As part of our Breathing Room series at Revolution I shared 6 simple ways to create margin in your life so that you are able to enjoy what really matters. If you missed them, here they are:
On Sunday, I finished our Breathing Room series at Revolution by looking at how to find breathing room between work, life and everything that has to get done. This week, I want to share 6 simple ways I’ve done that and you can to. I’m going to share one each day so you have time to process them and hopefully put some things into practice.
The first one we looked at was how to get a good night sleep. Tuesday, we talked about why you should take a break every 90 minutes. Wednesday, we looked at what electronics can do to our margin. Thursday we looked at what will probably be the most controversial or at least, the one you think is unattainable: Pay people to do what you hate and yesterday we looked at one of the most important things to making room for what matters most: Live the life you want, not the one others want you to live.
As we wrap up this series today, I want to share something that we often don’t think about when it comes to our lives and schedules and it is crucial to finding breathing room and making room in life for what matters most. It’s this: Use your schedule to your advantage.
Every job, career, has a schedule and a rhythm. If you have kids in school, you know this. If you are in school, you know this. No matter what you do, no matter what stage of life you are in, there is a schedule and a rhythm. There are times that are busy and times that are slow. You have days that are more stressful and hectic and tiring than others.
Use them to your advantage instead of letting them use you.
Simple right?
Here’s what I mean.
For my rhythm as a pastor, the fall and spring are the busiest times of the year. The slowest times? From Christmas Eve until the first week of January and the middle of June to the middle of July. Because of this, I strategically take breaks then. During my week, Tuesday and Wednesday are my most stressful and intense days so I don’t plan much on those evenings.
I am also blessed with being able to make my own schedule so I can work on my sermon, plan meetings when I want.
Maybe you work in the evening and have the days free. How can you be more strategic with those days?
Can you make your own schedule and decide to take a break for your kids during the day? Some people can.
Can you start work earlier to get done earlier? Some people can. Most people can’t (not because their company won’t let them but because they haven’t asked).
When is your slow time? When is the busiest time of the year for you?
Plan accordingly.
The problem for most Americans is we never think about this. We simply roll from one day to the next, one season to the next without ever catching our breath.
When I begin preaching in January, I know it is a long time until summer. That’s okay because I took some downtime over the holidays.
It’s the same in the fall.
Sit down and look at your calendar for the year. If you don’t know when you are busiest, look back and see what you did and how it went. If you are a teacher, you know when it slow down. Use that to live the life you want to live.
Don’t let your schedule dictate your life.
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On Sunday, I finished our Breathing Room series at Revolution by looking at how to find breathing room between work, life and everything that has to get done. This week, I want to share 6 simple ways I’ve done that and you can to. I’m going to share one each day so you have time to process them and hopefully put some things into practice.
The first one we looked at was how to get a good night sleep. Tuesday, we talked about why you should take a break every 90 minutes. Wednesday, we looked at what electronics can do to our margin. Yesterday we looked at what will probably be the most controversial or at least, the one you think is unattainable: Pay people to do what you hate.
Today is the second last one, but also one of the most important things to making room for what matters most: Live the life you want, not the one others want you to live.
This came up in the first week of our Breathing Room series and it is a game changer for me.
Too many people live the life others want them to live, make choices others expect them to make and miss life. They leave their dreams on the table and live a life they don’t want to live.
How sad.
This can be seen in the jobs people take, the houses they live in, the sports and activities their kids do, even the people they have as friends or marry.
Think for a minute, what is it that you want to accomplish with your one and only life?
What things if you don’t do will you regret? Travel? Writing a book? Retiring early? Taking up a hobby? Starting a ministry or company?
What is keeping you from those things?
Fear stands in the way of many. What will people think about it?
So far, we have done 2 things that friends and family thought were crazy. We were told by friends and family members that planting a church was not a smart career move because of the percentage that don’t survive. We were told that adopting would bankrupt and set us back financially.
Yet, if we didn’t do those two things, we would live with regret and always wonder, “What if?”
Living with regret is not living.
Make a commitment today, not to live with regret. Live with passion and abandon.
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On Sunday, I finished our Breathing Room series at Revolution by looking at how to find breathing room between work, life and everything that has to get done. This week, I want to share 6 simple ways I’ve done that and you can to. I’m going to share one each day so you have time to process them and hopefully put some things into practice.
The first one we looked at was how to get a good night sleep. Tuesday, we talked about why you should take a break every 90 minutes. Yesterday, we looked at what electronics can do to our margin. Today I want to look at what will probably be the most controversial or at least, the one you think is unattainable.
Pay people to do what you hate.
When I first came across this idea in Randy Frazee’s book Making Room for Life: Trading Chaotic Lifestyles for Connected Relationships, I thought, “that’s what wealthy people do.”
Hear me out though.
Think about the things you hate to do: laundry, yard work, cleaning your house, or something else. What if you paid someone else to do it?
Unattainable? Maybe right now. Wasteful? No way.
The reason I reacted like I did when I first read this was because we had just planted Revolution church. We had 2 kids with 1 on the way. We lived on $2,000 a month and our rent was half that.
Slowly, we have begun to work some of this into our budget.
Why do this? The goal of life is to enjoy it and use it for God’s glory. Not be miserable or wasteful.
You already do some of this, you maybe haven’t been as strategic about it. Every time you eat out or go to Starbucks, you are paying someone to do something you don’t want to do. So before you tell me you don’t do this, you do. Most of the time, we don’t have a reason for it, we just do it in that moment.
Here’s something our family did, this past year as our family expanded to 5 we learned how much water costs and how much laundry we do. So, we saved up and bought the biggest washer and dryer on the market. The ones that save energy and water. Consequently, we do less laundry because the loads are bigger.
Now, could that money go to something else? Yes, but we chose it to save Katie time on laundry so she could do other things.
Don’t miss this about time: You get 24 hours. That’s it.
Every minute you spend doing something is one minute you don’t spend on something else.
It takes a long time to clean your house? Pay someone else to do it so you can be freed up to do something else.
Now, should everyone do this?
No.
I know someone who has 1 child, the wife doesn’t work and they pay someone to clean. Not to save time but because all their friends do that.
You must be careful about motivation on this.
Some people love yard work and find it relaxing. Others hate it. Yet, it has to be done for all of us.
This might be an area to cut back on.
The point is this: is there something you do that keeps you from experiencing life that you can give away or pay someone to do?
Consider doing that.
Here’s the pushback I get: If you have that extra money, you should give it away and be more generous.
Here’s my response, “I am as generous as I feel God has called me to be. On top of that, if I can be generous to my wife and kids, why wouldn’t I do that? It is stingy to be generous to everyone but my family.”
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On Sunday, I finished our Breathing Room series at Revolution by looking at how to find breathing room between work, life and everything that has to get done. This week, I want to share 6 simple ways I’ve done that and you can to. I’m going to share one each day so you have time to process them and hopefully put some things into practice.
The first one we looked at was how to get a good night sleep. Yesterday, we talked about why you should take a break every 90 minutes.
Today I want to talk about one of the main things that keeps us from having breathing room and enjoying life: electronics.
I’m not going to tell you that electronics are bad or evil, because they don’t have to be. But, they do need to be controlled in your life.
Why?
They waste time and sap life out of us.
There are also studies being done about how our brains are struggling to handle all the screen time we are getting.
How often have you checked your email, facebook or twitter only to get angry, jealous or frustrated?
Then why do you keep doing it?
Why do you distract yourself at night when you can connect with your kids or spouse? Let’s be honest for a minute, for many people, electronics are an escape from life. At that point, it becomes a sin. It is a way to not deal with something or someone. It is a way to get lost, to escape, it becomes a fantasy.
If you are like me, you need to cut back on electronics. Over the weekend, I don’t check my email. I spend very little time on social media on the weekend and at night. During work hours, I block Facebook on my computer so it doesn’t distract me.
When Katie and I have date nights, we have a strict no electronics policy.
One thing we’ve started to do is to put the Do Not Disturb feature on our phones after 9pm. That means no texts or alerts on our phones. Often, I’ll still pick up my phone to see if I have any alerts and remember, “Oh yeah, nothing will come through.”
Try it sometime.
Tonight, this weekend, your next vacation, sign off of social media and email.
The reason we don’t has to do with fear. Fear we will miss something. Fear that we will discover we aren’t as important as we think. And pride. Pride about how many likes and RT’s our posts get.
So, what are you waiting for?
Tomorrow we’ll look at the most controversial or at least, the one thing you will think is unattainable, yet can make an enormous impact on how much you enjoy life.
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On Sunday, I finished our Breathing Room series at Revolution by looking at how to find breathing room between work, life and everything that has to get done. This week, I want to share 6 simple ways I’ve done that and you can to. I’m going to share one each day so you have time to process them and hopefully put some things into practice.
The first one we looked at was how to get a good night sleep.
The second one: Take a break every 90 minutes.
I came across this idea in the book The Power of Full Engagement. The point the authors tried to make is that 90 minutes is the length that your body and brain can handle anything. Once you go past 90 minutes, you are less engaged, less alert and ultimately, less useful at whatever you are doing.
So, take a break every 90 minutes.
Immediately, you are thinking, I can’t do that.
You already do this. You scroll through social media, go to the bathroom, stand and talk to someone at work. The amount of time we waste in our day is unbelievable.
The problem is: we aren’t proactive about taking breaks well. We don’t plan them.
Does this always work? Not always.
Here are some ways to do this:
Tomorrow we’ll look at how to create margin when it comes to electronics.
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I’ve heard a lot of sermons that are just dry and boring. In fact, I’ve preached sermons that are dry and boring.
What makes a sermon dry and boring?
When a pastor preaches everything he has read, making his sermon more of a commentary book report. Or, when he takes all the theology in the passage and has a debate about it, not making it personal or matter.
Does every theology matter to everyday life?
Yes.
The sovereignty of God affects our view of pain and good times. The love of God affects how we view ourselves, our sin and God.
This past Sunday I preached on the resurrection. It is easy if you are a Christian to take this doctrine for granted. You’ve heard Easter sermons. You’ve read the gospels. But think for a minute, someone rose from the dead. Think how insane that sounds.
But, as I read books on the resurrection, they focused simply on the debate surrounding the resurrection. This is helpful and good. The problem, especially in the reformed circles I run in, is that most sermons simply stop at the debate or information about the resurrection.
The resurrection matters more than just a debate.
Without the resurrection, there is no hope for us. There is no freedom from sin and death. There is no hope after death. There is no hope for freedom from addiction and pain. There is no hope that one day the world will be made right.
You cannot simply teach the truth of a doctrine, you must show how that truth impacts your daily life so that your church sees the beauty of that doctrine.