Blog

I had two main takeaways from “Free to Focus” that I’ve already started implementing: megabatching and using technology to avoid distracting technology.

Michael Hyatt offers practical advice for staying on top of email.

In contrast with the commonly touted practice of “Inbox Zero,” Taylor Lorenz describes “Inbox Infinity” in the Atlantic. HT: Doist

Part of what can help prevent the extremely large inboxes that give rise to Lorenz’s counsel of despair is to unsubscribe from messages you shouldn’t get in the first place. If you can’t unsubscribe, email clients and services often have good filtering abilities. A few minutes spent learning and setting up some key filters can drastically reduce the amount of email that appears in your inbox in the first place.

Andreas Köstenberger offers reflections and advice on writing ( 1: Why, 2: How).

Peter Gurry extracts some preview examples of translation revisions in the NASB 2020 by comparison to the NASB 1995.

HT: Fred Sanders on Twitter

De Gruyter Open has a number of volumes in classical and Ancient Near Eastern studies via open access.

HT: AWOL

Freedom continues the dialog over Apple’s added rules that effectively removed much of Freedom’s functionality for new iOS users.

For background, see:

• Freedom Has Been Temporarily Removed from the App Store
• How to Download Freedom [3.0] for iOS
• Freedom 4.0 is available in the App Store
• Meaningful shifts and attention monopolies: Tracking the Freedom iOS situation

Doist provides a “complete guide to deep work.” The essay is mainly geared toward summarizing the advice of Cal Newport’s Deep Work with some additional insertions from Digital Minimalism.

Both books are definitely worth reading. But Doist’s essay is a thorough crash course on the basics.

Douglas Estes offers some helpful reflections on perfectionism, especially as it affects academic writing.

On perfectionism and writing, see also Ryder Carroll’s pithy analysis of perfectionism versus failure.

Gleanings on perfectionism and recent articles in the Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism.

Now that we’ve surveyed Michael Hyatt’s “Free to Focus,” we can to offer an assessment of its proposal. In a phrase, it’s “GTD for Essentialists.”

Gleanings about Greek, linguistics, and saint cults in late antiquity and the early middle ages.

Gleanings about expanding your research materials with “Library Extension” and the possibility of 1 Timothy’s quoting Luke.

Gleanings about Logos Bible Software, focus, and distraction.

Gleanings about focus, distraction, social media, and essentialism.

Gleanings about focus, distractions, and Paul’s thought about incorporation in the Messiah.

Continued review of Michael Hyatt’s “Free to Focus.” We discuss the three elements of “acting” on what you’ve identified as most important to pursue.

Gleanings about resources for moving from biblical studies to theology and expanded JSTOR access for members of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Gleanings about Thesaurus linguae Latinae (TLL) and fires at the Temple Mount and Notre Dame.

Gleanings about textual criticism.

Gleanings about social media and religion, as well as newly digitized Greek New Testament manuscripts.

Gleanings about English vocabulary and Logos 8.4.

After you stop to discern what’s important, you need to cut out what sidetracks you from focusing on that. Here are three strategies for doing just that.

Gleanings about Jewish Studies and beating distractions to write productively.

Gleanings about persistence and the intermediate state.

Gleanings about focus and the Kurzgefasste Liste.

Gleanings about Logos Bible Software and the Kurzgefasste Liste.

Gleanings from the 2019 Stone-Campbell Journal Conference. Topics include New Testament studies, archaeology, Acts, 1 Corinthians, and Christian education.

This post continues reviewing Michael Hyatt’s book “Free to Focus.” Here we concentrate on Hyatt’s advice about “stopping” to to discern what’s important.

Gleanings about the Nathan-Melech bulla and goal setting.

Gleanings about the theology of Benedict XVI and taking next steps.

Gleanings about moving forward when the next steps look difficult.

Gleanings about persistence, regularity, and a new Greek grammar.

Gleanings about essentialism and Charles Quarles's Matthean theology.