I had an email sitting in my inbox for like a week. Entitled “The history of our world in 18 minutes.” And because I operate on inbox zero (link here), this kept bugging me! I would be like, gotta to watch that TED talk so I can get the email out of my inbox. Until, one day at work, I just decided “you know what? I know the history of the world that matters, anything in 18 minutes I can google and watch later.” So I deleted the email. And I felt set free. The tool that is supposed to make our lives easier and more convenient was clogging my ability to focus on what really mattered.
Do you do this? Do you allow tools to become your focus instead of keeping them in their friendly toolbox and using them when necessary? Email, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Etc. Etc. Etc. (I don’t even know what all the kids (because 26 is so old haha) have going on these days). Somehow, these things have taken over our lives and become the focus instead of the tools to improve our focus.
I don’t have all the solutions. But I happened across this on Instagram and it totally hit me where I’m at. “…make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and 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. (1 Thessalonians 4:11) When you apply this verse to the Internet and business and social media, woosh. Conviction + grace + hope + dependence on the approval of Christ alone.” – @jessaconnolly
Lead a quiet life. What would that look like? What would my ideal day look like? It will be different from yours, but I decided to include here what my ideal day would look like to keep me accountable to achieve it.
my ideal day:
- Wake up with an hour of quiet time before preparing for the day, and be able to spend that time in prayer, reading and writing
- Prepare for the day at a leisurely enough pace to allow for conversation with the ones I love
- Attend to the day’s schedule, accomplishing and prioritizing so that I have time for meaningful conversation, not procrastinating constantly which never allows time for connection
- Dinner with those I love
- Outdoor Activity enjoying the sunset
- Prepare for bed
- Retire early enough to enjoy a good book before lights out!
So, now that my ideal day is set-up, how do I get there? I’m doing it with two starting goals:
- Lights out at midnight (trust me, this is earlier than most of my nights)
- No phone before bed (THIS will be hard. VERY hard.) Studies have proven that phone-light before bed keeps you awake, so I’ll stick to my trust hardbacks, thanks so much!
God created me not because He needed me, but because He wanted to give me a purpose. And I don’t believe that purpose was to answer email and live a constant flow of social media. I love connections, but I need to focus on connecting to my roots and my family. I need to focus on doing what matters to Him, and fulfilling my heart in the process. I want to fulfill my purpose, not take up space. And I’m excited to focus more on that and leave the clutter behind.
How do you cultivate quiet and zero distractions from your ideals? What makes it happen for you?