I need a Shultz hour. How about you? For the Colson Center, I’m John Stonestreet with The Point.

When someone asks how we’re doing, we often say, “I’m busy.” I know I never say, “I’m rested,” or “I’m peaceful.” Time to pray and read, even daydream has to be scheduled in our busy days. Call it a Shultz hour.

Writing in the New York Times, David Leonhardt relates how once a week, Reagan Secretary of State George Shultz would close his office door and tell his secretary he was not to be interrupted for a whole hour—unless it were his wife or the President.

Shultz used the time to think strategically about his job—and not get sucked into the vortex of never-ending tactical issues.

Leonhardt says that taking such an hour each week can help—in our jobs, in our relationships, our academics, almost in every area of life.

This shouldn’t be news to any of us who grew up knowing about daily quiet times with the Lord. But it should be a challenge to us—to put down the phone and ignore the email. To pause, pray and reflect. To take a Shultz hour.