The Next Tech Thing: New Year's Resolution: Spend Quality, Influential Time in Relationships

Weeks of influence in a child's life before high school graduation.

Happy New Year!

I’ve been making New Year’s resolutions since I was a kid. Most of the time, I follow through with them and have implemented changes that have stuck for the long term. Years ago I would write them down on a sheet of paper or Post It Note. More recently I have been keeping the list on my phone. Sometimes I’ll even add to this list of resolutions to be considered for the following year. Maybe that’s extreme, but I guess I share this to simply point out that I take resolutions seriously. Last year I had five, and have done each fairly well for the past year that I've made the changes into habits.

For this year, one of my resolutions is to focus on spending quality time in my relationships with others. I'm not intending to simply increase time spent with others, but focusing on making it quality. First and foremost, I am thinking of my own family. As our oldest daughter is now a senior in high school, we are faced with the reality of how little time we have left with her under our roof as part of our daily interactions as a family. I know people say time flies, but it’s hard to imagine that when you have a toddler or younger kids. Now as our daughter decides on a college and her future, I not only want to spend more quality time with her before she’s gone but focus on doing the same with our other three kids and my wife, too.

Recently at church the youth leaders had a display of marbles in a jar representing four different aged kids (see photo above). Each marble equaled how many weeks of influence we have on our kids before high school graduation. It really struck me seeing this limited time represented visually. I think the display was extra meaningful as three out of the four sample jars of marbles displayed were the exact ages of my own children. As I reflect on spending quality time with others, I'm thinking about making it influential time. Not that every moment has to be memorable, but I hope by making the effort to spend more time, make it quality, and be focused on our time together it will be meaningful.

I'm resolving to spend more quality time in my relationships with others beyond my family, too. I hope to strengthen relationships with friends and co-workers, making more effort to spend time together, even scheduling it. As part of making this happen with both friends and family, I will continue my efforts to limit digital distractions that I've written about in the past, such as my 2015 Resolutions: 3 Ways to Cut Back on Digital Distractions. Over the past years I've shared those tips often and have had so many people tell me they, too, have found this advice so beneficial. If you haven't done so yourself, please try it!

Many other posts I've made related to having a healthy balance in our lives around our use of technology can be good New Year's Resolutions, too. Check them out: