Sundays are typically a day to take it easy. But for a long time, my Sundays looked a whole lot like my Saturdays, except with church thrown in there.
For years, I’d get up before the family to work on my side business, I’d try to get a workout in when the kids would nap later in the day, and maybe I’d even get a head start on the work week (which was particularly easier to fall into since I work from home)
To NOT do those things felt like a waste; a missed opportunity to make progress on something. And on top of that, how can you ACTUALLY rest with two toddlers in the house anyways?
But then I read the book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.
The general premise is that we have a ‘cancerous restlessness’ in our culture that ultimately destroys our ability to pay attention to God and others. The author spoke of the need to truly have a Sabbath in a way that made me rethink my Sundays.
I could begin to see in myself the restlessness of the constant doing and going and striving and hurrying that the author was pointing out. Being with my kids but mentally elsewhere. Feeling an anxiousness from just sitting still with nothing to do. Only feeling at ease when I was busy.
So I decided to implement a proper day of rest for me and my family.
For me in my current season of life with two young kids, that meant a few things:
SLEEP
I stopped getting up early. I now sleep until my body wakes up naturally or until my kids come into my room (which can sometimes still be early but not AS early as I was getting up). Sunday has become the day with my highest quality and quantity of sleep according to my Oura ring.
NO EXERCISE
Besides the occasional walk with the family or wrestling with the kids, I don’t do any exercise. There’s six other days of the week to run or lift.
PLAY
I try to say yes to whatever my kids want to do on Sundays. Go to the park, play Uno, play tickle monster. It’s the one day of the week where I literally have nothing else going on so saying yes becomes easier.
LIMITED SCREENS
Social media, email, Slack, and news apps are blocked all day on my phone on Sunday. Occasionally we’ll watch a movie as a family.
REFLECT
During the kids nap time, I always take time to physically journal and reflect on the week. What went well? What didn’t? It’s often full of reflections on fatherhood, marriage, and faith.
CHURCH
Not much change here as we were already going, but for us, time worshipping God and learning about him in community is something we want to prioritize as a family.
It’s easy for a Sabbath to become about trying to follow a bunch of rules. And the itch to ‘do more’ doesn’t just magically go away.
But I remind myself that every Sunday is really an invitation to step back from all the striving, to disconnect from the digital world, and to be present with God, with myself, and with my family.
And we’re all better for it.
QUOTABLE
“I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.”
- Andy from The Office
RECOMMENDATION
The Brick
The Brick is a small physical device that locks down your phone when you tap your phone to it. You choose which apps or websites get blocked, and once your phone is ‘bricked,’ the only way to unlock those apps is to physically tap your phone to the Brick again.
I’ve tried the built-in Screen Time limits, but they’re too easy to override. The Brick has been the only thing that helps besides deleting the apps since I actually have to get up, walk to the kitchen (where I keep mine), and physically ‘unbrick’ the phone to access anything I’ve blocked. The friction is enough to keep me off my phone most of the time.
You can see how it works here.
There’s no subscription and one Brick works for multiple people.
SHAMELESS PLUG
Special thanks to Thom Gibson for today's issue of 30 Days of Dads.
You can find Thom on LinkedIn. Connect and send him a DM.
Thom loves to help ambitious WFH dads protect both deep work and family time.
In fact, he created The WFH Dads Productivity Playbook, a 5-step system to build a workday around your life (not the other way around).
I highly recommend it.
Thank you for supporting the 30 Days of Dads series.
If you enjoyed this issue, please forward it to a friend or send them to 30DaysofDads.com.
And remember...
Move your body.
Clear your mind.
Repeat.
Keep up the good work!
-KC
Dad Joke
Q: What do you call a really old Transformer?
A: Optimus Past His Prime