Time Management (Episode 4 - Archive)

Time Management (Episode 4 - Archive)

Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This archive chat from Relational Recovery drops into a very practical issue: how you spend your time when you're trying to change your life. Host Wes Thompson and co-host Austin Hill look at "free time" and challenge the idea that it's a blank, consequence-free space.

Wes talks about choosing to fill his time with family dinners, conversations, and kids' events, pointing out that "you don't have to do any of those things, but you're choosing to fill your free time with it." Their point is simple: time is there, but how you use it shapes your recovery and relationships. You'll hear them draw a sharp line between laziness and genuine rest.

They stress that rest outside of sleep is vital because it gives space to think and reflect, and they call that an active choice rather than zoning out with a screen. Austin even jokes about scrolling through "dumb phones" after reading Johan Hari's *Stolen Focus*, a book he describes as "painful" because it shows how technology can steal attention and feed unhealthy habits. A big chunk of the conversation centres on self-control and discipline as part of Christian growth.

They talk about doing things you don't want to do because they improve your life and saying no to things you do want to do for the same reason. Growth, they say, usually hurts: whether lifting weights, eating better, reading more, or childbirth, "growth requires a level of pain." If comfort is the main goal, change stalls. They end with a strong reminder not to weaponise these ideas against others.

As Wes puts it, "focus on yourself first" – becoming more disciplined and committed in your own Christian formation is the best way to benefit those around you. How might your recovery look different if you treated time as a series of intentional choices rather than something to be killed?