The Benefits of Slowing Down

Ask someone how they are doing and the answer you are most likely to hear is “busy.” We appear to be a generation who has crammed our schedules full and believe we have no choice in the matter. This problem grows when you live in an area where you have to drive to everything.

Staying too busy has devastating effects. You carry more stress than you should, have less time for things that are most important, and end up relationally isolated from the people around you. There is good news in the midst of this though. You are not a victim of your schedule. You have power over your time and have the ability to say no to things, especially when they will be a long-term drain on your time and distract you from the things that are most important.

There are several benefits to purposefully slowing down your life and taking your time back.

More Time to Connect with the Lord
“An overly packed schedule is a major obstacle to being able to hear from God.” This quote from Nelson Search was one of the first things I read this year and it resonated with me. When we feel like our schedules are overwhelming, our time alone with the Lord suffers. We feel like reading the Bible and prayer aren’t “accomplishing” anything, so we leave them out for things that feel more pressing. In doing so we lose all of the power for approaching our packed days. Making the time to read the Bible and pray help us to focus on our days with the truth of God in our hearts. It also gives us the perspective we need to approach our days and remind us of the thing that are truly important. Also, when we skip out on our spiritual disciplines, the siren song of the world sets the agenda for us rather than God’s perfect truth.

More Time to Connect with our Family
A schedule oriented around our children’s activities can play a terrible trick on us. We neglect time with our children in the name of doing things for them. We drive them from event to event but don’t actually get to spend time with them. Or just as bad is falling into the trap of working at home during the late afternoon hours or mindlessly playing on your phone when your kids around. Do everything you can do have a “no work, no electronics” policy in the afternoons. It’s vital. This gives you time to go for a walk, read a book, or play a game. The important thing is that whatever you are doing you do it together.
One more plug thing I want to encourage you to do is to have dinner together. Around the table you can share life, tell stories, and laugh together. This also carves out time for you to have family devotion. We have given renewed emphasis to the family dinner table in our home and it has increased the joy in our home.

More Time to Connect with Other People
Quality time with other people is another casualty of our overly busy schedules. We neglect already existing friendships and don’t develop any new ones. Slowing down will give you the opportunity to invite people over for dinner, meet friends for coffee, or take a walk in your neighborhood and meet your neighbors. This does not and cannot happen when you don’t take control of your schedule.
Do not buy the lie that you can “find” time for important things. You don’t find time for important things, you make time for them. Take this opportunity to make time for the things that are most important- God and your neighbor.

Related Posts:
“How to Do Family Worship”

For Further Reading: