I workout way harder in my Orangetheory class then I ever could on my own. One major reason the Orangetheory workout is so effective is that the whole class is broken up into small, manageable challenges. Run at a moderate pace for a minute. Yes, I can do that. Now push yourself for one minute, and then go back to a moderate pace for another 30 seconds. Okay, that is also doable. Now run as fast as you can for 30 seconds. Oh, that sounds challenging. But I don’t mind being in distress for 30 seconds. The whole workout goes like that and before long the hour has passed, and I’m dripping in sweat.
There are endless books, blogs and, podcasts about how to be more productive. A major idea that teachers of time management discuss is the importance of breaking up large, daunting tasks into small manageable action items. I am just now, at 41, learning to do this. Probably most of you know this by now, but if you don’t, or if you just need a reminder, consider the following:
Breaking up large tasks is so fundamentally important to our progress that it's featured in the opening story of the Bible. One of the first things we learn about God in the creation account is that he systematically broke up the ineffable task of creating the world. On the first day, God divided the light from the darkness. Then he stopped. And on the second day he divided the waters above from the waters below creating the firmament. Then, he stopped again. On the third day he gathered together the water and created the seas and the dry land. And so on until the sixth day.
Why didn’t God create the world from start to finish without stopping? Why does the creation story so explicitly point out the division of time?
One explanation might be that God was setting a pattern for us, showing how we should go about “creating” our lives. We too must complete our tasks by moving forward step by step. Most large undertakings, both spiritual and practical, don’t happen all at once. Line upon line pertains not only to our spiritual growth, but also to all of our important endeavors.
Popular life coach, Brooke Castillo, teaches that if you’ve broken down a task, but it still seems daunting, then you have to break down the steps even more. She gives the example of writing a blog post. If the hour arrives that you’ve schedule to write the blog post, and you absolutely can’t get yourself to do it, then you need to break down the scheduling even further. Schedule taking out your laptop. Schedule turning off notifications. Schedule writing the outline, and so forth.
What multiple time management and productivity gurus have discovered, God’s prophets taught in the creation account: break up large tasks into smaller parts. This is obviously just one lesson gleaned from the creation story. However, the example God sets in creating the world, speaks to its importance in designing our own lives.
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