Is finding the time for what matters a struggle?
3min read
“I just don’t have the time.” you say?
Time...TIME... It seems to always be about time. How often do we all hear it?
“I just can’t find the time.”
“There is never enough time.”
“My life would be so much better if I had more time.”
“No time to eat healthy.”
“No time to get fit.”
“No time to learn more.”
“No time to have that important conversation.”
And that all turns into… I simply just don’t have the time for what matters most.
Now, that's BS!
B is for Behaviours
Everyone does wish for more time, there never seems to be enough, I get that. You see the problem with time...it really has a habit of evaporating. Hours into days, days into weeks and just like that BANG! year gone.
How can this just manifest in your life?
You really do feel like you have less time than anyone else?
When someone says to you. “Hey, how are you?” and your response is “Busy! I’m just so busy, I just don’t have the time to slow down.” In the moment, wearing it like some badge of honour :)
Let’s think about the reality of those feelings for a minute...
Is it maybe that you have a habit of wasting time on frivolous stuff, unrelated to your actual life priorities?
Have you heard the “Oh I just have no time to do anything for me” followed by “I was up so late last night, how good is Squid Game?!”
Is it maybe that you get that worked up and frustrated about your lack of time that you just need to sit down on the couch and do nothing because you feel like you have so much to do that you don’t know where to start?
Or one I see all the time...
Is it maybe that you blame others for your lack of time when you are not being proactive about what you need to do in order to resolve or progress the problem?
Instead, you resort to saying “I’ve got no time to focus on myself, I am just burnt out".
C'mon, that's real BS!
S is for Strategies
The fact is that we all have the EXACT same amount of time (duh!). So, is it about resources?
Maybe you should better understand the principles of time management.
Maybe you can join a time management course.
Surely there’s some time management app out there that can fix that for you, right?
Okay, that would be a place to start. There has never been a time where so much information is out there to consume.
But, if you ask me, you would be wasting your money and your time (!) because the true synonym of time management is… wait for it… PRIORITIES!
And that starts with you and the type of strategy applied to what you have going on.
It’s about clarity, schedule and commitment.
CLARITY
What are the priorities that need to be achieved? Work, relationships and self-care.
You will need to be clear as to what your number 1 priority is. If it is indeed self-care then fine, be clear in your mind that other things around can be dropped but self-care needs to be the glass jar, if dropped…it breaks!
You also need to make sure that those around you are 100% clear on what your priorities are, don’t expect others to be mind readers. Set boundaries and stick to them.
SCHEDULE
Once you have taken the time to call out clearly what matters most vs what just happens, you need to create a schedule and plan to bring this to life.
Use your phone calendar, email calendar, tasks, notes or even use an app… whatever that can help.
Don’t rely on chance. Schedule it in.
COMMITMENT
You now know what matters most, you now know what you need to do! From here, it is about commitment. You have the choice to do it or not. It’s important that when you are doing it, you recognise the progress you are making on your vision. Get excited about the journey! This will bring you back for more and start to really wire in this new behaviour of commitment to priorities.
There will be periods of intense focus related to one thing or another, it is important to bring the pendulum back to balance and then address the areas that require your attention.
Moving forward, try not to say “I just don’t have the time.”
Instead, say “If that matters to me, I need to take the time to clarify, schedule and commit to that.”
Now go use those 24 hours wisely.
Someone else said about this
"The two most powerful warriors, are patience and time."
Leo Tolstoy
Love it, discuss it, share it #thatsbs
