that has a hard time staying on task or finishing things, this book is for you. It's a long read, but a good investment. It's a unique book, the likes of which I've never seen before.

Disclosure: Matthew Perman generously provided an advance PDF copy of this book. I'm so very happy he did!

Perman candidly testifies that his hope of a achieving a "mind like water" was very rarely ever achieved through GTD practices. Instead, he found his state of mind of being one of "mind like a tsunami" (15). Mine, too.

"Getting Things Done" (GTD, Allen), "Zen to Done" (ZTD, Babauta), and "Getting Results the Agile Way" (GRAW, Meier) are brilliant and practical authors whose methodologies have helped me in becoming more efficient and productive. Yet, too many good things have been left undone, too many people have not been loved and served as I would want to be loved and served, and too many opportunities to do great things of eternal impact have been wasted. These facts have left me heartsick.

What have I been doing wrong in implementation? Was there a better tool than OmniFocus that I needed to find? Should I switch from Moleskine to Rhodia?

Was there no hope? I'm a full-time pastor of a small but thriving country church in rural Washington. My wife's chronic, debilitating and incurable disease is ever worsening. My own recently diagnosed Polycystic Kidney and Liver disease, according to the exceedingly caring and thorough docs at the VA, will continue to degrade my energy level. Could it ever be true that there was a system that would adapt to not only a "mind like tsunami" but a "life like tsunami"?

Brother Matthew has helped me to see that I've been first looking for a system that would enable productivity when I should have been first looking for a person--the Savior! Perman writes, "Productivity is specifically about doing 'the will of the Lord.' It’s about specifically orienting our lives and decisions around God’s will. We are to ultimately be Christ-centered, not just principle-centered....It makes productivity personal in the fullest sense, and makes our whole lives one of fellowship with God, rather than a following of principles. It gives us even more guidance than simply being principle-centered, for God is a living being" (56).

This is good news! Further good news, and hope, is offered when Matt writes, "I mentioned earlier that effectiveness must be learned. Here’s the good news: Drucker found that everyone who worked at becoming effective succeeded" (42).

In the pages of this book you will find foundational concepts and practical helps toward becoming a hope-filled knowledge worker who can expect to succeed as you continue working "at becoming effective" while living out a loving life of good works that brings you abiding joy and magnifies God's glory through Jesus.

Daniel Burrow,
Pastor for Preaching,
Open Heart Baptist Church,
Selah, WA