I’m a multi-tasker, and I love it. When I walk the dog, I’m listening to a book. When I clean the house, I’m listening to Hallow. We say our prayers in the car on the way to school. I rarely make meals without music. While I understand one pitfall of multi-tasking — how you get less done and fry your brain a bit in the process — my confession as a busy mom with a nonprofit is…I still love it.
Yet recently the concept of “deep work” came across my radar and I’m giving it a shot. The idea of deep work is to carve out a set amount of time and pick a ruthless priority to focus on during that time, eliminating as many distractions as possible. Turn off all technology and ask other people in the house not to interrupt you. I’ve been pondering how to use deep work to integrate theology of the body even more into my life and my family. Here are the ways I will be attempting this with my own family this year.
Mind
Use one 20-minute deep work session per week to read and journal. Choose any positive book and read it as a family. It could be spiritual reading, something about TOB or anything that aims to improve one’s mind. Right now we’re reading through a little affirmation journal I found for my 10-year-old son called “Bruh, You Got This.” Ninety percent of athletes say that when they fall short of their goal, the battle was first lost in their mind. So as a family we will spend 20 minutes a week to read, reflect and journal about the weekly affirmations in this book to help sharpen our minds and deepen our resolve to become the best gifts we can be to each other and ourselves.
Body
Use one 20-minute deep work session per week to plan and prep nutritious meals or snacks. Instead of me trying to throw together healthier options that my kids often end up rejecting, I’m trying to involve them more in the decision-making process. Sometimes we get very little done on this, but we are committed to applying a deep work session to making one healthy choice at a time. This may mean pausing to research ingredients online and making a grocery list to try something new. We ask the five W’s when prepping: who, what, when, where, why? It adds a logical and purposeful dimension to healthy eating, which provides the fuel we need to be our best selves. (Why do I need protein at school? To sustain me for classroom learning and recess activity.)
Soul
Use one 20-minute deep work session per week to pray. Really focus on the words of the prayers. “Hallowed be thy name” … what does that mean? “Full of grace” … what does that mean? Truly focus on the people on your prayer intention list. Instead of praying for Sally with the twisted ankle, talk about what it feels like to twist an ankle, what are the things that are now harder for her to do with a twisted ankle, and so on. We can deep work our way into Sally’s suffering, going deeper than just a surface concern, and then lift her up in prayer and maybe even be inspired to be a gift to her in some way as we help her out.
What if we each did three 20-minute deep work sessions per week with our kids, helping them focus on mind, body, and soul? Imagine the benefits of teaching and building upon this skill and habit weekly. In a world that thrives on distraction and noise, it could be a real gift to teach your kids how to do deep work, and especially when you use it to go a little deeper into the theology of your body with your family.