I am not Jewish but there are a few people around me who practice what they call Shabbat.
According to the Bible and the tradition, the world has been created in 6 days and on the 7th, the creator decided to rest. By consequence, it probably became one of the 1st social law: weekly day off. I believe before that most people were working 7 days a week.
The traditional Shabbat mixes prayers and family moments. I am not a believer in any religion but I feel this is very wise to stay away from work once a week.
I embrace the idea and for many years I have tried to avoid my computers and my emails on Saturday.
Digital Shabbat
That’s the beauty of it and it is as simple as closing down work communications for 24 hours, starting from dusk on Friday.
Of course, it is difficult and I still have to resist the temptation but it is worth the effort since it helps to rest, relax and put things into perspective. I usually don’t go back to my emails on Saturday night but Sunday morning is often the perfect time for a sprint and to try to go to Inbox Zero.
The benefits
The first advantages of the Digital Shabbat is that it frees myself from the guilt of not working on that day. I can take more time with my family.
It also means that I can allow myself to read books that are not related to my work (Gustave Flaubert recently) and to watch fiction movies.
And what about blogging?
I have had some worries about this one, should I blog or not 7 days a week? If I consider what I have written above, I definitely shouldn’t.
But, a blog post is 300 words long and I believe wthat if I write a post daily, I will progressively be able to write faster than today.
The other reason to keep on blogging even on Saturday is that I don’t want to give me an excuse to fail on that 30 days challenge.
