Day 15 - cut the garbage out of your life
Wow. This is way easier said than done. I mentioned in a previous post that I had devolved into losing myself in television (e.g. Netflix) pretty much every evening at one time, as a salve for the pain of that season. But there are so many things in life that I find distract me from the truly important. From apps to email, websurfing to social media - most of the "garbage" being technological (which makes me feel slightly guilty about creating more content for people to consume). The bottom line is, I want to be a creator, not just a consumer.
At different times, different methods have helped me to be more aware of what is taking up my time and how I can amend my habits. In college, I used to literally write a schedule of each day, planning my time and dividing it between classes, work, friendships, studying, and whatever activities I was engaged in at the time. It was helpful - come to think of it, that probably wouldn't be a terrible strategy for me now. One of the things that definitely makes a difference - and has in the past as well - is being mindful of how I begin my day. Ideally, being active, praying, and meditating set me up for a much more mindful approach to the tasks and detours that confront me during my waking hours. It's fairly rare these days that I have time for all three, so if I have to pick just one, I'm trying to be consistent with prayer before I open anything else on my phone or computer. If I can get my focus right, my actions will typically follow much more naturally, decreasing the chance of willpower burnout. Essentially, I'm admitting I can't be who I want to be and focus on the important things without supernatural help - it takes and makes humility, and I can certainly always use more of that.
Starting right is good, but I've realized the older I get, it's simply not enough. It's too easy in a world that thrives on activity and busy-ness to get sucked back into the rat race or the hamster wheel of daily life, much less my own ambition or other endless chasing after wind. I need reminders - this is what I'm not good at, what I hope to improve this year and in the years to come. To have check-ins every little while, making sure I'm listening and stopping, stopping and listening. I don't know about you, but I find stopping hard; honestly, it almost feels impossible most days. But I know from experience that stopping the wrong things is the precursor to true progress. As much as I hate to admit it sometimes, structure really helps me make these thoughts actionable. I've been using a prayer app that contains liturgy of the hours which has helped me immensely and helped me avoid the prayer's equivalent to writer's block. The only hump to get over is starting with that and saying "no" to anything else that vies for that primetime. It's a work in progress, but I like the idea (and the practice) of stopping so I can become something greater.
Wow. This is way easier said than done. I mentioned in a previous post that I had devolved into losing myself in television (e.g. Netflix) pretty much every evening at one time, as a salve for the pain of that season. But there are so many things in life that I find distract me from the truly important. From apps to email, websurfing to social media - most of the "garbage" being technological (which makes me feel slightly guilty about creating more content for people to consume). The bottom line is, I want to be a creator, not just a consumer.
At different times, different methods have helped me to be more aware of what is taking up my time and how I can amend my habits. In college, I used to literally write a schedule of each day, planning my time and dividing it between classes, work, friendships, studying, and whatever activities I was engaged in at the time. It was helpful - come to think of it, that probably wouldn't be a terrible strategy for me now. One of the things that definitely makes a difference - and has in the past as well - is being mindful of how I begin my day. Ideally, being active, praying, and meditating set me up for a much more mindful approach to the tasks and detours that confront me during my waking hours. It's fairly rare these days that I have time for all three, so if I have to pick just one, I'm trying to be consistent with prayer before I open anything else on my phone or computer. If I can get my focus right, my actions will typically follow much more naturally, decreasing the chance of willpower burnout. Essentially, I'm admitting I can't be who I want to be and focus on the important things without supernatural help - it takes and makes humility, and I can certainly always use more of that.
Starting right is good, but I've realized the older I get, it's simply not enough. It's too easy in a world that thrives on activity and busy-ness to get sucked back into the rat race or the hamster wheel of daily life, much less my own ambition or other endless chasing after wind. I need reminders - this is what I'm not good at, what I hope to improve this year and in the years to come. To have check-ins every little while, making sure I'm listening and stopping, stopping and listening. I don't know about you, but I find stopping hard; honestly, it almost feels impossible most days. But I know from experience that stopping the wrong things is the precursor to true progress. As much as I hate to admit it sometimes, structure really helps me make these thoughts actionable. I've been using a prayer app that contains liturgy of the hours which has helped me immensely and helped me avoid the prayer's equivalent to writer's block. The only hump to get over is starting with that and saying "no" to anything else that vies for that primetime. It's a work in progress, but I like the idea (and the practice) of stopping so I can become something greater.
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