In Maximizing Productivity, 6>7

Sometimes classmates have asked me how I handle having a baby, school, and a part-time job.
Well, I get stressed and I don't always finish what I need to. But I have really improved in balancing
certain things over the past few years and I do feel some peace even while I am busy. So this is the
best tip I can offer:

Rest one day a week.

I have really enjoyed not doing homework on Sundays as long as that has been my personal policy.
However, it has been even more wonderful now that I have my own family. My wife and I talk about it
all the time, no joke. "Ahh, I am so happy we have Sunday." We feel joy while Sunday is happening
and hope when it is not happening.

Some spiritual leaders and medical professionals will say you can accomplish more in six days than
in seven. A similar thing has been said about tithing: you can do more with 90% of your money than
with 100%.

But how can that be? Standard economic theories assume that more of something is always better. I
have two responses.

1. Diminishing Marginal Returns

This response assumes you care about more than one thing in life. Perhaps if the only thing in life
that mattered was doing our "work," whatever that is, then we would get more done in seven days.
But we care about more than that. Easy example: relationships. For a while our studying during a
given day may have increasing marginal return, meaning that for each additional minute that we study,
we become more productive in our studying. This can happen because we need time for our mind to
really hone into the study zone. But after five or six days of honing in, it becomes harder and harder to
concentrate. In these moments (like on day seven), we have the chance to use our time for something
we are not at all bored of. That way we are more productive at all times: six days we are productive at
working and one day we are productive at relationship building (with God, family, and friends).

2. Defeat the Lie of Helplessness

We sometimes feel like if one more item was squeezed into our our schedule then our lives would
suddenly explode into a thousand chickens running around without heads. Surely, we can't take an
entire day out of the mix to finish our most pressing tasks! When you commit to not study or not do
certain other mundane tasks one day a week, then you see that  it is possible. And hence you defeat
the lie that you can't. Doing that has helped me to see that I am also more capable than I thought at
bringing home less homework on weekday evenings. There are times when stuff builds up and I
appreciate that my wife supports me in getting stuff done even when it takes a little extra time. But I
refuse to be the victim of a brutal workload that does not care about my health, family, etc. I will
speed up my study rate, thoughtfully simplify and improve my study methods, and do what it takes
to finish my work while still getting to "be human" as a friend of mine says.

How can you be so committed that you don't spend all day Sunday worrying about whether you
should make an exception this "one" time?

For me my religion helps, and I will get to that in the next paragraph. If you are not interested in
religion, you might try rewarding yourself at the end of a semester with a trip or meal or something.
Or find a friend who does a good job of holding you accountable.

The president of my church said this in a talk a few years ago, and it increased my desire to keep the
Sabbath holy in a way that promotes peace: "I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my
attitude on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly Father. With that
understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don'ts. When I had to make a decision whether or
not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, 'What sign do I want to give to
God?' That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear." (President Nelson, 2015.)

Sunday provides a great chance to focus in on some things that matter most: worshiping God, loving
family, and reaching out to friends. It continuously takes a lot of effort to find quiet moments to listen
to God, stare at my adorable baby, and appreciate other loved ones, but I am happy that I have at
least one day a week to focus on those challenging and rewarding endeavors.

It's Inefficient to Judge

Connection Between Forgiveness and Judging
While attending my sister-in-law’s church congregation, the men’s group had a council/discussion regarding the importance of forgiveness. For the purposes of our discussion, forgiveness was defined as “freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. It is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves.” (Sidney Simon).

Somebody in the meeting applied the Book of Mormon story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis laying down “their weapons of rebellion,” an account about how this group left their bloodthirsty ways forever by burying their literal weapons and committing to not use them again. (Alma 23:7). The class member was saying that grudges are like a “weapon of rebellion.” But the lesson I learned from the Spirit was that my personal “weapon of rebellion” is connected to judging others. I think over and over about why something that someone did was unjustified and how it hurt me; I both judge them harshly and don’t forgive them.

The Inefficiency of Judging
Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, explains in The Wealth of Nations that the wealth of nations comes largely because nations allow their people to trade. Trading leads to specialization: I buy most things from other people so that I can focus on improving my productivity with one career. While I don’t know that Adam Smith intended a spiritual message, I get a spiritual message from it. During this life, God relieves us of making certain judgments so that we can specialize in serving others and keeping His other commandments.

There are several scriptures that indicate that God is the one specialized in some judgments, and doesn’t want us to waste our energies doing what He is already doing:

Doctrine and Covenants 64:10 - I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.

2 Nephi 9:41 - The keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there.

Matthew 7:1 - Judge not, that ye be not judged. (Or as the Joseph Smith Translation says: Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged; but judge righteous judgment.)

Romans 12:19 - Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves. . . for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

1 Samuel 16:7 - But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Jesus Christ is the Perfect Judge
Lately I have been trying to imagine Jesus Christ being with me more often, and this has been helpful in judging less and forgiving more.

“He is always near me, though I do not see Him there,
And because he loves me dearly
I am in His watchful care.”
-If the Savior Stood Beside Me

Although I have sometimes decided to imagine the Savior beside me thinking I’ll scare myself into behaving well more consistently, once I am actually imagining the Savior with me I don’t feel scared at all. Instead, I feel the Spirit more strongly. I understand that our Eternal Judge does not have any of the negative attributes that the world associates with being judgmental. As I recall that the Savior is with me, I feel His love for me more fully, and I feel it more fully for those around me. This leads me forget the harsh judgment or hurt feelings that I had and to focus on helping others and enjoying my time with them.






Jesus Christ is the perfect judge. In His judging, “he cannot be deceived” (2 Nephi 9:41) and He never forgets our wonderful divine potential. He indiscriminately invites all to be part of the House of Israel through repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We are blessed as we leave some judgments to Him. When we need to make some judgments, we are blessed as we follow His example and seek His guidance as we make them.