A little over a week ago the calendar turned to June, bringing with it the most difficult challenge yet – a choice to intentionally let up on my hectic pace of life. In order to experience rest, and a more intimate relationship with Christ, I implemented a number of drastic changes to my daily routine. I set limits on how much time I could spend at the office (no more overtime), adopted an early bedtime (11:00PM on weeknights, 12:30AM on weekends), and carved out deliberate times of silence each morning. In only eight days, I’ve experienced a month’s worth of both successes and failures.
Bedtime is steadily approaching, but before it stops me, here are a few thoughts from my first week.
1) No Overtime
In my first blog this month, I noted my propensity to spend too much time on the job – although I’m only part-time, I oftentimes keep hours like a full-time staff member. Don’t hear me wrong, work ethic isn’t a bad thing, but without regular time away, one’s work can begin to define them, to give their life meaning and purpose. As a Christian, I must recognize that God’s love for me isn’t dependent, in any way, on how much of my to-do list gets checked off. And so, each day this month, I’m choosing to leave the office at 2:00PM.
So far, I’ve found that having a clearly defined “quitting time” has resulted in better and more focused work during my office hours. Because I know exactly when a break is coming, I’ve been able, for the most part, to control the normal office distractions that so often rob me of my productivity – things like Facebook, Twitter, and bugging Kerry at the front desk. But just because I’m more focused, unfortunately, doesn’t mean that all my work is getting finished. (Friday’s been designated as my official catch-up day – although its not ideal, it does still allow a full day without any work on Saturday.)
Yesterday, I returned to church around 2:30PM to run some keys back to a coworker. As I entered the door, my buddy Anthony yelled at me from across the lobby. “What are you doing here?” he asked. For a split second, I was genuinely confused. My first thought was something along the lines of “ummm, I work here.” He continued, “its past your work hours, you’re supposed to be at home.” A smile spread across my face as I explained the situation. “Just keeping you accountable,” he answered. I loved it – with people keeping tabs on me like that, I just might make it through this month.
2) Unrhythmic
On the night of June 1st, after returning home from my trip to Mount Airy, North Carolina, I sat down on a swing in my church’s prayer garden with the intent to spend the next thirty minutes alone. Out of that silence, as the setting sun painted the sky with purples and reds, God began to speak. What He did within my soul that night was life altering, and will be the subject of a future blog (as soon as I’ve had enough time to fully decompress from it). That night was one of the most peaceful I’ve experienced in a long while – little did I know that the next morning, my life would go haywire. Over the last few months, I’ve been able to develop a pattern to my life, a rhythm. This week took the rhythm and threw it out the window – its been busy, unpredictable and, at times, downright strange.
In the past five days, I’ve helped throw an anniversary party for my parents, been rear-ended, housesat and taken care of two animals, celebrated my grandmother’s 85th birthday, and taken my grandparents to dinner for their wedding anniversary – all on top of my normal workload at church. This week has, by no means, made finding rest easy. If the right decision is also the most difficult, then I can assume only one thing after this week: I’m on the right track.
3) Bedtime
Easily, my biggest failure this week has been in keeping my bedtime – in the past eight days, I’ve met my goal only three times. Which reminds me, I’m nearly an hour past due. Crap. Goodnight.
Bedtime is steadily approaching, but before it stops me, here are a few thoughts from my first week.
1) No Overtime
In my first blog this month, I noted my propensity to spend too much time on the job – although I’m only part-time, I oftentimes keep hours like a full-time staff member. Don’t hear me wrong, work ethic isn’t a bad thing, but without regular time away, one’s work can begin to define them, to give their life meaning and purpose. As a Christian, I must recognize that God’s love for me isn’t dependent, in any way, on how much of my to-do list gets checked off. And so, each day this month, I’m choosing to leave the office at 2:00PM.
So far, I’ve found that having a clearly defined “quitting time” has resulted in better and more focused work during my office hours. Because I know exactly when a break is coming, I’ve been able, for the most part, to control the normal office distractions that so often rob me of my productivity – things like Facebook, Twitter, and bugging Kerry at the front desk. But just because I’m more focused, unfortunately, doesn’t mean that all my work is getting finished. (Friday’s been designated as my official catch-up day – although its not ideal, it does still allow a full day without any work on Saturday.)
Yesterday, I returned to church around 2:30PM to run some keys back to a coworker. As I entered the door, my buddy Anthony yelled at me from across the lobby. “What are you doing here?” he asked. For a split second, I was genuinely confused. My first thought was something along the lines of “ummm, I work here.” He continued, “its past your work hours, you’re supposed to be at home.” A smile spread across my face as I explained the situation. “Just keeping you accountable,” he answered. I loved it – with people keeping tabs on me like that, I just might make it through this month.
2) Unrhythmic
On the night of June 1st, after returning home from my trip to Mount Airy, North Carolina, I sat down on a swing in my church’s prayer garden with the intent to spend the next thirty minutes alone. Out of that silence, as the setting sun painted the sky with purples and reds, God began to speak. What He did within my soul that night was life altering, and will be the subject of a future blog (as soon as I’ve had enough time to fully decompress from it). That night was one of the most peaceful I’ve experienced in a long while – little did I know that the next morning, my life would go haywire. Over the last few months, I’ve been able to develop a pattern to my life, a rhythm. This week took the rhythm and threw it out the window – its been busy, unpredictable and, at times, downright strange.
In the past five days, I’ve helped throw an anniversary party for my parents, been rear-ended, housesat and taken care of two animals, celebrated my grandmother’s 85th birthday, and taken my grandparents to dinner for their wedding anniversary – all on top of my normal workload at church. This week has, by no means, made finding rest easy. If the right decision is also the most difficult, then I can assume only one thing after this week: I’m on the right track.
3) Bedtime
Easily, my biggest failure this week has been in keeping my bedtime – in the past eight days, I’ve met my goal only three times. Which reminds me, I’m nearly an hour past due. Crap. Goodnight.
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