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I hate wasting time. I’m totally on board with not multi-tasking, but some things are meant to be done simultaneously. I like listening to non-fiction audiobooks (library, FTW) when I drive and podcasts when I’m doing the dishes. They make driving and dish washing much more pleasant. Before I launch into a big pile of dishes, I always queue up a podcast. (Note: I normally do the dishes because Niki always cooks the delicious meals that made the dishes dirty. There should be a rule in families that no one can cook and do the dishes. That’s the worst) Here are a few of my favorite podcasts. I’d love to hear some of your favorites in the comments. ...

**Most things we need to do to succeed are boring. **But we all want a perfect formula that does the work for us. Something new, flashy, easy. That’s why ridiculous fad diets, get-rich quick schemes and overnight success are all the rage. We know what it takes to change, succeed, and win, but we know those things are hard. Everyone knows how to lose weight. You just need to burn more calories than you consume over time, and viola the number on the scale starts reading lower. Building a popular blog means writing well, over time, and boom you’re an overnight success. Retiring well means spending less than you earn, over time, and investing wisely in boring mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that return well, consistently, over time and wham you’re a millionaire who never even made six figures a year. Building a movement of university students fits here too. Helping students walk with Jesus, by sharing your faith with them and teaching them to do the same, over time, leads to lots of people walking with Jesus and leading others to him. But it takes time. You want an instant formula for success? Here you go. ...

The mouse was a beautiful invention for the personal computer. But it’s mostly unnecessary. I still use it quite often, but I’m trying to move more swiftly through the digital world, rocking the keyboard instead of the mouse. It’s faster because you don’t have to move your hands and waste time repositioning (wow, I’m a nerd). (Confession: I just used the mouse and now I’m kicking myself. I definitely haven’t mastered this yet.) If you’re ready to be so fast and so furious, so you can get back to the things that matter, check out my favorite shortcuts below. I haven’t included every keyboard shortcut, but only the ones that I find the most helpful. I’d love to hear what some of your favorite shortcuts are in the comments. ...

This is a guest post by Mike Mobley from Before the Cross. Mike is “Saved by grace through faith. In love with Jesus, his Glory, and obviously my beautiful wife Joelle and daughter Peyton! Seeking Him in everything to glorify Him and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.” You can connect with him on Twitter as well. We all have opportunities from our past that we missed out on by not acting. Regrets can fill our lives. We can sulk in our guilt for and keep beating ourselves up, saying, “I could have done this. I could have done that.”The reality is, you won’t get that same chance again. To keep living in the past shows a lack of trust in God and results in a waste of time in the present. “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” – Deuteronomy 31:6 Let’s remember that for those who have a relationship with Christ, that we have God. There is no reason to fear or be afraid. Instead, be strong and courageous. God is not going to leave you or forsake you. Here is a good example from my past: ...

I recently discovered MacSparky, David Sparks’ website. He often highlights the home screens of his friends’ iPhones, and since I don’t have any friends, I decided to write about my own home screen. My home screen is in constant flux. I’ve moved the icons around a dozen times in the last week since being back in the States (au revoir, MagicJack and Ljubljana Bus app). It was time to get all efficient. I normally sell you on why I love apps, but this is more on how I use them and my general iOS workflow instead of just great apps. I’ve been thinking a lot about workflow lately thanks to the Mac Power Users podcast (by David Sparks and Katie Floyd) and my incessant urge to be ever more productive and efficient. ...

I love books and I don’t care who knows it. “The books you read and the people you meet will determine where you are in five years.” __ Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones. Books are second only to relationships when it comes to the trajectory of our lives. I set out with a goal of reading 52 books this year. In case you’re wondering, an 8.5 hour plane ride across the Atlantic last week helped me get back on track, and I’ve officially completed 28 books, putting me on pace to hit 52 for the year. [Full disclosure: A couple books are pretty short, around 100 pages, so that’s lame, but I’ll work on getting my page count up, ok, you guys?] So, I thought it was time for some musings on books. ...

Explaining a new idea without context can be smash-your-head-against-the-wall frustrating. There are too many things you want to say, too many options of what to explain, too many directions to go. I recently read the free ebook The Myth of the Garage by Chip and Dan Heath. They included an essay that describes anchoring, a solution to our aimless elaborations without boundaries. How do you spread a new idea–fast–and get people to pay attention? Innovations require lots of explaining…Explanations require lots of attention, but attention is scarce. So don’t explain. Instead, anchor your communication in what people already know… [A]nchoring is easier than explaining from scratch… Anchoring is latching your idea to something that already exists and using that as a launching pad. Of course, you can’t just say “We’re like Starbucks.” You need what the Heath brothers call “a twist.” The only downside to anchoring is that, by hooking into existing ideas, it creates sameness. But to sell something you need difference. It doesn’t work to say, “Introducing Gleemy toothpaste–it’s perfectly interchangeable with Crest!” That’s why a good innovation story couples an anchor with a twist. When you’re dreaming of a new product, organization or mission, context is key. Give an example, an anchor, for people to latch onto so they can see where you’re going. ...

It’s easy for me to think my way is the correct way (which is clearly linked to my impatience and pride). Obviously, my way isn’t always right, isn’t the only right way, and isn’t necessarily the best way. When you’re leading, I think the best way to empower team members is to give them clear expectations about where you’re heading and what you hope to achieve (vision) while also giving them the freedom to work how they feel best (flexibility). Sometimes people do things in ways we don’t think is best. That’s when letting them stay flexible is hard. A sudden urge to micro-manage boils up when they say things we don’t agree with. Or if they act in ways we wouldn’t act. Sometimes they are wrong. They need to be corrected. Someone (you, if you’re the leader) needs to talk with them. Other times the way they do or say something that gets under your skin. It bothers you and rubs you the wrong way. But it’s actually not fundamentally wrong or hurtful or even in need of correction. It’s just preference. ...

In the American school system, you’re rewarded for being the best question answerer. For memorizing multiplication charts, the year the Lusitania sunk, how to spell onomatopoeia. Those aren’t bad things to know, they just aren’t the most helpful types of things to keep in the deep recesses of your memory. A quick calculation, Google search or dictionary reference–all of which now fit inside our pockets with smartphones–can give us the answers we’re looking for. Unfortunately, we’re rarely rewarded for being the best question askers–a far less common skill and one that will serve you for a lifetime. Anyone with an internet connection can find the right answer. Few people can asking well-crafted questions that drive conversations, create genuine connections and get to the root of problems. We haven’t been trained to be good question askers, and we as a society need to fix that. No one likes a know-it-all. Everyone loves a listener. I think question asking is a key to humility as well, because it shows you care what others think. Question asking is the easiest-to-develop yet most-under-valued skill in communication. Asking great questions is the key to understanding people, gaining their trust, developing deep relationships and creating real friendships. It’s an invaluable business skill as well, especially in sales. I’m not a question asking expert, but I want to be. So, I’ve started observing how great question askers do what they do. I’m working on this process of asking better questions, and here are a few things I’ve notice that the best question askers do. ...

People who do things the wrong way are fools and people who get in my way are even worse. That’s a nasty thought, but it’s undoubtedly one that crosses my mind more often than I’d care to admit. [It looks worse in text than it does when it runs through my mind, but we all know it’s equally horrifying either way.] I’ve long-confessed that I’m impatient. My honesty about my lack of patience made my feel ok that I was a ticking time bomb. As I reflected back on my time overseas in Slovenia, I realized that one blatant sin that summed up my whole year was impatience. Impatience with students when they didn’t believe the gospel. Impatience with Christian students who didn’t want to grow or share their faith. Impatience with my wife when she didn’t meet unspoken expectations I didn’t even realize I had. Impatience with God when he didn’t answer prayers according to my timing. Impatience with myself when sin continued to creep up or self-improvement didn’t come as quickly as I hoped. I listened to a sermon that is as old as I am (nearly to the day!) by John Piper entitled, “Battling the Unbelief of Impatience.” The title alone struck me. I had never heard impatience framed that way–not believing faithfully in God. Here’s a quote from Piper to set the tone. “Patience in doing the will of God is not an optional Christian virtue because faith is not optional and impatience is the fruit of unbelief. It is no minor skirmish.” Ouch. Impatience is a big deal. **It’s a faith issue. ...