Since a lot of my readers are students (whether high school or college) I wasn’t surprised to receive a LOT of requests for this post! As a college guidance/admissions counselor – my career for the last six years – I am very familiar with the productivity struggles of students. For most of my career, I was also a student – I earned my B.S. degree while working full time. So if you’re a student with scheduling struggles, I got your back.
The Christian life should be a productive life.
Jesus Himself was the picture of productivity – everything He did, He did with intention. Why then do we struggle to be productive? I think the Enemy knows that distraction (even in the form of good things) will keep us from living effective lives for the gospel.
That’s why productivity isn’t just for self-help gurus. We tend to treat being productive like it’s incongruent with being spiritual, but the two are vitally connected. A productive spiritual life – achieved through discipline of mind and heart – overflows into a productive career, home, and life at large.
College culture is a prime place for sexual strongholds to begin. Secular universities provide ample opportunity for alcoholism and partying, both of which inhibit our ability to walk by God’s Spirit (which is why alcohol is a gospel issue). The additional pressures of exhaustion and stress make use emotionally vulnerable, and many students seek out coping mechanisms for their loneliness or overwhelm. All of this, partnered with a lack of godly discipleship and accountability, is fertile ground for sexual compromise – and Satan knows it.
While recording this week, Lisa and I got a chance to practice what we preach. We discuss in this podcast episode on productivity that we actually recorded during naptime, which is no easy task! We typically record at night when our children are sleeping, but because we have a “plan B” for finishing our work, we could be flexible. In other words, you’ll hear a few child noises in the background.
For the last five years my life has been ruled by an inconsistent schedule. Four of those years my own schedule rotated between first, second, and third shifts, with weekends added on occasion. When I married Josh, the schedule became even worse. We never knew when he’d get off work each day.