I’m not sure I know of a serious Christian woman who doesn’t want to be productive daily.

We want to wake up with purpose and sleep every night, knowing we have accomplished much for God’s glory.

We want to be certain we’re growing, maturing, and preparing ourselves both now and in the future for the assignment God has given us, especially if we’re walking faithfully with God.

This notwithstanding, these 7 habits will hinder your fruitfulness in the Lord if you don’t act to cut them from your life. What are these habits?

I will outline them shortly. Before I do though, I want to tell you in advance that the last habit is one I want you to take very seriously. If you do something about this habit, it will be the greatest game-changer in your life. It has been for me.

Let’s dive right into the 7 dangerous habits.

1. Loving Sleep

Sleep is a blessing. We know that from the Scriptures.

The same Scriptures outline these two verses that come to mind:

“Do not love sleep or you will grow poor, stay awake and you will have food to spare.” (Prov.20:13)

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” (Prov.6:10-11)

If you grew up where I did, you might have been introduced to a school system where you woke up early, prepared, and had to be in school early in the morning.

I hated this routine which included a cold-water shower in the wee hours of the morning in the boarding school where I was.

Perhaps we saw it as a punishment of sorts.

As my peers and I completed 12th Grade, we left with an unspoken ambition to sleep to “compensate” for the “lost” hours before college.

Oversleeping became a kind of reward. We henceforth looked for every opportunity to sleep. In college for instance, if classes didn’t begin early, on weekends, or if we were back home for the holidays, this was sleeping time free of charge.

This slowly permeated our worldview, instilling in us this belief system: Sleep is the ultimate. We work hard so we can get time to sleep all we want. Or so we thought.

Even when we get to work where God has assigned us, we long for the weekend. We long to sleep the hours away.

Is it no wonder that this warning comes to us in this generation not to love sleep?

We are operating far below our potential because we haven’t addressed this.

We, I included, don’t have a godly worldview concerning sleep.

God instituted sleep for us to rest after a day of labor. That’s why he gives sleep to those he loves.

One of our models for godliness in the Bible is the Proverbs 31 woman.

“She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.” (Prov.31:15)

If this is what the Bible says about sleep, and you love sleep, know that you are operating way below your God-ordained potential.

God wants to accomplish much through you and me. Let’s not miss the privilege of being used by God and reaching our highest potential in him.

I wrote this post here titled, Why Rising up Early is Biblical. Consider reading it to strengthen your resolve to conquer sleep, wake up early, and fulfill the purpose of God as he leads you each day.

2. Having no Schedule, Routine, or Goals

I wrote this post two days before the end of the year.

As we discussed the content of this post, my husband and I agreed that beginning the year radar-less, clueless, and planless is a bad idea. It’s a bad habit.

It’s not easy to take the time to reflect on the previous year and set goals for the new year. We’d rather continue with the new year as usual.

If you want to start the year with clarity and direction, you must reflect on where you are coming from and conceptualize where you are going, possibly on paper, with God’s help.

When you have no plan, goal, or way to organize what needs to be done, you will accomplish very little if any.

Distractions abound. Working with a schedule that translates to a daily routine that enables you to accomplish certain tasks helps.

When I have no schedule or routine, I will focus on what I like to do rather than what needs to be done. This will not lead to growth and productivity.

For instance, I love to write but I don’t like writing new raw blog posts. The research, stories to incorporate, and the focus needed to get every thought on paper is not my cup of tea. I get distracted by the tiniest interference.

Because I know writing is part of my calling in the Lord, on the days I write, I schedule it as the first thing I do in the morning after my Quiet Time.

Unless I must, I try not to leave my writing nook until the thoughts are on paper. This process sometimes takes me two or more hours.

Before I scheduled this and made it part of my routine, I was very inconsistent in my writing. I did everything else except write.

When I developed a schedule and routine around this key activity in my life, things changed. I now write consistently except for a few exceptions.

I have applied this principle to other important activities including my Quiet Time with God, exercise, meal times, etc.

If you are wondering what goals to set that will transform your life, read this post here covering the 5 categories of goals you need to set as you begin the year.

Goals help you grow holistically, especially if you set the right goals for your life.

Schedules and routines help you to write down the most important activities of your day. You can then trust God to remain focused to complete what’s on your schedule or routine.

We must remember though that there will be disruptions. Some are God-ordained to help us fulfill what he has purposed in ways we had not anticipated. On the whole, though, the God who has planned the universe to run routinely each day for our good will help us follow a routine that leads us to accomplish much for his glory.

3. Scrolling on Social Media

This is perhaps the greatest time-waster ever invented in the history of mankind.

Nonetheless, I must admit there is a lot of good on social media.

The reason you found this post might have been because you were on social media. You read and I trust you are being helped to be more fruitful for God.

I have been a beneficiary of a lot of good happening on social media. I’m therefore not saying you cut out social media from your life.

Mindlessly scrolling on social media without intent is bad for you. It hinders your creativity, causing you to waste precious kingdom time. It also reduces your productivity to less than zero.

Many God-given dreams would have been fulfilled if we chose not to spend endless hours on social media. Even those 30 minutes of mindless scrolling could have gone into doing something useful.

Rather than spending endless hours on social media, why not spend part of that time in prayer, asking God to show you what to do?

Why not invest in the Word of God to be renewed in your mind so you can start thinking like him concerning what to do?

Why not spend this time learning from others how to turn what God has deposited in you into something impactful for you and others?

Stop scrolling on social media, pause, and pray that God leads you concerning what to do to be productive.

To progress, you might even need to uninstall a certain social media App, for a time, to deal with a social media addiction.

I know a close relative who recently decided to be turning off his data/ Wi-Fi for most of the day. My observation reveals a more productive life so far for him.

I listen more than I watch on social media. I listen to content that will help me to grow, mature, and be more fruitful.

I watch content that helps me learn a skill or acquire knowledge in an area of expertise. I listen to content that inspires me to be my best for God.

I often listen when alone cooking, doing laundry, working on my chores, or doing my daughters’ hair. (It takes me a whole day to do their hair!)

Be strategic with social media. If you want to watch for entertainment, schedule this and watch within a specified period.

Seek an accountability partner or family member to help you keep your word concerning social media.

I’m keeping the relative I mentioned earlier accountable and it’s working well so far.

4. Procrastination

Many of us can attest that procrastination has played a big role in our inability to complete certain important tasks in our lives.

Does this explain why most of us, I included, wait until the very last minute to work on an assignment?

I remember how as students we would spend the night finishing an assignment or studying for an exam being issued the next day.

Have you heard of stories of students who read for an exam through the night and couldn’t do the exam because they slept through it?

We often postpone an activity until we realize we have no more time left to push the activity.

A few in this category insist they work best under pressure. Now, as to whether this is true or not, I do not know. What I do know is procrastination robs us of the joy and peace that would be our portion if we worked at a task when we should.

We get to experience God’s best when we accomplish a task and see it taking us a step closer to what God intended.

Scheduling helps me plan for those things I need to do but don’t like to do. I can then make them part of my routine. I remember hearing a lady say: My future self will thank me for doing this today.

I think of meal prepping. Meal prepping is hard work. Just thinking about it made me postpone it to a later date that sadly never came in the last quarter of the year. I was disorganized as a homemaker, unable to effectively plan and implement my meal plan fruitfully.

I’m writing a cookbook that has taken ages to complete.

I’m sharing this to let you know that just because I’m writing about procrastination, I’m not immune to it.

Procrastination often creeps on us “unnoticed.” Before long, a task that should have been done weeks ago is not done. It even becomes irrelevant to do it. We lose the chance to make a difference simply because we postponed an activity.

Schedule what must be done and do it however tedious or unpleasant. Get someone to keep you accountable. That’s the only way to beat procrastination.

5. Being a Busybody

A busybody is a person who goes from place to place, chatting away about nothing and everything.

Google defines a busybody as a person who meddles and pries.

This is what Paul talked about the danger that would face younger widows, advising instead that they would marry:

“Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.” (1Tim.5:13)

Being a busybody or a gossip is not God’s will for a child of God.

Watch therefore what you do and who you spend time with.

If the kind of company you keep is women who chat away a whole afternoon, feeling nothing about the hours they are wasting, then you are in the wrong company.

Look at the advice this same Paul gives to the Thessalonians:

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody” (1Thess.4:11-12)

He also commands:

“…If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” (2Thess.3:10)

We cannot afford to be gossips or busybodies. Let’s do exactly what Paul advises. We will be fruitful and productive.

6. Having a Grumpy Grumbling Spirit

I’m grateful for the positive vibe on social media of taking the time to be thankful to God for the past year and the new year.

What if we continued with this attitude of gratitude for the rest of the year?

What would this do to your home, woman of God, when you are thankful?

What will this do to your children, mama, when you exude thankfulness to God in your thoughts, words, and actions?

The scriptures command us to be thankful. Consider these verses:

“give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1Thess.5:18)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil.4:6)

Every day, when I begin my prayer, I start with thanksgiving. When I journal, I begin my journaling with thanksgiving.

Let’s learn to incorporate gratitude into our day-to-day life. Let’s trust God to help us to thank him even when things are not going as we anticipated. You will be surprised at how fruitful and productive your day will be.

When I correct my daughters when I’m grumpy and angry, the result is never nearly as positive as when I’m cheerful.

Cheerfulness is usually the result of a thankful heart.

A thankful heart can see God’s hand at work, seeing his fruitfulness on an otherwise unpleasant day.

Let’s practice an attitude of gratitude as we get into the new year or at whatever time you are reading this post.

7. Not beginning your Day with the Lord in His Word and Prayer

This is the greatest of all the habits that will cause you to be fruitless and unproductive.

The moment you think as a Christian that you have no time to pray and read God’s Word, you’re headed toward stagnation, even death spiritually.

What you accomplish, however big in the world’s eyes, will be insignificant in the eyes of your Maker.

Spending time with God reveals God’s will to you. God leads you so you can accomplish his will his way.

The foundation for a fruitful productive life is spending time with God, continuing to walk in the Spirit throughout the day, and being sensitive to his leading.

I highly encourage you to make your Quiet Time with God part of your daily routine first thing in the morning. Read about my morning routine with the Lord in this post here under the Proverbs 31 series.
I wouldn’t want to start my day without God. I want to trust him to help me commune with him daily. I believe this is your prayer too.

Make your communion with God part of your daily walk with him. If you are wondering how to have an effective time with God, this post here will explain to you how to have an Effective Quiet Time in 7 simple steps.

Daily devotional journaling is also part of a fruitful effective Quiet Time. If you’d like a free guide to help you journal in a simple concise way, you can download our free Journaling guide here.

If you neglect anything else, do not neglect your fellowship and communion with God.

I pray that God will help you to be wary of these dangerous habits that hinder your productivity and fruitfulness as a child of God.

7 Most Dangerous Habits Hindering Your Fruitfulness and Productivity as a Christian