Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.
Theophrastus
d. 278 B.C.
Be honest: how often do you say “I don’t have time†in the course of a day? It’s certainly one of the phrases I hear the most. So why are we constantly short of time?
If you compare modern life with, say, the lives of people fifty to a hundred years ago, you’ll be amazed by the contrast. We have so many time saving devices at our disposal: microwaves, dishwashers, automatic washers and dryers. With the telephone and the internet, we can order almost anything from the comfort of home — a car, a pet, medicine, books, clothes, even food. And we can pick up breakfast, lunch, and dinner ready-made from a variety of groceries, delis, fast-food places and quick service restaurants. Yet we still echo “I don’t have time†throughout each day.
There are a few things I want you to take away from this lesson. First, there are some perfectly appropriate occasions to use this phrase. When you’re asked to serve on a committee, attend a product party or a political gathering, or complete a lengthy task of no interest to you, it’s fine to beg off because of time constraints. We often agree to do things that mean little to us but consume large blocks of time. Don’t be afraid to say no. Be aware of these activities and place limits on how much time you allow them to steal from your life.
But be warned: bemoan your situation too often and you’ll sabotage yourself. Many people get into the habit of saying, “I don’t have time.†If you tell yourself that often enough, you’ll believe it, which can dramatically hamper your ability to get things done. The truth is, we all have an equal amount of time each day. By saying we don’t have time, we give ourselves permission to avoid tasks we might find unpleasant or tiresome. If we allow ourselves to believe we truly don’t have time, we may neglect to take care of certain obligations; when a ready excuse is at hand, it’s very easy to use it.
The best method I know to do more and achieve more is to schedule your time. I don’t mean tracking every 15 minutes of your day; that doesn’t work. You spend so much time logging your activities that you have less time to actually do things. Rather, you should block off time for the most important task you have. If you don’t allow any interruptions during that period, your efficiency will skyrocket.
Naturally, this will take some training — for you and for your housemates and coworkers. You’d be amazed how much time is wasted by stopping and starting activities. We’re constantly interrupted by phone calls, quick questions and other distractions like TV and email. Learn to block off time for the most important things in your life. Don’t let anything short of a fire or another real emergency interrupt your reserved time. You’ll be amazed at the increase in productivity you experience.
Also, learn to identify and guard against time thieves. While the cell phone has brought improvements to our lives, in other ways, it robs our time. You’re not required to take every call — and you certainly don’t need to stop a high-priority task just because the phone rings. Learn to schedule your phone conversations at a time that’s convenient for you.
It isn’t true that you don’t have time; it’s more an issue of not properly scheduling, prioritizing and managing your activities. It will take an adjustment period to get good at it, but if you learn to structure your time carefully, you’ll have more time for experiences that are important to you.
Make sure you allow time for the important things in life. Everything else can wait.
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.
Benjamin Franklin
1706 – 1790
Copyright © 2012 John Chancellor
I have implemented the not being interrupted rule and setting certain time frames for particular tasks. I have been much more successful at getting those things done on my to do list because of this. Thanks for this article…it is great advice and we can take baby steps to start following thru.
Good for you and thanks for sharing.
I think a more serious and much more difficult problem to address is our tendency to look for things to do in an effort to avoid doing the difficult but important tasks. We become very adept at avoiding the tasks which take us out of our comfort zones (and deliver amazing results) by being totally involved in the urgent but unimportant tasks.
The second half of this (which is big enough for its own lesson) is defining the “most important things in your life”. I often ask my new college grads what their goals are for the next five years and ten years. I get a variety of answers. I then ask what have they done today, this week, and this month to reach these goals. You would be surprised how many say nothing, but they are going to start tomorrow, next week, next month.
The second big trend I see when I ask the question about goals is all the answers are about work and career. I then ask them about their wife, kids, kids yet to arrive, hobbies, etc. If you don’t think about all things in your life that are important, how can you possibly decide how to spend your time? I use this with my daughter. She wants to be either a writer or a computer programmer (and it will change a hundred more times before she gets to college). I encourage her to spend time, beyond school, doing things that help her reach her longer term goals. We go through a process that we use at work call micro-goals, which is dividing a goal down into things that are actionable. As simple as this sounds you would be amazed at the number of people that wake up in the morning with goals in life that will never be fulfilled because they don’t know what to do TODAY to fulfill them.
Butch,
Great insights. People who have goals but fail to take action toward those goals are just dreamers. Their goals are really hopes/dreams …. and they will never come true. As you imply, goals without action are worthless.
Thanks for your comments and insights.
John
I remember someone saying to me once that when you say “I don’t have time” what you are really saying is “I don’t care” – that really stuck with me. So everytime I find myself about to say those words – “I don’t have time” – I ask myself if this is something/someone I care about, or not. If it is something I care about, or should care about, I don’t say the words and I know I can make the time.
Meg,
You make an excellent point. We all have limited resources – time, money, etc. – and we often hide behind the excuse that we don’t have enough. But I have observed that we always seem to find the time or money for the things that we consider important.
Thanks so much for your comment.
Another great article and very timely as I am running a Making the Best Use of Your Time workshop next week. I agree entirely with all of the comments. We talk about time management, but we all have 24 hours in the day. If we focus on self management in the time that we have, then it puts a different perspective on it. It isn’t about ‘I haven’t got time’, it’s more about there is only so much of my self (and the energy I have). As you say, it’s deciding what is the most important thing to spend yourself on.
Bob the Builder Syndrome is another issue, which I know I suffer from – ‘Yes I can’. Is it about feeling flattered to be asked or a self delusion about being indispensable or a fear of upsetting people? It is about learning to say no, as you say John.