One Way to Combat Too Much Screen Time

Here's the latest video (no film crew used here as you can tell!) in our series about screen time.  As a parent, I worry about how much time my kids spend in front of iPhones and the computer.  When I would come home years ago, I was the hero I would be greeted by four running kids who wanted to see how my day went.

Today it's different. 

The kids are happy as ever and perfectly "normal" but they're more interested in the latest YouTube video or video game.  

Here's one easy way to combat too much screen time... see what you think and let me know what's working for you and your digital life.

Why Families Miss Deadlines

Most of the main offices in schools across America lament the school families that miss deadlines.  Schools request B6T forms here in NJ (a busing form required by the district) and have to nag families over and over again to get them all in.

Same for doctor physicals.  And permission to publish forms.  And on and on...

I think that we, the schools, may be a part of the problem.  

At our recent Town Hall Meeting, we honored various kids and their many accomplishments.  We also announced two new contests and several deadlines.  To be honest, it got hard to keep up as the meeting went on.  I wondered how the average student could remember all of the information that we provided!

Just apply that to the "average" set of parents and it might shed light on why so many deadlines are missed.  Our school's newsletter is nearly 8 pages long which is an amazing accomplishment.  On the flip side, only an organized parent can process all 8 pages and then follow up with efficiency.  

Most families are just overwhelmed and a bit disorganized.  Maybe it's time to simplify our communications home and help families stay on top of the most important bits of information.  

How Do You Explain Technology to Those Around You?

Every so often you get the chance to spend a day with special people.  Last Wednesday was one of those days as I gave a presentation to the leadership team of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity.  The topic was digital life and its impact on evangelization.  

Most interesting was the group's desire to learn more about how new media impacts one's faith and spirituality.  We looked real-time at Twitter and Pinterest and Tumblr.  We discussed the dangerous side effects of social media as well.

At the end of the day, I had to answer the important question, "what's the point of all of this?"  While I'm by no means an expert, a few years of practice with social media gave me enough of a platform to explain technology to this eager group. 

Here I am with the leadership team of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity- a terrific day!

We also spoke of Sherry Turkle's book, Alone Together.  Sherry discusses the various ways in which people are relying more and more on technology and less on one another- disturbing but true!   

I relied on personal experience, case studies and real-time data to help the group better understand technology.  Let's hope that it helped! 

I'm including Sherry's Ted talk below as a reference. 

So how do you explain technology to those around you?   

Avoiding the Curse of Task Management

Today's Guest Post is from Loren Pinilis who operates Life of a Steward, a site about time management from a Christian perspective. He’s passionate about helping God’s people manage their time and showing them that busyness, stress, and procrastination are answered by the gospel.

We may use OmniFocus or Nozbe. We zealously chase Inbox Zero by using the two-minute rule.

But our focus on task management and productivity can often bring with it a curse – a weakness which actually makes us less productive.

It all started with David Allen’s Getting Things Done. Allen’s approach to the frenzied amount of decisions and information flying at us was to drill down and refine workflow. In other words, focus on mastering the basic building blocks of our day. Get really good at being efficient.

The problem is we then stay in that mindset. We stay at the “runway level” of task management. We become obsessed with efficiently adding items to our lists and efficiently crossing them off.

But we never look up to ask ourselves the big questions. In our zeal for efficiency, we move away from effectiveness. Yes, we may occasionally take a look at the bigger picture when we consider weekly planning or annual goals. But that’s not the big picture I’m talking about.

Do we ever take a step back and ask ourselves why we’re even on Earth? Do we see our daily lives in the context of eternity? Because when we do, we get a very different view of our work.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men

Colossians 3:23-24 reminds us: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

This insight absolutely changes our life.

Now, crossing things off of our list isn’t our primary focus – it’s stewarding our resources well. Now, meeting our deadlines takes a back seat to bringing glory to God. Now, we work with purpose – every second of our day. Now, we will strive towards goals that really matter.

Now, we have to depend on Christ because we won’t be able to measure up to his perfect standard in our own power.

But now, we are given tremendous freedom. We’re not called to be somebody else. We’re not punished for failing to be as influential as a celebrity, author, or CEO. The sovereign God who created the universe doesn’t call us to achievement in the eyes of the world – but to obedience wherever we are right now.

And to bring this full-circle: that obedience can be achieved, in part, by efficiency and task management.

Mastering workflow is great. Efficiency is to be prized. But be sure to connect that efficiency to true effectiveness.

Question: Do you struggle with forgetting what true effectiveness is? What are some practices that can help us remember?

*Photo courtesy of LP

How to Stay Calm in the Face of Stress

When was the last time that you flew off the handle?  Do you remember the cause of it or how it was resolved after the dust had settled?

Often, stress builds up under the surface and then, when you least expect it, rears its ugly head.  A good definition of stress is, "Pressure or tension exerted on a material object".  If the material object is you, this post will apply all the more.  

 I once had a co-worker in the office who found me at the wrong time after what had been a difficult week.  After we exchanged words, we went our separate ways.  

To this day, I have no idea what we argued about.  

Stress is like that.  It blurs your thinking so that you are more likely to react instead of respond appropriately.  Recently in the world of race car driving, a driver deliberately wrecked a competitor's car.  When he was subsequently fined $100,000 and penalized by NASCAR, he defended his actions, "I guess I had to do what I had to do."  

Doesn't exactly sound like remorse does it?

Instead of going off on someone, how can you remain calm when you would otherwise provide a knee-jerk reaction?  Here are some practical suggestions:

1. Slow the game down.  Step away from the situation.  Turn off the computer, go for a walk, breathe.  What you don't want to do is say something that you will regret so it's vital to give yourself some physical distance from the situation at hand.  Turn your attention to someone or something totally unrelated to your stress.  
2. Practice the 24 hour rule.  That is to say, do not respond within the first 24 hours.  There might be an exception to this such as an emergency scenario or when someone is in danger.  Otherwise, do your best to not respond within the first 24 hours.  This will take discipline and courage.
3. Seek advice.  Ask 2-3 people that you trust what they would do in your shoes.  
4. Watch your email.  Many email errors take place because someone was in a rush.  Guess what?  Email lives for a long time.  (for a refresher on email etiquette, read Laura Stack's excellent piece on the proper use of email).
5. Speak with the person directly.  Whomever it is that rubbed you the wrong way, approach her/him calmly and directly.  Do not raise your voice but speak in a professional tone about what bothered you previously.  If you're going to push the stress out of your body, let it begin with the words that come from your mouth.  Don't approach the person in a hallway or public place but give your conversation the right context in which to take place.  An office or meeting room make the most sense.
6. Pray over the situation.  No matter how bad the situation may seem, God has seen far worse and can handle whatever mess you are in.  Pray for yourself and for the person(s) causing you stress.  I have found that this works 100% of the time.

Believe it or not, stess both causes and creates humility.  It takes humility to present your stress to God.  It takes even more humility to approach someone who causes you stress.  It builds up humility inside of you when you admit weakness and vulnerability.  

The words of St. Peter still ring true, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:6-7)

Question: which technique do you use to stay calm when faced with stress?

Photo courtesy of EG.

How's Your Morning Routine?

So what's your morning routine look like?  Do you have one?  Would you like to have a flow that each day starts with?

Seems like everyone is talking about their morning routine.  Mike Hyatt's recent podcast does an excellent job of outlining successful components of his morning jig.  Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income also wrote about his to-do list and how he keeps it simple.

I'm a morning guy but not because I'm very disciplined- I'm not.  What I do enjoy is getting a lot of work done and it seems like the morning is a better time to do that.  That's just me and you could be different.  My wife, Cary is more of a night owl.  That could explain how we are so complimentary.  

The key is this: the better your routine, the less stress you'll have as the day goes on.  Anyhow, here's my current morning routine:

5:10 press snooze

5:15 wake up for real

5:15-5:20 brew coffee and do stretches

5:20-6:00 check Twitter, go through the daily Mass readings from the Bible, write in Day One journal

6:00-6:35 shave, shower and get ready for work

6:35-7:15 commute

7:20 arrive at work and attend Daily Mass

7:45 work!

Can you write down a similar schedule that almost every day follows?  What's working for you in terms of getting the most out of your day?

Photo courtesy of HM