Bible reading methods are not created equal. Some methods will lead you down a path of legalism and bondage. They place the emphasis on what you must do. Other methods will take verses horribly out of context in the attempt to make them relevant to your life. Those kinds of methods will not help you.…
Blogging the Institutes | 1.14.13-14 |The Devil and His Demons
"Blogging the Institutes" is my on-going attempt to paraphrase John Calvin's work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion. You can find out more about the series in the Introduction. For all the posts in this series, check out the Master List. The Devil and His Demons Scriptures teaches us about demons to put us on our guard…
Questions on Deep Work
I love the book Deep Work by Cal Newport. It's probably been the most influential book on me in the last four years. You can find the series I did on the book here: one, two, three, four, five. But the book does raise a number of remaining questions that have to be worked through to develop…
Cut It Out…Shallow Work, That Is
If actually doing deep work is meaningful, then we the flipside is true: doing shallow work is not meaningful. So what it to be done? Rule #4 Drain the Shallows If you want to work deeply, then you must drain the shallows. You must attempt to rid your schedule of as much shallow work as possible.…
Be a Quitter
Author Cal Newport gives several "rules" for rebuilding your focus and strengthening your ability to produce high-quality work. First, we must make space for deep work. Second, we can embrace boredom. Next, Newport advocates for people to quite social media. Rule #3: Quit Social Media Internet sabbaticals are overrated. Why? Because such sabbaticals aren’t training your…
Embrace the Suck, I mean, Boredom
In the last post, I summarized Cal Newport's first rule of deep work and his suggestions on how to foster it. Now, I want lay out his next rule. Rule #2: Embrace Boredom You need to wean your mind from dependence on distraction (157). To strengthen your focus you must cut out the "fluff." It’s…
How to Go Deep (Work)
In order to succeed in today's economy, Cal Newport believes people must do "deep work": important, focused work. In his book, Newport lays out a few big rules for deep work and then draws out their implications. Rules #1: Work Deeply People have a finite amount of willpower that becomes depleted as you use it…
Blogging the Institutes | 1.14.12 | Wrapping It Up on Good Angels
"Blogging the Institutes" is my on-going attempt to paraphrase John Calvin's work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion. You can find out more about the series in the Introduction. For all the posts in this series, check out the Master List. Wrapping It Up on Good Angels We should not use angels as way of minimizing God.…
What Is Deep Work and Why Is It Important?
An epidemic has broken out: people living distracted and unproductive lives. According to author, Cal Newport, the advent of “the Internet,” and other social media platforms, exacerbated this problem. Newport advocates for deep work: “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value,…
You Know Everything You Need To Do
"There are no shortcuts or hacks. Put in the work and you'll get there." --Jocko Willink You don't need to learn more. You don't need to study more. You know everything you need to do it. Now just go and do it! That is the only way that you will succeed in life: It is the day-in-day-out…