Ana Ávila, Make the Most of Your Productivity (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2024), 156 pp.
I’m a sucker for books that address personal productivity. So when the chance came to review Make the Most of Your Productivity by Ana Ávila, I jumped at the opportunity. Mrs. Ávila is a senior writer for Coalición for el Evangelio. The author brings some keen insight into the subject of productivity.
The groundwork for the book is established with a working definition of productivity:
The productive life is a life that seeks to honor God with all that you have.
Such a definition goes against the grain of conventional wisdom and is grounded first and foremost in the gospel. In other words, we don’t seek to be productive to merit favor in God’s eyes. Instead, we work hard and strive to live productive lives as an overflow of gratitude for what Christ accomplished for us on the cross. Or, as Ávila writes, “God is God and does not need us, but he still delights in making us part of his plan. He uses our efforts to accomplish his purposes.”
Ávila reminds readers that productive, in the final analysis, isn’t about following regimes and routines: “But being productive isn’t about finding the perfect tool to keep your schedule under control. Rather, being productive is being transformed day by day into a person who uses what they have for the glory of God and the good of others.”
Make the Most of Your Productivity contains value tools and suggestions that one would expect. But this book is a cut above, since the principles are grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the end, the only thing that matters is glorifying God. This theme echoes throughout the book. For this reason, I enthusiastically commend it without reservation.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
Veritas et Lux 