Redeeming Your Time by Jordan Raynor

In an upcoming podcast episode, I refer to the book Redeeming Your Time: 7 Biblical Principles for Being Purposeful, Present, and Wildly Productive by Jordan Raynor. Here's a little more info about the book.

From the book description:

Despite the overwhelming amount of resources for time management and work-life balance, the ability to cultivate the efficiency and equilibrium needed to manage all our worthy pursuits can often feel frustratingly out of reach. The reason for our struggle is that productivity and time-management systems focus on individual habits rather than more meaningful and lasting lifestyle changes. But as it turns out, there is a better way to reach our full potential.

We don’t need just another approach to changing our habits. What we need is an operating system that takes into account the full scope of our lives. In these pages, bestselling author Jordan Raynor presents this system, using seven powerful time-management principles drawn from the example of how Jesus lived:

1. Start with the Word: Find meaningful connection with the author of time daily.
2. Let Your Yes Be Yes: Accept only the commitments you can fulfill.
3. Dissent from the Kingdom of Noise: Create room for silence, stillness, and reflection.
4. Prioritize Your Yeses: Confidently maintain your commitments.
5. Accept Your “Unipresence”: Focus on one important thing at a time.
6. Embrace Productive Rest: Live the God-designed rhythms of rest which are productive for our goals and souls.
7. Eliminate All Hurry: Embrace productive busyness while ruthlessly eliminating hurry from our lives.

With these principles, you’ll see how Jesus managed his time on earth and how he responded to human constraints much like the ones you face today. More than that, you’ll discover corresponding practices that will help you embrace the best, most Christlike version of yourself possible: purposeful, present, and wildly productive.


I found the book to have many practical, applicable principles. Although Raynor's approach is much more rigid than fits with my personality, there are many practices to glean from the book that do fit. I have been processing emails with a modified version of his system for 2 months now, and it has helped my commitment tracking and to-do list and close what he calls open loops. The bonus resources on Raynor's website are also valuable. I appreciate that he puts this into a biblical perspective and the motive is to help me as a Christian, not just as a business owner.

Raynor's approach is practical, and although he borrows from many other resources and just plain common sense, it's packaged in a way to help the reader apply the concepts to real life.

 

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Posted in Books & Resources.