Presence Over Productivity
You must be productive. I get it. You have work to do, goals to achieve, results to accomplish, demands to meet, an impact to make. Plus, you enjoy being productive. You were created to be productive. “Be fruitful and multiply,” the good book says. You are created in the image of the Creator, so to create and produce is to be true to your design.
Each day you produce, produce, produce. Your favorite days are the days when your to-do list is full of horizontal strikethroughs: tasks completed, goals achieved, results produced.
I’m a big fan of being productive. I think of myself as a high capacity, highly productive person. And I love living and leading in the world’s center of “produce, produce, produce.” Silicon Valley’s culture of work, innovation, fruitfulness, and productivity is both stimulating and deeply resonate with a biblical worldview of work.
“Everybody is being productive. Few people are being present.”
However, I’m becoming a big believer in the power of presence as a talent that might rival the power of productivity. Our fast-paced culture abounds with people skilled in the art of productivity, getting things done, and quarterly results. Our distracted, future-focused culture is in short supply of people skilled in the art of being present—present to the moment, present to people, present to place, present to God. Presence is being available, alive, and alert right now to whomever or whatever sits before you (or inside you).
Productivity is a value oriented to the future, a desire to achieve future results. Presence is a value oriented to the right now, a desire to attend to reality/the moment. But most of us don’t want to face reality. We find it easier to focus on the future we’re trying to create than to slow down and be present to the beautiful, painful, or disruptive realities of this present moment.
What productivity and presence share in common is impact. Both productivity and presence can create significant impact. The problem is a culture that overvalues productivity and undervalues presence. The opportunity is a recovery of the scare, strong, beautiful, healing, and redeeming power of presence.
Everybody is being productive. Few people are being present. If you want to make a real impact in today’s productivity-obsessed world, focus less on productivity and more on presence. Approach your day, week, quarter, and year with a growing intentionality in choosing presence over productivity. The world absolutely needs your productivity. But what your co-worker, neighbor, family member, friend, and your own heart may need more is the scarce resource of presence.
This is going to take some practice. If you’re like me, being productive is a right-handed mode of operation, it comes naturally and easily. Being present is a left-handed way of being for me, it comes awkwardly…I’m not very good at it or very comfortable with it. But, I’m growing. Each day you can practice a little more, you can create some space in your calendar where instead of focusing on “getting things done” you can focus on “being present.” Turn the volume down on productivity. Be present to God. Be present to people. Be present to your own heart. Be present to reality. Be present to the moment in front of you. Be present to your five senses.
Slowly, something good will begin to happen inside of you and through you. You’ll become more true to your design and desires. Yes, you are created in the image of a productive Creator. But you’re also created in the image of an “unproductive” Presence. Before the Trinity created the universe, the Trinity enjoyed an un-busy existence of perfect presence as Father, Son, and Spirit delighted in each other’s company. Perhaps we have our priorities backwards. It seems our God began with presence over productivity.
This post originally appeared in Justin Buzzard’s blog.