II. Emotion

EMOTION II. EMOTION

Love, joy & peace and other positive feelings & desires

CAFO strongly encourages patterns of work and rest that nurture peace, joy and other expressions of emotional health. This doesn’t mean all aspects of life are always perfectly “balanced.” Indeed, we gladly embrace seasons of intense labor. But over time, we seek to ensure ample space for refreshment, play, worship, creative expression and more. We notice especially that a human thrives with rhythms of expenditure-and-rest, much like those of a heartbeat, breathing, day and night, and the seasons. Toward this end, we desire to establish habits that can be sustained – and can sustain us! – for a lifetime in daily, weekly and yearly rhythms. Of course, these habits impact not only emotional health, but also health of body, intellect, spirt and relationships too. CAFO work culture seeks to enable the following:

• Daily Rhythms – We observe that trying to give attention to multiple things at once is ineffective and wasteful.12 It results in poor work, restless rest, and feeble engagement with many of the most important things in life, including relationships. To counteract the powerful gravity toward distraction, we encourage “block scheduling” of workdays and as a general approach in life. This includes blocks of time in morning and evening devoted fully to non-work priorities, as well as adequate time for sleep at night.13 We also encourage each staff member to create a personal or family “Tech Rule,” setting the place and boundaries of technology (both work and personal) in their lives. • Weekly Rhythms – We strongly encourage a 24-hour period of Sabbath each week in which both CAFO and personal work is decisively avoided in order to give ourselves fully to rest, worship and play. Work-related communication on Sundays is strongly discouraged except when truly necessary. • Annual Rhythms – including the full use of vacation allowance.14 Staff are asked to schedule their full allotment of vacation at the start of the year to ensure it will be used, with flexibility to change dates as the year progresses. Team members are strongly encouraged to be 100% “off the grid” when on vacation. This includes arrangements that allow staff to avoid email completely during vacation, trusting they will be contacted by phone in case of emergencies. • 7th Year Sabbatical.15 In addition to vacation time, CAFO offers a one-month sabbatical to all staff every seven years. We also offer one-week “short sabbatical” each 3.5 years of service. This time is kept free from work-related tasks (i.e. study or writing). It is required only that the time not be used for other forms of work, but rather kept for life-giving activities of rest, refreshment, worship and play. • Culture of Gratitude. Each week, “Gratitude Friday” awards are publicly awarded, chosen via nominations by fellow staff members – encouraging mutual appreciation, celebration and thanks.16

12 An apt phrase to describe the default mode of modern life is “continuous partial attention,” coined by tech writer and consultant Linda Stone – more on this here. 13 While sleep can be an indulgence, the average person today gets much less than would allow the optimal operation of their mind and body. This diminishes memory, creativity, positivity, the immune system and more. Adequate sleep is God’s intent for His people. As expressed in Psalm 127:2, “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat. For He grants sleep to those He loves.” 14 Research finds immense benefits from vacation. One recent study in Germany found that even a short (four day) vacation had “large, positive and immediate effects on perceived stress, recovery, strain, and well-being.” Significantly, the effects of reduced strain and increased wellbeing were still detectable 45 days after the vacation. Another truly stunning study found that vacation-taking impacts us not only in the near term, but even appears to extend the length of one’s life! Men that took three weeks of vacation annually were 37 percent less likely to die than peers who did not. 15 Many studies – primarily from business schools – have shown “wide-ranging benefits of sabbatical, and their impact on employee well-being and organizational effectiveness.” From Fortune Magazine to the ReWork blog, business sources affirm that smart employers get more from their team – and for longer – when they provide Sabbaticals. 16 Many studies confirm that simple practices of expressing gratitude impact health and well-being in significant ways. Remarkably, they can increase sleep quality, reduce anxiety and depression, boost one’s mood, and even decrease fatigue and inflammation. For more, see https://dailyhealthpost.com/gratitude-rewires-brain-happier/