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What gets measured gets improved. I’m reasonably obsessed with personality tests, measurements, data, information and using those tools to make better decisions. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to collect data and then do nothing with it [*”Some day I will,”* I assure myself] or to flat out collect the wrong data. **I normally measure the success of my day by how many things I accomplished and how many things I left unfinished. **I never check off all the boxes on any given day because I’m constantly thinking of more things I need (or would like) to do. Instead of evaluating my day by the number of boxes checked and list items crossed off, I felt led to completely change my method of evaluation. At the end of each day, I’ve started to ask myself these two questions. ...

Email is a necessary evil and a wonderful tool for communication. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon. I wanted email to waste less of my time and be more effective. I’ve created a system that I wanted to share to help you filter your email to save time, see the important stuff and still not miss out on good but less urgent things (like sales from your favorite brands). Here’s what I do. This process is for anyone using Gmail or a Google Apps account, but I’d imagine (or hope) similar ideas could be applied to other email services. I’ll share the general guidelines first and then get into the nitty gritty. Regaining Control of Your Inbox Through Filters and Labels ...

We’re all guided by what we value and what we prioritize. Unfortunately, we can be quick to forget what is most important to us and let our priorities get out of line. A few weeks ago, I shared my morning manifesto–12 points that I read over each morning to remind me of how I want to live my life. I think it’s a great practice to keep our priorities at the forefront of what we do. Below I created a process for you to create your very own morning manifesto. I promise it’s worth the initial time investment. Once you make your manifesto, could you share it with us in the comments? I’d love to see what you came up with. ...

Great content deserves to be read and shared. The problem is, it can be difficult to find and cumbersome to pass along. Often our processes slow us down and keep us from sharing what the world needs to see and read. Here’s how to find and curate some of the most interesting links on the web, no matter what your interests are. 1. Twitter This is where it all begins for me. Twitter is, bar-none, the best tool for discovering great content. Facebook is good for discovering who is having a bad day or who just got engaged, but as far as brain-stimulation, going to Facebook rather than Twitter to learn something is like going a circus instead of reading a book. Here’s how I curated my list of great people to follow on Twitter. I follow very sparingly, and I even have a more select, private list of people who share the best content, all the time. If you don’t know any thought leaders in the area you’re interested in, check out Twitter’s suggested list of people to follow and work from there. You can also link your email account to Twitter to find people who interact with on the web. Don’t assume that everyone you know is a good sharer on Twitter, but hopefully some sharp people you know are using the tool well. ...

Every day I talk with students who ask nearly impossible questions about Jesus, Christianity and the Bible. I don’t have all the answers (and I never will). Thankfully, that’s not what God requires of Christians to share our faith. This isn’t a perfect process, but it is a way to equip yourself in answering questions like “How can we trust the Bible?” and “Was Jesus really God?” Instead of answering specific questions, I’d rather share ways to prepare to answer tough questions and pass along a few resources you can start checking out today. The Process...

You’d be hard pressed to find a guy who thinks he’s a bad person. When I ask others how they would define a good person, the qualifications normally range from not being a murderer to never doing anything that hurts another person. Most often, I hear a good person defined as someone who does more good things than bad things. I understand. That makes complete sense if good and bad held in equal tension. Simple acts that have one-level of ramifications, here on earth. A bad thing is a withdrawal from our moral bank account and a good thing is a deposit. If I steal a candy bar, then if I give some money to charity, help an old lady cross the street, or give up my seat on a bus, than I can make up for that stolen candy bar, according to the karmic view of the world–good negates bad. If I just make sure I’ve got enough in my account to pay for the bad withdrawals, I’ll be good to go. However, according to the Bible, our bad isn’t just a withdrawal from an account. As I talk with students each day about the reality of our human condition, I’ve found one analogy in explaining the true cost of sin to be especially helpful. ...

I love knowing how people get things done. Seeing other people’s arsenal of productivity weaponry gets me pumped up than a nerd at Comic-Con. Here’s the list of tools I use, in no particular order and how they help my workflow. Click the name of each tool for a link to download or purchase it. My Toolbox...

Doing things you don’t want to do (especially if they are good spiritual disciplines) can cause you (or others) to be labeled pharisee. Going to church when you’ve had a long weekend and just need to relax. Reading your Bible when you don’t want to. Stopping halfway through your meal when you realized you didn’t pray to ask the Lord to bless your meal. Here’s an internal (and sometimes external) dialogue I often have. “Oh, I completely forgot to pray for my food. I should stop and pray for it. But, I don’t want to be a pharisee and do it just to be religious. That’s true. Should I just keep eating? Should I pray anyway?” Legalism is dangerous. It’s faux-spirituality focused on doing the right things with the wrong motivation. Faith and legalism are at odds with one another, because legalism is faith in yourself and your own abilities to earn God’s favor. Jesus called out the Pharisees often throughout the Gospels. They are normally found doing things to the extreme (like tithing on their nutmeg and cinnamon) but they are then found condemning those who don’t do as they do (even if it isn’t required by God). So, how do we keep from being a pharisee while still striving to please God? The difference lies in our motivation. ...

The idea of creating a budget turns people into TSA Agents because they are not letting that get through the gates into their life, even with a thorough pat down. Budgeting carries negative connotations because it is restricting and difficult (like eating healthy food and exercising regularly, another awful thing smart people suggest). We don’t like doing hard things. So of course budgeting is something we are absolutely not interested in. I know a lot of very smart people who seemingly handle their finances well that don’t use a written budget. They say things like, “If I had a budget, I’d spend more money than I do now.” “We’re very frugal and we definitely don’t need a budget to manage our money.” “A budget is constricting, like an anaconda wrapped around an armadillo.” I can see where they are coming from. But I disagree for a number of reasons, listed below. As promised, the budgeting myths are body slammed with enough force to put the Kardashian’s on a cash-flow plan. I feel especially adept at answering these objections because I’ve reasoned with the false logic behind them myself in the past. 8 Budgeting Objections and the Real Truth to Answer Them...

I’m a bit of an anomaly. I’m rarely shaken by big life changes or weighty expectations. Things like moving overseas, learning a new language, adapting to a new culture, or leading a team rarely stress me out (not even when they are combined into a life-change cocktail). But if I spill some milk, break a glass and see a spam email slip through the filter and into my inbox, I’m probably going to lose it. I’m not sure why that is. I’m still working on figuring out why I’m fine with major shifts and obstacles but I can’t overcome certain mental blocks a four year old wouldn’t struggle with. Recently, I came up with a process for identifying the tiny frustrations that lead mental meltdowns for me. It helps me work through why I’m feeling the way I am and how to set things straight. ...