Even Setting Up Your Desk Can Be an Act of Beauty and Significance

I just finished reading Matt Perman’s short e-book, How to Set Up Your Desk: A Guide to Fixing a (Surprisingly) Overlooked Productivity Problem. I found it to be not only helpful, but also motivating—his passion for doing good work for the glory of God made me excited to get to work (at my newly organized desk).

His reminder at the end of the book that there is real significance in your work (whatever that work is) is worth reading:

When we think about productivity systems and tactics such as how we set up our desks, it’s easy to focus on the benefits to us. And, that’s important.

But there is something more that we often overlook. As the apostle Paul shows us, God calls us to be abundant in doing good works (Ephesians 2: 10; 1 Corinthians 15: 58). Unfortunately, we often fall into the thinking that good works are only rare and special things that we do, like going to Africa on a missions trip or volunteering at a soup kitchen.  

But in reality, as the apostle Paul also shows, good works are not just rare and special things that we do. They are anything that we do in faith. Consequently, the arena for most of our good works is not chiefly the mission field, but rather our workplaces and homes.  

The things that we do all day long while we are being productive and, yes, at our desks, are all good works if we do them out of faith in Christ for the good of others.  

That is very encouraging! It also transforms the meaning of the things we do every day— infusing them with great significance and opportunity.  

A good desk setup, then, is not only nice in itself; it is also an opportunity to increase our effectiveness in serving others. By having a good desk setup you can get more done in less time, and with less friction and frustration….

If you see everything you are already doing at work and life as a way of serving others, you can turn even very mundane things like the way you set up your desk into avenues for experiencing great meaning and bringing surprising benefit to others.

(Matt’s full-length book on productivity is What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done.)