Be Mindful of Time Wasters
As I've become more successful in limiting the time wasters, I have found more time available to me to spend with the Lord in prayer.
I have more time in my hands than I normally realize. My days can be very busy. I live a modern lifestyle after all. This includes taking care of a family, fulfilling responsibilities at home, and serving in multiple work arrangements. Time is tighter than ever these days. However, despite the seemingly limited amount of time I have, I've still managed to find three to four hours per day for prayer and meditation to God. This is part of my desire to live as a modern monastic. What I've come to realize is that I do have more time in my day and I can use it for spiritual purposes, if I desire. Time is available to me. What I really need, however, is this: the discipline, with the help of the Spirit, to actually spend that available time well for said spiritual purposes.
In order for me to have plenty of time to meet with the Lord, I need to be aware of anything that can eat away at the limited amount of time I have. In particular, I have to be mindful of any time wasters. Time wasters might include binging on watching television, browsing the internet, and anything else that doesn't make a significant contribution to life. Although there's a place for entertainment (i.e. to help us relax), it's just so easy to dump more time than we ever want to into it. How many of us have said, "This is going to be the last episode," only to find ourselves hopelessly tuning into the next one?
The biggest time waster for me these days is social media. It's so easy (and quite addicting) to just keep scrolling down a social media feed viewing post after post after post. I use social media to share some of my insights on the modern monastic journey that I'm on. Getting rid of it completely is not yet an option for this modern monastic. But I've come to realize the peril of getting distracted every time I open up a social media app. And so, I've been trying to do everything I can to be mindful of my social media usage, attempting to limit its impact on my personal time. As an example, I've decided to not have any of the social media apps on my phone. I must physically be at my computer to use social media.
As I've become more successful in limiting the time wasters, I have found more time available to me to spend with the Lord in prayer. The time was there all along. I just wasn't spending it well. What I needed was the discipline to actually use the available time for spiritual purposes.
If you're looking to increase the amount of time you spend in prayer to draw closer to God, you will want to be mindful of any time wasters in your life. Take a moment to observe how you're spending your time each day. Consider different ways of dealing with any time wasters. You will likely come to realize that you have more time in your hands than you had previously thought.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
