10 Quotes from What's Best Next

This book was not perfect, but I did enjoy it and learned from it. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book. Most of these are in the first two sections, which I found to be the most helpful. All formatting is the author's unless otherwise noted.

While efficiency is important, it works only when we make it secondary, not primary. It doesn't matter how efficient you are if you are doing the wrong things in the first place. More important than efficiency is effectiveness-getting the right things done. In other words, productivity is not first about getting more things done faster. It's about getting the the right things done. 

Simply speeding up doesn't help if you aren't going in the right direction in the first place.

The quest for efficiency often undermines the true source of effectiveness in any organization-the people.

To be productive, in fact, glorifies God because when we are productive we are not only obeying him but imitating him.

Knowing how to get things done-how to be personally effective, leading and managing ourselves well-is indeed biblical, spiritual, and honoring to the Lord. It is not unspiritual to think about the concrete details of how things get done; rather this is a significant component of Christian wisdom. 

To be productive is to be fruitful in good works...What is a good work? Anything that does good and is done in faith.

We can not only say that the gospel makes us productive, but we can also go a step further: the gospel makes us eager to be productive.

It is of the essence of Christlike character to always be thinking of others-which...is the guiding principle of our productivity.

Here is the core principle of productivity: know what is most important and put it first.

One of the biggest obstacles to doing first things first is what I call "the trap of the small stuff." We easily fall prey to the idea that before we can get to the big things, we need to get these small things clamoring for our attention out of the way. Resist this inclination; it's a trick.