Why You Should Rethink What it Means to "Be Productive"

It’s five o’clock and the surfaces of my home are covered in a chaotic jumble of toys, dishes, clothes and wipes, despite the fact that I’ve not stopped moving and picking up all day. My husband walks in after work, and I feel the need to explain that I have indeed worked all day — even though the state of our house may suggest otherwise.

Amid my gratefulness to be a stay-at-home mom is my constant battle with productivity. Any tidying up gets undone throughout the day and there’s a never-ending cycle of laundry, dirty diapers, spills…. Days like this leave me feeling unproductive and overwhelmed.

Blessedly, a couple of months ago God put Esther Engelsma’s book, “How Can I Feel Productive as a Mom?” in my path. In the first section of this brief but powerful book, she challenges the “get things done” mentality in light of what our goal as mothers really is. It’s easy to let housekeeping and homemaking be our focus, and then we let laundry, the cleanliness of the floor, and the dishes in the sink dictate whether we were “productive enough” that day.

The Long View of Motherhood

The problem with this focus is that we will never get it all done, leaving us feeling defeated. Thankfully, what God really wants us to “get done” is ministering to our family. Esther calls it “the long view of motherhood.”

If we take this long view of motherhood, then what it means to “be productive” in our day shifts. It has to. Because motherhood is not an efficient job by the world’s standards. When we become mothers, the To-Do List rarely gets completed. Instead of viewing this as a lack of productivity, Esther suggests that we make the mental shift from “getting things done” to “using time well,” because motherhood is not efficient in nature.

Things don’t stay done. Laundry, diapers, mouths to feed, messes to clean…. At the end of the day, we may not be able to check laundry off our list but that doesn’t mean we weren’t productive. Not in God’s eyes.

Afterall, Jesus didn’t lead an “efficient” life by the world’s standards. Esther writes:

“He came into the world as a baby and had to learn everything from scratch – crawling, standing, walking, and talking. He didn’t start His ministry until He was thirty, and then He ‘only’ ministered for three years. He spent a lot of time with a few people who didn’t seem to understand what He was trying to teach them. Some days He healed crowds of people; other days He went into the wilderness alone. He washed feet, served meals, and gave up His life.”

The Will of the Father

Jesus led a small life by the world’s standards. Yet, it was significant and powerful because it was exactly what His Father willed. At the end of His life, hanging on the cross, John 19:30 records Jesus’s last words: “It is finished.” Jesus could have regretted all the people He didn’t heal or the people left unconverted. Instead, He knew that He had accomplished God’s will.

Friend, think about your days. 24 hours. Finite. Managing your household well means you will have to clean, feed, clothe and repeat. But you will also be feeding the souls of your children and spouse. Not a task that gets a neat little checkmark by it at the end of the day. Our work is not efficient by the world’s standard of “getting things done,” but we do the most important work there is: providing the foundation for the salvation and sanctification of our family. What could be more worthy of your time and effort?

So at the end of each day, look back on what you accomplished, let go of what you didn’t, and release the day with the divine declaration, “It is finished.”

Blessings,

Kelley Thigpen