Comedienne Lucille Ball once said, "If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do." James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, agrees with her statement, writing how we can accomplish great things by first becoming habitually consistent in the small things. The book's cover promises, "Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results." Its principles will help us make the most of our everyday efforts to become better Christians.

Sometimes, I wish I could be an automaton that could just do things that need to be done without delay, without fail, without error, without complaint, and even without thought! The truth is we are not robots. God does not want us to be, or He would have made billions of completely loyal and obedient subjects. We would be little better than wind-up monkeys clanging little brass cymbals. Perhaps it would have saved Him a lot of trouble if He had. Instead, He tells us in Deuteronomy 30:15-20 to choose to obey and voluntarily work with Him forever.

So, what is the best way to do this?

Recently, an engineer I know expressed mild frustration over going to a busy restaurant where he felt the service could have been much better if the management had laid out more clearly outlined processes for the employees to follow. A process is "a series of actions or operations conducing to an end." We all use processes, methods, strategies, or techniques to get things done. God uses processes to bring us to salvation, taking His elect through their calling, justification, sanctification, and ultimately, glorification in His Kingdom. In cooperation with God, we can also use processes to make our Christian walk more consistently effective and productive.

Bear in mind that we are all different, so no system for improvement can be one-size-fits-all. Factors like age, health, sex, marital state, education, income, employment, and so forth can make matters better or worse, easier or harder. However, doing things routinely—building good habits—can yield positive results for anyone. They can help us overcome inherited deficiencies or adverse situations in which we may find ourselves.

As a first step, Jesus gives us our primary goal in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." However, we can and should have sub-goals as well. Whether they are short-term goals or more permanent ones, such as improvements to our character, we should consider them carefully and write them down, which helps to make them real and achievable.

As Jesus says, if we put God first, along with Christian growth in character, He will help us accomplish our other goals. In fact, if we put good, spiritual habits into practice, we will have more time and success in pursuing our other desires. Of course, we all have 168 hours each week to get things done, and there is no way to squeeze out even one second more. So, it becomes a matter of how we can most effectively use our time on what we want to achieve.

The second step is to list what we want to complete each day. This daily list acts as a constant reminder to help minimize the likelihood of forgetting to do a task. A little notebook that can be tucked into a pocket or purse works well. Each morning, we should list the things we wish to do that day, and if we fail to finish a few of them, we can easily move them to the next day.

Making a list also helps group tasks that can be done together, which works well when running errands. Individual list items—groceries, a prescription, dry cleaning, stamps—may all be done in one efficient trip rather than four separate ones. This helps us get more things done.

The third step is to evaluate what we want to accomplish and prioritize what is most important. There is a saying, "You can't organize junk," and likewise, one cannot organize wasted time. It must be stopped and eliminated. We usually waste a great deal of time on low-priority activities: surfing the Internet, playing mindless games, watching television, and many other distracting activities. As Jesus Christ says, if our right hand offends us, cut it off (Matthew 5:30)!

To accomplish our goals, we need to exercise self-control. We often do this by stifling our desire for immediate gratification and focusing on our more crucial responsibilities first. This means we must deny ourselves that television program or late night out with friends until we have done our Bible study or visited the ill church member in the hospital.

An article in Psychology Today, "The Benefits of Delaying Gratification," reports:

Studies show that delayed gratification is one of the most effective personal traits of successful people. People who learn how to manage their need to be satisfied in the moment thrive more in their careers, relationships, health, and finances than people who give in to it.

Being able to delay satisfaction isn't the easiest skill to acquire. It involves feeling dissatisfied, which is why it seems impossible for people who haven't learned to control their impulses. Choosing to have something now might feel good, but making the effort to have discipline and manage your impulses can result in bigger or better rewards in the future. Over time, delaying gratification will improve your self-control and ultimately help you achieve your long-term goals faster.

Getting things done takes commitment to grasp and retain control of our innate desires to satisfy ourselves, but the research is clear: If we do, we reach our goals and become better people besides! In the end, it is worth the effort to assess and rank our goals in order of importance, so we accomplish the right ones first.

In Part Two, we will cover two more steps that will help us get the most critical things done.