Maintaining a Clear Mind

In the 77th Psalm, we see a central theme of meditating on God's Word and His works in our lives:
5 I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times. 6 I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search.   10 And I said, "This is my anguish; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." 11 I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. 12 I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds.

I believe that God wants to walk with a clear mind - we can become weighed down with the concerns of this world or the distractions that so easily come our way to the extent that we are not able to think clearly about the decisions that we have to make.   In our ability to do a lot of things, we cease to do the things we do - well.   The Word of God can provide a reliable anchor for our souls when it is so easy to get led astray and lose our focus.   Our minds can be renewed and in perfect peace as we carefully study and meditate on God's truth and maintain an awareness of His presence.

In Joshua 1:8, God gives the new leader of Israel some specific principles for keeping a clear head and staying focus on the task at hand:
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

We think that multitasking can enable us to get more things done in a shorter period of time, and we know there is plenty to do...but some new research suggests that it actually might be counterproductive.

Excuse me, let me go check that e-mail.

Alright, I'm back - NBCNews.com reports some rather depressing research by Gloria Mark at the University of California, Irvine, that says that typical office workers only get 11 continuous minutes to work on a task before interruption. With smartphones reaching near ubiquity, the problem of tech-driven multitasking — juggling daily tasks with email, text messages, social media etc — is coming to a head.

And, researchers say only the simplest of tasks are candidates for multitasking, and all but one of those tasks must involve automaticity. If you are good at folding laundry, you can probably fold laundry and watch TV at the same time, for example.

Great text here, my boss has a new grandbaby!
 
OK, Bob, focus - a couple of studies released recently show that we might not get as much done effectively if we're trying to do more than one thing at time.   Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Human Computer Interaction lab recruited 136 college students to take a standard test of cognitive abilities, and invented a controlled method of distraction. Test-takers were interrupted via instant message, which they were told contained important additional instructions, during the exam.

The interrupted group answered correctly 20 percent less often than members of a control group.

Another study, from Cal State-Dominguez Hills, followed 263 students into their normal study environments — bedroom, library, den — and told them to work on an important school assignment for 15 minutes. Even knowing they were being watched, the students couldn't resist texting or using social media.   So-called "on-task" behavior started declining at about the two minute mark, and overall, only 65 percent of the time was used on schoolwork.

Look at that tweet - can you believe what that cat is doing in that picture?  Oh, there's that group shot of the artists that came through on that RV tour earlier this week.   What was I saying?

Annie Murphy Paul of "The Brilliant Blog", is quoted as saying, "Multitasking while doing academic work — which is very, very common among young people — leads to spottier, shallower, less flexible learning."

I think that, as always, the Lord has something great to teach us through the life of Joshua.   He had to have a clear mind and spirit in order to accomplish the "big picture" task of capably leading the children of Israel.  And, even though he didn't have a smartphone vibrating or making any number of notification sounds every few minutes, I am sure distractions could get him off course.   That's why he was told to keep God's Word in his mouth and meditate on it consistently, so that he would know what to do.

The combination of verbal and mental can help us keep a clear mind - speaking the word of God, memorizing passages of Scripture and saying them out loud, repeating them, and incorporating God's Word into our prayers can be effective in enabling us to stay focused on what He's called us to do.  Meditating on God's Word - thinking about the implications of the Scriptures on our lives, creating mental pictures of certain principles, can be powerful in cutting out the clutter.   Perhaps you've been distracted in your mind while you are praying or studying God's Word, as the enemy wants to get you off course, or you've intentionally tried to engage in other activities during your quiet time.   In order to make the most of our time with God and our walk with God, careful attention can make for a more fulfilling spiritual life.