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Personal Productivity

© George Hartwell, 2003, (416) 234-1850

www.HealMyLife.com - for a life more productive, fruitful for the kingdom and satisfying to you.

Personal Organization

George Hartwell October 4, 2003

As God heals our lives we have more energy, our thinking becomes clearer and we may try to accomplish more for God's kingdom. We may find that personal productivity is limited by our ability to plan, organize and complete projects. We need a workable plan to help us with personal organization.

Then our disorganization can discourage us. We doubt ourselves. Signs of disorder - our messy desk, for example, reinforces our heart's negativity and unbelief.  We need godly core belief therapy for our negative beliefs.

8 steps to personal organization:

1.  Have a written life mission and ensure any project or goal fulfills your life mission. What is my intentions and God's purpose? Why do this?

2.  Listen to God before undertaking a good project.  Simply ask God: "Should I be involved in this project?"  Use your personal listening style.

3.  Establish the attitude, identity, core values and principles that will guide your participation in this project.

4.  Put in writing the goals of this project. 

5.  Visualize the outcome.  What does success with this project will look like?  Get a clear image in your heart and imagination.  What benefits will follow success?

6.  Details:  brainstorm and mind map the details. How does this work out in practice? What features and qualities are necessary for success? Wouldn't it be great if &ldots;..?

7.  Decide and write down: What is my next action step? Review whenever you have free time. 

8.  Establish a (weekly) review process of my project plans? 

Put it in Writing to get it off my mind.

One key to personal organization is developing a workable reminder system, in writing, that takes the load of remembering details off your mind. I suggest:

·A small spiral bound pocket notebook for quick notes and the daily to do list.

·An 81/2 by 11 notebook for Next Actions, Projects, and Creative Ideas.

·A day timer for date and time specific actions and reminders.

Resources for Personal Organization

1.In Getting Things Done, David Allen (2001) presents a creative, comprehensive and yet flexible plan for personal organization.

2.See The Path by Laurie Beth Jones (1996) on creating your own personal mission statement.

3.Built to Last by Collins (1994) shows that visionary companies always have a corporate culture with core values that guide the company for generations to come. It is my observation that those core values reflect Biblical laws and principles. Visionary companies did better in terms of their stock market valuation than their comparison companies - about 4 times better.

4.Mark Brisbois addressed Runnymede Baptist Church, April 10, 2001, on the question of hearing the voice of God, sensing the anointing, knowing when the seed of an idea is of God. He said that it is easy to replicate a system - an abstract idea - it is impossible to replicate life - a gift of God. We can try to copy others but we need to hear from God ourselves if we are going to have a life-giving ministry, project, organization or business. There is no clear answer to how do we know if it - our idea - is of God or not. His sheep hear his voice. We need to learn to listen.

5.See How to Develop a Family Mission Statement by Stephen Covey (1994), for one guide to how families can develop unity of values and mission.

6.See Listen to God by George Hartwell (2001) for the principles of Listening Prayer Therapy. 

7.To deal with doubts about completing a project. Write out the doubts. Confess them as doubts to God. After hammering out the confession in different ways until it is right out in the open turn to God. Praise God. Ask God for His truth and then take time to listen for God's truth. Right that out. Make choice statements. Even though I believe (the doubt) I now choose to believe (new belief.)

Project Planning and Personal Core Issues (Listening Prayer)

Each Heal My Life Seminar is an opportunity to you to absorb more about listening prayer and Listening Prayer Therapy in the give and take of the seminar time.

Our modern experience of education totally distorts our understanding of discipleship. You won't learn from the notes, or even from a tape, what you could learn from being there - in the interaction. You may think when you read these notes that you have the essence of what the seminar is about. You have some information therefore you must have the content. Not true. You will probably never have the courage and faith and confidence to actually use Listening Prayer Therapy unless you have seen, heard and felt the process personally.

Get involved to get it. Read about it to think you have got it but you won't have the understanding that goes deeper than your intellect into your heart.

At the previous Heal My Life Seminar on Personal Organization the following issues emerged out of my presentation of the planning model:

1.That money may be an idol - too much a focus in our lives,

2.That we may have a poverty complex, believing there will never be enough,

3.That a specific goal may put us under pressure to achieve that goal and

4.That we might feel that we are in a constricted space and unable to escape into a broad place of freedom.

Listening Prayer Formats allowed us to engage God to heal our life in regard to each of these issues. We used the following Heal My Life listening prayers:

1)To deal with the idol of money we the Heal My Life listening prayer format called "Cleansing the Temple."

2)To deal with the poverty complex we used listening prayer process to discover and deal with underlying fear and belief. We used the following listening prayer sequence:

a) What memory does this fear link to?

b) What did I believe in that memory?

c) What is God's truth in relation to the belief in that memory?

3) To deal with goal pressure we used the "Put it on the Altar" listening prayer format.

4) To deal with released from a constricted space we followed verbal prayer with an inspired picture prayer.

5) I the afternoon we developed an original prayer format using the image of a giant to represent our biggest fear or doubt. After we each identified our giants in a time of listening prayer we used different imagery to subdue them.  GCH <><