Getting it Done Like the Saints: Thomas More

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Out of all of the saints in the Church, Thomas More is probably the most notable and relate-able saint when it comes to lay people who work. He was a lawyer, philosopher, husband, and father of such astounding character and habit that many are confounded as to how he managed to juggle everything. During his life he was married twice, spent years in a monastery, and reached the highest level of office in England other than the king himself. So how did Sir Thomas More find the time to do and be all of these things?

Photo by Monica Arellano-Ongpin

Optimizing Sleep in Order to Get More Done

According to his biographer Thomas Stapleton, Saint Thomas More would regularly only sleep anywhere from 4 to 5 hours per night. To us, that seems crazy, especially since most doctors recommend at least 8 hours of sleep per night. But Sir Thomas was perfectly content with his sleeping habits. So, how did he sleep so little and get so much done? Well – although we may not be able to keep his schedule – you can do things to help you sleep less and with better quality. Here are a few links to help you out:

• Ten Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better – Lifehacker
• 2 -5 hours of sleep with polyphasic sleeping – Wikipedia
• Wake Up Early the Easy Way – Productive Catholic

The Importance of Presentation

Although he was a philosopher, Saint Thomas knew that he needed more than good arguments to persuade his peers. Therefore, he spent many of his years practicing the art of rhetoric. Nowadays, most people cringe at the thought of speaking in public. But public speaking in the professional world is a necessity if you want your career to soar. More often than not, professionals that speak well in public are seen more as subject matter experts than who have vastly more experience but never present their thoughts.

Here are 3 resources that drastically improved my presentation and public speaking skills:

• Merlin Mann’s article on how he made his presentations better.
• Presentation Zen
• Ted Talks (I detest the majority of the speakers’ social views.  But they present very well, which is scary)

Harness the power of presentation and persuasion and you will be on your way to success.

The Power of Prayer

Of course, the real power behind Saint Thomas’ ability to get things done was who he conversed with on a daily basis. Aside from spending a few years with the Carthusians (Trappist monks to the extreme), he regularly would spend hours in his private chapel praying to God in silence. Silence leads to contemplation, and contemplation to action. It was through the silence that God was able to clear Thomas’ mind of all the things that didn’t matter so that he could better focus on the things that were of value that day. Remember, productivity is not doing as many things as you can, but doing the things that are significant.

Don’t know how to pray? Here is one resource that really helped me.  It’s an mp3 from Peter Kreeft called Prayer for Beginners.

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