All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Oh but I just need to finish this one last thing for work!
I should have left work two hours ago. It’s well past time to go home.
It’ll just be a little longer. I’m already way late to get home, what’s another hour or two?
What about dinner with my family? What about my wife and kids? What about time with them?
There’s always Saturday. Wait.. I might have to work on Saturday too to do this thing.
I’m doing more than is expected. I don’t have to constantly work too much.
I get lots of approving comments and emails though!
And lots of sad faces at home.
Have you ever had conversations with yourself like that? We’re a very busy nation. We run at a clip that affects our work, family, health, and church. We work too hard and too long, and when we’re not at work we continue to think about work. Smartphones are ubiquitous and our faces stay glued to them checking emails. Or, if we finally cleared our emails we keep our face buried in smartphones, tablets, and computers checking social networks and seeking the quick hits of social engagement with people we might know.
All the while our families try to get our attention. Our kids tug at our arms. Our wives and husbands try to engage us in conversation and finally give up in hurt frustration. Finally we go to bed in our own sense of frustration. Another day gone seemingly occupied by work alone. We feel guilty for not engaging with family or doing anything we wanted to do to rest or play.
Yet, we wake up and do it all over again. Books have been written about prioritizing work and getting more done efficiently like Matt Perman’s “What’s Best Next” and Tim Challies “Do More Better.” You can read those to sort out work. I want to deal with home because I have experience with it and fight it myself.
Do you want to stop checking social media at home so much and being more involved with your phone or online things than with your family?
STOP IT. Just stop it. You can whine about it being hard and forgetting and make excuses for why still do it. Speaking from experience, just stop. Turn off notifications on your phone for everything to break the feedback loop. Quit being a rat at the feeding tray pushing the bar for another pellet. Quit blaming everything else for why you’re having trouble other than your misordered desires. If you want to spend more time with your family, then spend more time with your family. It really is that simple.
You only have so much time on this Earth. It might be decades, it might be days. You don’t know. Do you want to be remembered as an absent parent or friend who was glued to their smartphone LOLing at memes and retweeting things or as the friend who was present and actually enjoyed the company of others? Quit living life as an absentee human. There, but not there.
If you want to enjoy the company of others, then do it. Put the phone down. Leave work on time. Go home. Take an interest in your family and friends. Talk to them. Play with your kids. Hold your spouse’s hand as you talk to them and look them in the eye.
You won’t regret it.
