Book Review: "Crazy Busy" by Kevin DeYoung

Kevin DeYoung is at it again in giving us practical wisdom for our every day lives. After Just Do Something, OMF Literature released another DeYoung book last year entitled Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book About a (Really) Big Problem and here's what I think after reading this wonderful book.

Kevin DeYoung outlined his book in a pattern (3-7-1)--three dangers to avoid, seven diagnosis to consider and one thing you must do. This pattern made the flow of the book easy to follow and easy to remember.

With his witty yet serious style, it's easy to get soaked reading this book and hard to put down.



Dissection

In the first chapter of the book, the author tells his personal stories about being busy and why he wrote the book. In the following chapter, he mentioned the Three Dangers to Avoid (in busyness). This chapter tackles how busyness can affect our soul and spiritual lives. In the next seven chapters, DeYoung discussed seven reasons or diagnosis why we become busy. From work to ministry to family to gadgets to sleep--the author tackles each topic. My favorite chapters would be Chapter 4,  7 and 8. Chapter 4 is titled "The Terror of Obligation". It is basically a chapter about people who do more that they should do or taking over things that aren't assigned to them. It's a personal struggle, especially when I was in the ministry. Chapter 7 tackles how technology and the internet makes us busy. I, for one is guilty of this. I'm online most of the time. I watch videos, check my Facebook and e-mail from time to time. I spend hours watching movies and reading articles and blogs. Thankfully, Kevin gave some practical tips to avoid this busyness. Chapter 8 on the other hand tackles the importance of sleep and how not sleeping is a just a 'borrowed time'. Read the book for yourself to see what I meant. The last chapter tackles the "one thing we must do". It's pretty basic, actually, but people often forget this one important thing.

What I learned

The book didn't really give me any solution to avoid busyness and how to stop being busy but it gave me a new perspective on how to manage my time and on what things I should spend my time. It also taught me to say "No" to sudden invites or work that may mess up my priorities. It also reminded me that I cannot do it all and I should not do everything. After reading this book, I can breathe. This book is full of insightful practical and biblical advice that is very timely and a message that will pierce the hearts of the busy people.

Some quotable quotes

• Busyness does not mean you are faithful or a fruitful Christian. It only means you are busy just like everyone else. And like everyone else, your joy, your heart and your soul are in danger.

• Don't think it rude if some people have less availability for you than you have for them. And don't begrudge people the time you are so desperately fighting for. Unless we're God, none of us deserve to be the priority for everyone else all the time.
•  We will have to work hard to rest. We will have to be dedicated to being disciplined. We will have to make it our mission to stay on mission.
•  We have to believe that hearing from God is our good portion. We have to believe that the most significant opportunity before us every day is the opportunity to sit at the feet of Jesus. We won't rearrange our priorities unless we really believe this is the best one.

I recommend this book to Young Pro's, to parents and people who are in the ministry. This is very helpful and very easy to read! You can read this in 1-2 days (it depends on how you read).

I rate this book 4.5/5 for its simplicity and because it is very easy to read and follow. I can't wait to read more books from Kevin DeYoung!

Crazy Busy is published by OMF Literature and is available at your favorite bookstores for only P250.