The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Part three: Practices for unhurrying your life
Slowing (3|4)
Pages 230-238 (END READING AT: You can.)
Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV) Be very careful, then, how you live —not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Proverbs 6:9-11 (NIV) How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, said their biggest competition is sleep.
What is your response to this statement?
What does that mean for our society, culture, and community?
We now live in a time when someone literally doesn’t need to leave their house for an entire week (or more). They work from home. They can have all their meals, groceries, and well, anything, delivered to their door. A “work day” is blurry because they can (and probably are expected to) respond to emails and messages and take video meetings at all hours. When their workday is “done,” they stream entertainment content for hours on end.
What is your response to this statement?
How do you reach someone with the gospel if they live like that?
How do you reach someone with the gospel if you live like that?
The next six rules (again, call them boundaries if that makes you feel better about them) are likely easier than the previous six - Those were just mean precious (Gollum joke about smartphones).
11. Set times for email.
12. Set a time limit for social media (or just get off of it.)
13. Kill your TV.
14. Single-task.
15. Walk slower.
16. Take a regular day alone for silence and solitude.
Multitasking is a myth. Multitasking is just a sleight of hand for switching back and forth between a lot of tasks, so I can do them poorly instead of doing one well. Walter Brueggemann wrote: Multitasking is the drive to be more than we are, to control more than we do, to extend our power and our effectiveness. Such practice yields a divided self, with full attention given to nothing.
What is your response to this statement?
Is there a difference between multitasking and being efficient? What if you were to answer this question while you had laundry in the washer and dryer, while the dishwasher was running, while dinner was in the airfryer, and you were listening to music while reading this question, while packing your lunch for tomorrow, and snacking on your favorite junk food?
I want to be fully present to the moment: to God, other people, work in the world, and my own soul. That’s more than enough to consume my attention.
What is your response to this statement?