Batching

One of the greatest takeaways I've gotten from The 4-Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferriss, is the idea of batching.  Batching asks the question, "What activities can I allot to a specific day, week, month, quarter, or year so that I don't squander time repeating them more often than is absolutely necessary? (108).

Before beginning this book, Mandy and I had decided to do this with our grocery shopping.  We had read this book, and decided that we would attempt to go to the grocery store three times during the month of May.  The goal was to free up time and to not spend as much money.  These two goals go hand in hand.  By planning our meals and shopping, we have avoided the ever-so-often last minute trip to Schnucks to pick up croutons.  And we all know what happens when we run to the store to pick up croutons (especially when it's right before dinner).  We end up picking up several other items as well.  This cuts into the monthly budget.  I'm happy to report that we have done really well, and our goal is to cut it to two trips this month.

As I wrote in my first post on this book, my next step was to go from checking emails every time one arrived in my Outlook mailbox to only opening Outlook to read and respond to emails five times per day.  Ferriss suggests only doing this twice a day, and I may get there soon, but as I said, baby steps are needed here.

Yesterday I was waiting on a tow truck to pick up our Saturn (it's been in the parking lot at Union Ave. Baptist Church since Sunday night).  I had some time so I read more from the book. A lightbulb came on as I read his section on batching.  On a notecard I listed all of my monthly, weekly and daily tasks, and put the numbers of hours I spend on each.  This includes admin tasks, meetings and study time for church, property management and real estate work, as well as household chores such as laundry, cooking and paying bills. 

This part wasn't new to me.  I've done it before and it's been helpful.  What I had never done, however, was this:  I opened up Outlook (though I didn't check email yet because it wasn't time), and proceeded to put all of these tasks in my calendar.  I always put meetings, events, and deadlines in my calendar, but I haven't always put tasks such as these on it:

• Prep for sermon
• Upload sermon to website
• Pay bills
• Update rental spreadsheet 

I never forget to do tasks such as these, so I figure there's no need to write them down.  However, by having them in my calendar, I see how my day fills up.  I see the things that have to get done.  There's plenty of flexibility to move things around, but on Sunday night I know that I can get a quick overview of my upcoming week in about a minute.

This may not seem like a big deal to some, but as one who has complete control over my schedule (not always a good thing for some), this helps me gauge my productivity.

The Laws of Pareto & Parkinson

Here's part 2 of my review on Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek.  Pareto's Law, named for an economist named Vilfredo Pareto and often referred to as the "80/20" Principle, states that 80% of the wealth is possessed by 20% of the population.  You've also no doubt heard this principle when dealing with volunteers (it's used in the church world quite often).  Here we say that 80% of the work is performed by 20% of the volunteers.  

Ferriss applies this principle to our outputs and inputs.  In other words, he says that 80% of our results (outputs) come from 20% of our effort and time (inputs).  If this is the case, then we need to figure out how to not only guard that 20%, but to purge as much of the wasted time so that we can do more that truly produces results, as well as do more of the things that bring joy and fulfillment to our lives.  This speaks into the myth that business = productivity. 

 

The second law he mentions is Parkinson's Law.  This law speaks to the need to shorten deadlines so that focus and quality are the result.  If you have two days to finish a project because you are going on vacation, you finish the project in two days, even when the project normally takes a week to accomplish.  If we have 8 hours to fill, we will fill it, but it doesn't guarantee that we will accomplish anything.  He refers to this as the "9-5 Illusion."    

In bringing these two laws together, Ferriss states:

If you haven't identified the mission-critical tasks and set aggressive start and end times for their completion, the unimportant becomes the important. Even if you know what's critical, without deadlines that create focus, the minor tasks forced upon you (or invented, in the case of the entrepreneur) will swell to consume time until another bit of minutiae jumps in to replace it, leaving you at the end of the day with nothing accomplished.

No More Firefox?

For the past few months I've been having lots of issues with Firefox.  I decided this weekend to download Google Chrome, and liked it so much that I uninstalled Firefox.  It has a few issues, but nothing too frustrating, and it seems to be a lot faster than either Firefox or IE.  I may give Firefox another chance at some point, but for now, I'll stick with Google.

Book of Acts Study

I'm right in the middle of teaching a six week course on the book of Acts at Union Avene Baptist Church.  I love the story of the early church, and feel in some ways as if I've been preparing for this course for the past ten years. Right after I finish up with the course at UABC, we begin the same study at Neighborhood Church.  We're also beginning Community Groups this summer.  On Sunday nights I'll be teaching through the story, and on Wednesday nights we'll discuss what we're learning.  

The 4-Hour Workweek

This weekend I started reading The 4-Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferriss.  I remember looking at this book when I came out, but was decided not to pick it up after reading some negative reviews on Amazon.  However, a few weeks ago I read a great review of it, and decided to check it out at the library.  I'm glad I did.  Though I can understand where the negative reviews come from, it has already been extremely helpful to me.  Over the next few weeks I'm going to try to make some small changes in the way I work that I believe will make big differences.

Here are a few thoughts from the first few chapters that have been meaningful to me:

He shares in the Introduction how he hates being asked the "cocktail" questions, "So, what do you do?"  He says that it "reflects an epidemic I was long part of:  job descriptions as self-descriptions (6)."  He goes on to say, "How can I possibly explain that what I do with my time and what I do for money are compltely different things?"  As I said in a previous post, I've just started a real estate investing business, and although I really like this work, it's not what defines me.  And even though I am doing this so that it will allow me to do the work that God has called me to (pastoring a church), that's not entirely what defines me either.

Doing less meaningful work, so that you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is NOT laziness.  This is hard for most to accept, because our culture tends to reward personal sacrifice instead of personal productivity.  Few people choose to (or are able to) measure the results of their actions and thus measure their contribution in time.  More time equals more self-worth and more reinforcement from those above and around them (32-33).

Boy, do I struggle with this!  I think it has something to do with the fact that most of my work life has been entrepreneurial in nature, and most of it has been without punching a clock. Though this is great for me, it's often been difficult to know when I've done enough.  There are two reasons for this:  (1) I love my work, and (2) the work is never complete.  I despise laziness, so I work hard.  However, is my work always productive?  That's the big question.  

In chapter 5 he talks about the difference between being effective and being efficient.  He states, "Effectiveness is doing the things that get you closer to your goals.  Efficiency is performing a given task (whether important or not) in the most economical manner possible.  Being efficient without regard to effectiveness is the default mode of the universe" (67).  He goes on to give the example of the person who checks email 30 times per day.  I have a habit of keeping Outlook open, and, if I receive an email, I often "tackle" it immediately.  So my first plan of action is to open up Outlook and respond to email only five times per day during this week.  He recommends doing this only twice a day.  I'll hopefully get there, but we've got to start with baby steps!  I'm also thinking the same way with tasks such as paying bills.  

Ferriss next gives two truisms that I felt were worth giving thought to:

1. Doing something unimportant well does not make it important.
   
2. Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important.

I'll try to write more tomorrow on Pareto's Law and Parkinson's Law. 

Introducing Portfolio Investment Group

Last week my friend Joe and I started a real estate investing business.  We're calling it Portfolio Investment Group (LLC).  Joe has been buying, rehabbing, and selling properties for the last four or five years, and I've learned a lot from him.  We purchased our first property together six months ago, and are closing on a second one in a few weeks.  Our plan is to rent some of them, and to sell some of them, with the proceeds going to buying more.

Coldplay Album for Free

Coldplay is giving away their new live album for free!  Download it here.

Lost - Finally Some Answers?

Last night's season finale of Lost finally gave us more answers than it did questions...though it did give us more questions! We finally discovered the identity of Jacob (answer), but also learned that he has a nemesis (question). Here's my theory: one of the primary themes of this show is the issue of free will. Do humans have it, or are we nothing more than "pawns" in a chess game? In this case, the chess game is being played between Jacob (white shirt), representing good/light, and the mystery man (black shirt), representing evil/darkness (though I think we'll see that neither is completely good or bad. It's less a God/Satan thing and more a Greek mythology thing.

At the beginning of the show, they're both watching a boat coming to the island. This boat, most likely the Black Rock we've heard about, was called there by Jacob. The man in black obviously does not like Jacob's "experiments", which leads me to believe that the "losties" were not the first ones "summoned" to the island. This little game has been going on for a long time.

I don't think these two guys are all-powerful. I think they have limitations, and I predict that those limitations will be exposed once the losties realize that they've been a part of a game this whole time.

Can't wait for next season!

Weekly Links

Tim Chester's summary of the one-another passages in the New Testament

I started teaching a six-week series on the book of Acts at Union Ave. Baptist Church two weeks ago, and these posts by Perry Noble and Tim Chester have been helpful.

In another post from Perry Noble (who I've just started reading), he makes the statement: "I believe that God is getting ready to do something unlike He has ever done before." I think I'm starting to believe this as well. Jesus, I believe; help my unbelief.

Here's a great story from Scot McKnight's blog on the power of the Scriptures.

Jonathan Dodson on Simplified Missional Living - practical yet powerful.

One of the phrases that stuck out to me in Newsweek's article "The End of Christian America" was "religion is 'losing influence' in American society." Read the article for the context of this quote, but I for one am excited by the possibilities.

TED Conferences cost thousands of dollars to attend, but you can watch the videos online for free.

You'll be happy to know that Micah has been doing a little modeling.

A Little TV

I thought last night's American Idol was the best episode ever, as far as the competition. My number 1 & 2 for the night were Matt and Danny, but I thought all five were amazing. I think this is by far the most talented group ever.

And how about the NBA playoffs! The Boston/Chicago series is the best first round playoffs series I've ever seen. I'm a big Celtics fan, but I find myself pulling for the baby Bulls. I think D. Rose is going to be a top 3 point guard in another year or so. He's just got to cut those turnovers down. And I think they're one trade away from being an elite team (how about L. Deng and Tyrus Thomas for a big man, perhaps Bosh or Stoudamire?).

The Goal of Parenting

The following is from Tim Kimmel's great book, Grace Based Parenting.

The real test of a parenting model is how well equipped the children are to move into adulthood as vital members of the human race. Notice I didn't say "as vital members of the Christian community." We need to have kids that can be sent off to the most hostile universities, toil in the greediest work environments, and raise their families in the most hedonistic communities and yet not be the lease bit intimidated by their surroundings. Furthermore, they need to be engaged in the lives of people in their culture, gracefully representing Christ's love inside these desperate surroundings (9).

There are times when we need to shelter and protect our children, but if that is our primary to the world, then we are doing a disservice to our children. Instead, we need to teach and live out a biblical worldview. We teach them what it means to follow God and be a missionary in their world.

Favorite Iphone Apps

I've had my iPhone now for close to three months, and I love it just as much as when I first got it. The 1 billionth application should be downloaded sometime today (winner gets a $10,000 iTunes gift card), so I thought I would share some of my favorite apps.

• Google app - I probably use this most of all because I'm now using Google Reader for my rss feeds
• reQall - replaced Jott when Jott ceased to be free; not quite as good but it's very useful
• Amazon Kindle - I haven't bought a Kindle book yet, but I've sampled the first chapter of many
• Evernote - I use this primarily on my laptop, but it's nice to have an app for the iPhone
• Files lite - free version; allows me to take documents on the iPhone; I can read them, but no editing
  
• Pandora
• Simplify - allows me to listen to my entire iTunes collection on my desktop at home; not the best quality, but still a great feature
• Yelp - pinpoints my location, shows restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops, etc. nearby, and even gives reviews; I used them a lot while we were on vacation
• Maps - right up there with Google as to most used; I drive around and look at houses a lot; this helps out quite a bit
  

American Idol

I think the talent in this year's American Idol competition is the strongest ever. I love Matt's soul, Danny's power, and Adam's charisma, but of all of them, the one I would spend money to hear is Kris Allen. His performance a few weeks ago of "Ain't No Sunshine" was amazing.

Books I'm Reading

I just updated my Shelfari page, so I thought I would give an update on some of the good books I've been reading. On Easter we finished up our series on the Cross, so for the last couple of months I've been reading a lot on that subject. Two of the key books I read were Death by Love, by Mark Driscoll, and The Atonement, by Leon Morris. I grew and learned a lot during this series.

Next Sunday I am preaching on parenting, so I've been reading a few books on this topic, namely, Grace Based Parenting, by Tim Kimmel, Revolutionary Parenting, by George Barna, and Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture, by Mary DeMuth. I haven't read much of Barna's yet, but I highly recommend the other two.

I've also just started reading Total Church, by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. This is one of those books where it seems like I'm underlining every other sentence. The chapter on community is amazing, as is the one on evangelism. Speaking of that chapter, you can read it on Tim Chester's blog.

Finally, our men's discussion group has one more week on Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. It's been encouraging yet very challenging. I guess that's typical Piper, though.

Cal Who?

Great article on Memphis' new head basketball coach!

The Importance of the Resurrection

I am getting ready to preach my first Easter sermon, and I feel a little overwhelmed. For the past few weeks we've been seeking to answer the question, "Why did Jesus have to die?" We've looked at the following bad news/good news facets of the cross:

Week 1
Bad news: We are in bondage to sin and cannot escape on our own
Good news: Jesus died to redeem us from the bondage of sin

Week 2
Bad news: God's response to sin is wrath and judgement
Good news: Jesus died as a once-for-all atonement for our sin, appeasing God's wrath, forgiving all of our sins (past, present and future), and cleansing us from all unrighteousness

Week 3
Bad news: We have sinned, and the penalty for sin is death
Good news: Jesus died in our place for our sin. Therefore we do not have to pay the penalty.


As I have been working my way through this, a new question has emerged that I'm going to try to address this Sunday. The Cross has humbled me. It is truly beautiful and amazing. In some ways it would be enough to say that Jesus is my Savior, that He did all of these things for me. My life would be changed. I would no longer be the same.

So what's the purpose of Easter?

My text will be 1 Corinthians 15, and the key words for me have been "of first importance." Paul shows us why the resurrection of Jesus is vital to Christianity. In verses 12-20 he gives shows what things would be like if Christ hadn't been raised from the dead. He shows that this can't just stop with the Cross.

The Resurrection also sets up the New Creation (which harkens back to the Creation Mandate found in Genesis 1). With the Resurrection, Jesus is not only Savior of the world but also King of the World. And He has called us to be ministers of reconciliation in His Kingdom!

Vacation

We are in Orange Beach, AL this week with Paw Howard, Boogala (not sure how to spell that, but it's Adam's grandmother), and Megan. The boys did great on the long drive yesterday, and our first night was good. Micah slept in the bathroom last night, but we moved him into the closet this morning (is that wrong?). Adam is most excited about making smores and watching Star Wars: Episode I. I'm looking forward to eating a lot of seafood, enjoying the serenity of the waves crashing outside our door, and enjoying my family!

Does Satan Exist?

Last week ABC News Nightline featured a four-person "Face-Off" debate on the topic of Satan. The guests were Bishop Carlton Pearson, Deepak Chopra, Annie Lobert, and Mark Driscoll. You can watch it in its entirety here. I was very impressed with Driscoll's responses. I also think Pearson hit the nail on the head when he began talking about Scripture. It all boils down to what you believe about Scripture. If you don't believe that Scripture is authoritative, then nothing that Driscoll and Lobert makes sense.

Coach Cal Leaving?

Apparently Coach Calipari is announcing this afternoon whether or not he is leaving Memphis for Kentucky. It is going to be troubling for so many in Memphis if he leaves. Not only will we be losing a great coach (and a great Memphian), but we also stand to lose several prized recruits. It's also troubling for another reason, though: How concerned should we be that something like this puts us in such a state of depression? In the grand scheme of things, how big a deal is this?

Weekly Links

• Innovation3 was one of those conferences that I would have loved to have gone to. The next best thing is having free resources from it.
  
  
• Great nugget of parenting truth from Mark Batterson
  
  
• Ben Witherington reminds us of God's promises during our woeful economic times
  
  
• Tim Keller's Q & A Sessions free for download at Redeemer's store
  
  
• Ed Stetzer's 5-Part Interview on Communication with Andy Stanley