The Importance of a Well-Ordered Schedule and Attending to Tasks Right Away

We want our workplace to be stable. Characteristics of a stable workplace include an orderly, calm atmosphere. Such an atmosphere provides the mental and emotional "space" our brains and bodies need to attend to the tasks of the day with little or no distraction. The result should be contented workers producing excellent work. 

With contented workers producing excellent work, both worker and employer benefit. When workers are content, turnover should not be a problem. Excellent work should manifest itself in a steady, strong bottom line for the business. Both will contribute to a stable workplace.

OK, so it sounds simpler than it typically is. But the ideal always precedes the actual. And with this lofty ideal, we increase our chances of fostering stability in the workplace.

The Rule of St. Benedict - which concerns itself, among other things, with the smooth running of a monastery - consistently provides valuable advice and examples we can apply to our own workplace. The next two entries in the Rule are no exception. They address being on time when praying the Divine Office and being on time for meals. While the former may seem more important than the latter, we'll see that each is treated as equally important. 

We begin with the praying of the Divine Office, which is frequently referred to as "The Work of God" in the Rule. Us non-monks who work for a living might consider similarly referring to our own prayer and/or spiritual life as work. To do so avoids the attitude that our work is over here and our spiritual life is over there. There's really no reason we can't keep them both present throughout the day. Indeed, it's desirable. No separation. As do monks, we pray, we work: ora et labora. The work of God and our work in the world are both, in this sense, types of work.

On to St. Benedict's comments: Let's see if we can apply these to our own situations.

"As soon as the signal for the Divine Office has been heard, let them abandon what they have in hand and assemble with the greatest speed, yet soberly...Let nothing, therefore, be put before the Work of God....

...If anyone arrive at the Night Office after the Gloria...Let him not take his proper place in the choir, but stand...in the place apart which the abbot has appointed...that being seen by all they may amend for very shame...the man guilty of this fault should do penance."

I'll take a first stab at a possible application to my non-monk world. It begins with having an ordered spiritual life. 

One basic way to impose order would be to have a regular schedule for our prayers and other spiritual endeavors. In my case, the day begins with some brief "wake-up" exercise, followed by a regimen of what some call "norms of piety": prayer, meditation, reading Scripture and good spiritual works, the study of my Catholic religion. 

Now, scheduling is one thing. Sticking to the schedule can be a whole other ball of wax. If we refer back to St. Benedict's comments we can easily find a simple application: Set a time for these activities and absolutely, no-excuses, no exceptions, stick to it. For me, there's a starting time as well as an ending time. Some of the norms take up a specific amount of time. This "system" evolved over time. It did so both to allow for consistency and inclusiveness (not missing any of my norms). It also responded to changes in personal and business circumstances. (A major adjustment when I began to work almost exclusively from home.)

In the case of matters spiritual, there's no abbot or prior keeping tabs on me. I suspect there's no one cracking the whip for most of us. So that means we've got to be abbot and monk. It comes down to self-discipline.

We didn't include the consequences, which consist of various punishments suggested by St. Benedict as a result of missing the times of the Work of God. Just know he's got 'em and they're meant to motivate, with a touch of healthy fear thrown in. We, on the other hand, can get away with missing our times, of course. But we must not let that happen. 

If you're not the most disciplined person at the moment, consider working at this. Indeed, work at it first when it comes to your spiritual life. Yes, I realize that we who work for a living can easily let the daily spiritual exercise go when work heats up. Don't let it. 

One way I've found helpful in making sure my equivalent of the Work of God doesn't fall into the "optional" category is the reminder that it's all an expression of love of God, or our desire to grow closer to God. That should be a good motivator. Of course, this assumes we truly want to love God, to grow closer to Him.

Assuming we truly want to love God, to grow closer to Him, we should have no trouble being disciplined in our spiritual exercises.

Next time we refocus on the importance of scheduling and timing by applying these lessons to our tasks at work.