Praying for Wisdom and Discovering Productivity

I pray most mornings before I start my work day. Prayer is undeniably something I’m called to do as a Christian, but it also makes me the best, most productive human I can be, too. I feel the most energized during and after prayer.

Praying for wisdom

For years, I’ve been deliberately praying for wisdom while claiming promises found in James:

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James 1:5

Years pass. I’m still not wise, but you know that feeling when you solve a puzzle, and the solution seemed obvious? Occasionally I’ll experience these brief moments of mental clarity when all of the pieces fit together, and it changes my life. God is faithful!

My eureka moment

While studying productivity, I struggled to find a technique that would be sustainable. James Clear introduced me to the Ivy Lee Method (which I blog about here), but it wasn’t until I saw Steve Persch‘s end of day worksheet that all of the pieces started to fall into place. Now I’m practicing a mashup of Ivy Lee + Seinfeld + Pareto that pays dividends in daily productivity and continuous improvement.

I had the pleasure of speaking about these principals at MidCamp in a session titled, “Peak Productivity with Ivy Lee” and I gave shorter applied sessions later. Watch the full presentation here:

I’ll continue writing about these things in coming months. The techniques are experimental, but the results have been excellent. The hardest part is having the discipline to stick with it. We’ve started trying some of these techniques at Pantheon with daily notes via Slack, and I’ll undoubtedly be writing about how that goes, too.

Here’s what I have so far:

• Peak Productivity with Ivy Lee (blog post)
• Expecting Unexpected Task (blog post)

Ultimately, the best productivity technique for you is the one that works for you. Leave a comment below and let me know your most effective strategies for improving productivity!