Productivity Tools for Spiritual Growth: Top Picks to Enhance Your Work and Spiritual Practice
Volume 23, Chapter V, Number 023
Hello!
This Week’s One Great Thing: Productivity Tools for Spiritual Growth: Top Picks to Enhance Your Work and Spiritual Practice
Introduction: A Meditation on “Tools”
We trace the etymology of the word TOOL back to Old English: 'tól', which has roots in an older Proto-Germanic word ’tewlą’, which means 'something made or created'. Tools, then, are integral to human creative expression, facilitating the transformation of thought into tangible form. Tools allow the word to become flesh.
At their most fundamental level, tools are devices that aid us in carrying out particular functions more effectively and efficiently. They can extend our physical capabilities—such as a hammer or a wheel—or our cognitive capabilities—like a calculator or a computer, or ChatGPT. Tools are amplifiers of human capacity and creativity; they allow us to push beyond our inherent limitations.
Layering this concept into spirituality, we find that the idea of tools takes on a deeper dimension. Spiritual tools are mechanisms, practices, or even concepts that aid us in our quest for spiritual growth and enlightenment. They help us transcend our mundane physical reality to touch the deeper planes of existence and understanding.
These tools can be diverse and span various traditions and schools of thought. They include practices such as meditation, prayer, yoga, and mindfulness, objects like crystals, malas, or icons, and texts such as the Bible, the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita, or the Tao Te Ching.
In the context of personal spiritual growth, these tools serve as catalysts for self-realization and enlightenment. Meditation and mindfulness, for instance, are tools that can help cultivate a state of focused awareness and presence, allowing us to observe our thoughts and emotions without judgment. These tools can aid us in breaking free from habitual patterns of thought and action, encouraging personal growth and a deeper understanding of ourselves and our place in the world.
Prayer and chanting for example, can help create a bridge between our physical consciousness and a higher, more universal consciousness, facilitating a sense of peace and harmony that is hard to quantify.
Tools, in their various physical and metaphysical forms, have the power to enhance our abilities and deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. When thoughtfully chosen and applied, they can serve as invaluable aids on our journey towards spiritual growth and enlightenment.
Tools & Apps for Spiritual Growth
Meditation. One of the most important things I’ve found for spiritual growth is developing a good meditation practice. If you believe in a higher being—and even if you don’t—meditation is the bedrock of spiritual growth. Although meditation is one of the go-to spiritual activities, many people still don’t understand its power. To make it easier, consider using a guided meditation app like [Calm] or [Headspace] that has professionally recorded tracks and tools to help you focus. These apps can provide structure and direction if you’re new to the practice and don’t know where to start. They can help in cultivating mindfulness, a crucial trait not only for spiritual growth but also for increased productivity as it promotes a higher level of focus and decreases stress levels.
Journaling. Another productivity tool to consider is a journal. Keeping a journal can be a great way to document your growth and reflect on your daily experiences. Journaling can help you to be more mindful and pay attention to the subtle changes that come with spiritual development. Writing out your thoughts and feelings can also provide a sense of clarity and calm. This ancient practice of self-reflection and introspection can be greatly enhanced by modern tools. Digital platforms like Day One or Penzu, or even a simple word processor, can serve as a personal journal. Journaling is particularly beneficial for spiritual growth as it allows individuals to track their thoughts, emotions, and personal growth over time. It also aids in productivity by providing a space for brainstorming, planning, and reflection.
Task Management. Task management and organization tools like Asana, Trello, and Evernote can be vital for productivity. I personally use Evernote for note-taking, and Ticktick for task management. These platforms allow for efficient organization of tasks, goal setting, and tracking progress over time. For spiritual growth, these tools can be used to set and track spiritual goals, such as daily meditation or reading spiritual texts. The visualisation and organization these tools provide can be a powerful motivator and aid in achieving these objectives.
Digital detox tools.There’s another category of apps that help limit or block access to distracting websites and applications, allowing individuals to focus on their tasks at hand. When we have issues disciplining ourselves, we may need extra help from these. Best in class for these tools are Freedom or StayFocusd. This kind of self-imposed limitation can increase productivity, and allows for more time to be dedicated to spiritual practices.
Practices and Techniques
Yoga. The practice of yoga can serve as both a productivity and spiritual tool. Yoga's asanas (poses) and pranayama (breathing exercises) can significantly enhance one's physical health and mental clarity, thereby increasing productivity. At the same time, yoga's philosophical underpinnings can guide spiritual growth. Today, there are numerous online platforms and mobile applications, such as Glo or Down Dog, that provide guided yoga practices for all levels.
Digital Minimalism. Another tool to consider is the practice of digital minimalism. This concept, popularized by computer science professor Cal Newport, involves intentionally reducing one's digital life to only those tools and activities that truly add value. By doing so, individuals can reduce distractions, increase focus, and have more time and mental energy for both productive work and spiritual practices.
Timeboxing is a time management technique where you allocate a fixed amount of time to a specific activity. You work on the task for that set amount of time and then stop when your time is up, regardless of whether you've completed the task or not. It is simple, but really powerful, and is scientifically sound. It improves focus (by dedicating a specific time period to one task, you can reduce distractions and improve your focus.), it prevents perfectionism (since you have a limited amount of time for each task, you're encouraged to do the best you can within that timeframe rather than striving for unattainable perfection,) reduces procrastination (knowing that you only have to work on a task for a set amount of time can make it feel less overwhelming and help you get started. More on that in the next letter!), increases efficiency (Timeboxing can help you become more aware of how long tasks actually take, which can improve your planning and time management skills), and provides structure since it provides a clear structure to your day, making it easier to manage your time and tasks. One of the most effective uses of time boxing (something I’ve used since 2013) is the Pomodoro Technique. You can research it yourself, but it involves alternating periods of focused work with short breaks, can help manage time more effectively.
Spaceboxing. Space Boxing is Time Boxing but pushed on another level. It combines time boxing with environmental design to enhance focus and efficiency. The concept is based on the idea that our physical and mental spaces significantly influence our ability to concentrate and complete tasks. In "Space Boxing", tasks are not only allocated specific time slots (as in time boxing), but also dedicated physical or digital spaces. This could mean designating a particular desk for deep work, a specific notebook for brainstorming, or a certain software for project management. By consistently associating a task with a space, we can train our brains to enter the right mindset as soon as we enter that space. My morning commute (in the SG MRT) is my space for reading novels for example and my evening runs is my space for listening to my favourite podcasts. There’s a particular table in my office where I take zoom calls, and a coffee shop in our building where I do design work.
This method leverages the psychological principle of context-dependent memory, which suggests that we can recall information better when we're in the same environment where we first learned or processed that information. By applying this principle to our work, "Space Boxing" can help us switch tasks more efficiently, reduce cognitive load, and ultimately improve productivity.
A Spiritual Mentor. Finally, probably the best "tool" you can ever have is a spiritual mentor. It is helpful to have a knowledgeable guide who can help you navigate the complicated waters of spiritual growth (because as some of you probably realise -- it IS complicated!). A mentor provides guidance, support, accountability, perspective, and inspiration.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there exists a vast array of productivity tools that can be used to support and enhance spiritual growth. By thoughtfully integrating these tools and techniques into one's daily life, individuals can create a harmonious balance between productivity and spirituality, thereby enriching both their work and their personal spiritual journey.
In essence, productivity tools are a means to an end, a way to organize, motivate, and track personal and spiritual growth. By integrating these into their daily lives, individuals can find a more systematic and structured approach to their spiritual journey. It's an intriguing blend of the ancient and the modern, the spiritual and the practical, and it has the potential to greatly enhance one's personal and spiritual development.
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Ok! Now pause, get yourself to a window, look up to the sky, smile, and have a great day! Look forward to send you another letter next week!
☕ eric santillan
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