Book Review: What's Best Next

Does God care how we spend our time? Does the Bible speak to us in terms of how we manage our time? Does the Bible have anything to tell us about how we set our priorities? If so, how do we practically apply biblical teaching to planning our days?

These are all questions that Matt Perman attempts to answer in his book What's Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done. The key is not getting more things done but getting the right things done.

In the first portion of the book, Perman diagnoses the fundamental problem behind productivity: we're just too busy. Our time and energy is spent on things that don't matter as much (at least from an eternal perspective) as others. As a result, we aren't able to devote our energies to the things that are most important to God. He then proceeds to very carefully outline how the Bible speaks to how we spend our time. We are called to be good stewards of the time we have on Earth just as we are called to be stewards of everything else that God has given us.

Perman then moves from the theological to the more practical section by offering numerous steps that the reader can take to help improve their own productivity. I found this section of the book a little more difficult to work through as it was more tedious to read through. I would recommend that a prospective reader of the book have a notebook handy while reading it so they can be writing down practical applications for themselves. This is a book that is best applied as it is read. Otherwise it will seem difficult to work through.

Perman should be credited for his thorough studies on the issues of organization and time management. His years of work are clearly evident in the text. He certainly has a vast knowledge from which to draw. Ultimately the lessons for each individual may be different as some will find things to apply that may not as easily apply to others.

In all, this is a solid book on a subject that nearly everyone deals with. If you want to explore time management from a biblical perspective then this is a good place to start.

This book was provided to me by BookLookBloggers. No compensation was received in exchange for this review apart from the book.