Weekly Email: September 16, 2024
As you enter the second to last week of the first fall term, you might be feeling the pressure of finishing strong. Beyond preparing your heart and approaching your studies with devotion, time management is crucial.
Student Tip
Understanding Parkinson’s Law can transform how you manage your time. Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. But you can flip this on its head to work more efficiently. Here’s how:
Imagine This Scenario…
It’s Tuesday evening. You’ve set aside an hour to study. You need to read 40 pages, participate in a discussion forum, and start an assignment due in two weeks. Without a clear plan, you might get distracted by a phone notification. A quick reply to a church member turns into 15 minutes of checking emails and scrolling Instagram. Your hour is almost up, and you’ve barely made a dent in your tasks.
This is Parkinson’s Law in action: without a plan, distractions fill the time, leaving you frustrated and behind.
Turn Parkinson’s Law to Your Advantage
Here’s how you can make Parkinson’s Law work for you:
Set Hard Time Limits: Assign strict time limits for tasks. For example, commit to reading 40 pages in 50 minutes. This forces you to focus and process key points quickly. Parkinson’s Law now works for you, compressing tasks into the time you set.
Use Timers for Accountability: Use timers to enforce time constraints. If you give yourself 30 minutes to write a discussion post, set a timer. This urgency cuts down on distractions and keeps your task from ballooning beyond its necessary scope.
Use Constraints to Boost Focus: When time is limited, you naturally prioritize the most important parts of a task. This prevents procrastination and perfectionism. Limitations sharpen your focus and drive productivity.
Eliminate Non-Essential Distractions: Minimize distractions to make Parkinson’s Law work for you. Turn off your phone, close unnecessary browser tabs, and create a distraction-free environment. This ensures your planned time remains focused and productive.
Conclusion
By setting clear goals, limiting distractions, and using Parkinson’s Law to create time-bound tasks, you can prevent work from expanding unnecessarily and maximize your efficiency. This structured approach ensures your study time is purposeful and productive, turning Parkinson’s Law into a productivity tool instead of a pitfall.
PS If you lift or do any other type of workouts you can see this at play too. I noticed awhile back that implementing an intensely focused lifting session with timers between sets cut down my 90 minute lifting sessions to 60–70 minute sessions, giving me more time in the mornings.
Program News
We had an amazing time hosting students from across the country at our first Experiential Modular. Participants came from 20 different states, including California, Florida, Texas, and Nebraska. Check out my recap of the event, complete with photos from the three days.
Next week, I’ll be discussing the Graduate Certificates in our new Master of Divinity program. I’ll cover their purpose and goals. If you have any questions you’d like me to address, please reply to this email. Your input will help make the session as useful as possible.
I also want to share an update about the Christian Apologetics and Philosophy Graduate Certificate.
We’ve added a new course to this certificate: 28550 - Worldview Analysis, taught by Dr. Timothy Paul Jones. We’re currently developing this course, and it will be available in the upcoming Spring semester. Here are the courses available online for this certificate:
28500 - Christian Philosophy with Dr. John Wilsey
28550 - Worldview Analysis with Dr. Timothy Paul Jones (in development, first offering in Spring 2025)
28660 - History and Methods of Apologetics with Dr. Timothy Paul Jones
28720 - Problem of Evil with Dr. Stephen Wellum
28730 - History of the Bible with Dr. Timothy Paul Jones
28970 - Logic with Dr. Brad Green
Faculty Devotional
This week, I’m sharing a devotional from Dr. Jarvis Williams, Professor of New Testament. Dr. Williams brings the gospel to life in every academic setting. His teachings are deeply rooted in the good news of Jesus Christ.
I have the privilege of hearing Dr. Williams preach at Sojourn Midtown. Each sermon leaves me encouraged with the good news of Jesus Christ.
I (Dr. Williams) am about to begin teaching through Galatians at my church’s men’s Bible study next week. One of my points of emphasis the last time I taught it was Paul’s contrast between the present evil age and new creation in Christ. This is a difficult but practical concept. Jesus has delivered us from the present evil age (Gal 1:4), and we live as transformed Christians in the power of the Spirit with the power to overpower the power of the flesh and all the anti-God powers, because Jesus is risen from the dead and we’ve been made alive with him by the Spirit (Gal 1:1; 3:21). Let this thought encourage you: the present evil age continues to hold creation under the sway of its power, but God has delivered all in Christ from its enslavement, and we by the Spirit have the supernatural ability to resist the anti-God powers of the present evil age as we live as a sign post that new creation has begun and will be fully realized when Jesus returns to liberate the creation from its enslavement to sin’s power and to its subjugation to the anti-God powers (Gal 5:16–26; 6:15). May we walk in this hope with confidence today by the power of the Spirit.
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading and check in next Monday.
You can find an archive of each week’s email here.
