2020 Goal: Relax

For many years I've been at a constant hustle. I don't work every night, but I do on a lot of nights. And I don't work every weekend, but perhaps 7 out of 8 weekends, for at least 4 hours.

It makes sense, when you have a day job, the only time to handle property maintenance is on nights & weekends. And bookkeeping, tenant tours, and... Majordomo development.

If I had to have a meeting during the day, I would extend my day job's work time to make up for it. As Majordomo started going, it meant my workday often end at 6. And many times I finished something at 8:30 once the kids went to bed.

The idea of a work-life balance was a joke. Though to be honest, I liked what I was doing, so I never felt the need to find a balance. Hiring an assistant last year helped tremendously, but I was still pretty busy.

Again, to be clear, I loved everything I was doing and wouldn't go back and change it. It was a conscious choice, and I never felt burned out.

2020: Conscious Times of Relaxing

But I have an opportunity by freeing up 40 hours a week. There’s the risk that my remaining responsibilities expand to fill the available time, but what if I actively fought that and took purposeful, meaningful breaks?

Also, at the end of the year, I listened to a fantastic podcast series by the Bible Project on the 7th day. They talked about the idea behind a Sabbath: to take a break and enjoy the fruit of God's labor. It doesn't mean "do nothing," but to enjoy God's creation the same way you might enjoy picking food in a garden. In fact, God is so serious about it, it's one of the 10 commandments:

'"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. ' Exodus 20:8-11

Not only was the podcast compelling, but in November, my church challenged each of us to practice the Sabbath.

I must confess that for the past 12 years I have not fully trusted God with one of my days. That was especially true last year with a growing rental portfolio and Majordomo development work. I have a lot of pride in keeping a tight schedule and fitting in more activities than normal.

I'd like to change that. My desire is to experience the joy found in a 7th-day rest. To trust that God will provide everything I, and my family, needs in 6 days.

So, my goal in 2020 is to consciously, purposefully, find time to relax. To pick a day of the week when I put my phone down and shut off my computer.

I don’t want to get legalistic, but I do want to set some boundaries. I want to learn how to slow down, play with my kids and simply be in the moment.

Saturday will likely become my Sabbath day. I definitely intend to turn off my laptop. And I’d like to turn off my phone too, but the chance of a tenant call is something I need to prepare for. So, more than likely I'll leave my phone in the office and use my watch's notifications to triage urgent items.

I know Sundays are often candidates for a Sabbath, but we're often serving in some capacity, which makes it harder to actually feel like we're taking a break and enjoying God's creation.

During the remaining 6 days. I intend to work hard on the rentals and Majordomo. Just in the last week, I've been able to contribute more to Majordomo than ever before, which is exciting! But as fun and exciting as it is, I really want to be conscious this year to not solely (if at all?) depend on my own level of effort for success.

I've already failed miserably the last two weekends, which is why this is something I want to learn how to do this year. I clearly won't be able to go all-in right away, so my plan is to gradually phase it in and build my week around it.

So there you go. That’s my goal: relax. Observe a regular Sabbath and unplug. And when I’m working, work hard, so that I can relax guilt-free.