Try “Activity Bundling”
I'll engage in a spiritual activity while doing something that requires less attention and can be completed with relative ease.
Time is tight. I know it and feel it almost every single day. I'm pursuing becoming a modern monastic. This means I embrace living in the modern world and I have modern responsibilities and a modern family to look after. At the same time, I pursue rigorous spiritual discipline to draw myself close to Christ every day. This makes for some very busy days. My wife and I are young parents and time is always a bit on the tighter side when you have a young child.
At my current stage in life, I have to be a little more creative in how I pursue lots of spiritual discipline every day when there is not a lot of time available. One of the things I do to redeem some time is something I call "activity bundling." Basically, I'll do two activities at the same time. I'll engage in a spiritual activity while doing something that requires less attention and can be completed with relative ease. It's important to note right off the bat that you should remain safe at all times if you plan on doing two activities at the same time. For example, if you require full attention while driving, you should avoid activity bundling anything with this.
An example of activity bundling is folding laundry while worshiping God through singing. Folding laundry is an activity that requires little attention and can be completed with ease. It's not such a stretch to add singing worship songs to God while doing this. Another example is doing the dishes while recalling memorized Scripture. Doing the dishes is a relatively easy activity where you can add something a little more mind-intensive such as recalling memory verses.
If you're creative, you can find a ton of ways to connect with God throughout the day without necessarily having to give up certain activities or chores. In fact, Christian monks would do this all the time. They would engage in a spiritual discipline while engaging in mundane everyday labor. They would pray as they tended the garden. They would sing to the Lord as they baked bread. They would recite Scripture as they knit. It's one way to follow what the apostle Paul encouraged believers to do when he said, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17 ESV). As a modern monastic, I find ways to go about my day in a prayerful and worshipful way to God.
About a year ago, I arrived at a conference early in the morning before most attendees had gotten there. The hotel staff was still setting things up. As I entered the area where the conference was being held, I heard somebody singing quite loudly the old hymn that goes, "Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." It was one of the hotel staff working to get things ready for us. At the same time that he was preparing tables, he was worshiping God. It seemed like a great way for him to praise the Lord while doing a relatively simple and mundane activity. If you're finding it difficult to find time in your day to connect with God, try bundling it with an activity you're already doing.
As I end this post, I do want to make one comment. Though activity bundling can help you save some time when it comes to spending time with the Lord, try to not make it your "go-to" way of connecting with Him. There's still something important, worthwhile, and beautiful in setting aside dedicated proper time to be alone with God. Even though I “activity bundle” some spiritual disciplines, it forms only a small part of my daily spiritual habit. If I do activity bundling, it will usually total to no more than 45 minutes out of the 3.5 hours I spend with the Lord in prayer each day. I will still spend a lot of time that's specifically dedicated to the Lord for spiritual purposes.
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.
