Bringing Work Home

I am a list maker. I make shopping lists so that I do not forget anything at Giant Eagle. I make packing lists so the socks do not get left in Columbus. I make to-do lists at home and work when I need to accomplish a number of things in a finite time frame. I guess it is something of an anxious habit but I like to be prepared to make the most out of a situation. I will have to say that while this is not a 100%, fool-proof plan it does usually produce results. Add a cup of Coffee (jet fuel compared to my caffeine intake of choice Diet Coke) and we are talking multi-tasking. But I am starting to experience a problem with my work habit. It is starting to creep into my day-off.

Today I started to write the following Tweet: "To-Do: Read, Harry Potter movie w/ Kate, Finish Basement clean up,..." That is far as I got before I noticed that I was trying to turn the things that I wanted to do at home with my free time into work that needed to be stressed about and accomplished. I was turning something I enjoy - going to a movie - into a task to be completed and checked off. Not cool.

I know this blog isn't the venue for group therapy but what I can say is that I am surprised by how quickly I can revert to "working" my hobbies. Finish this book to start a new one & reading becomes a chore. Watch the stuff my TiVo recorded & delete it before new stuff needs to be recorded. I like reading. I like watching TV off TiVo but when it turns into a task, something to accomplish I start to feel like I am working the loves of my life for what amounts to no good reason.

I know that I am not alone in this. We all need to find ways to leave work for work and play for play. I hope that this weekend you will be able to cut work off and enjoy the opportunity to be unproductive and enjoy the things that you choose to do. I hope that you can do this much with worship this Sunday. Church attendance can often fall into this "I choose = I have to" realm and when we start feeling as though we are working church then we lose out on one of the greatest gifts God has given us: a Sabbath.

Take a Sabbath this Sabbath. Enjoy the game, forget the lawn, and when you get to church on Sunday stick around and have a cup of coffee. Most people don't regret it.