Exhaustion

I'm exhausted at the moment. Davening is about to begin and I'm falling asleep.

As I walked in, and wondered how I was going to daven well, I remembered something R' Shimshon Pinkus writes in his sefer in tefillah.

Simcha. For one to truly daven, he must have complete simcha about davening. How can you not? You're about to have the opportunity to daven in front of Hashem!

Mincha now. Time to daven. Simcha!

Cell Phones

In recent weeks, I've lost track of the battery that my cell phone has immediately before I attend mincha and/or maariv. The first time this happened, it was with a heavy heart that I left my phone at home charging while I went to daven.

Davening with kavanah became so much easier. I didn't have to worry about whether or not my phone was on silent! I didn't have to worry about receiving an email for work that "needs to be addressed immediately." I didn't pull out my phone in between mincha and maariv and instead learned. Fighting the temptation to look at my phone during chazaras hashatz is no longer there!

Now, when I remember, I pull out my cell phone and put it down before I go to shul.

My davening is better because of it.