How many times in our life have we used the phrase ‘I don’t have time’ as a reason why we haven’t, won’t, or can’t do something? Quite frankly, I don’t have time to count all the instances in which I have said or heard it, but that’s not the reason we’re here. If you have time, read on.
I had a professor in university who exclaimed with vigor that time was a red herring – it doesn’t exist. He went on to explain that when you call someone with a sales pitch and they tell you they don’t have time for you, it doesn’t mean they actually don’t have time. They just have no interest in making some for you.
Outside of the sales pitch scenario, the lesson holds true.
Around the same period, I saw this snippet from the Wall Street Journal that challenged readers to use the phrase ‘it’s not a priority’ instead of ‘I don’t have time’.
If we can be more honest with ourselves about our own choices, maybe it would help us make better ones. Maybe changing our terminology will help us take ownership of how we spend our time as opposed to defaulting to blaming a red herring for our inability to do certain things.
Truthfully, there’s nothing wrong with prioritizing what you want or need to do at any given time. Having lunch with a friend may not be your priority this week, getting in a workout or finishing a paper or surviving your heavy work load may be. Reading a book may not be your priority after a busy day, allowing your brain to happily melt while watching the most dramatic episode of the Bachelorette might be it. I’m with you on that.
What is wrong is attributing it to time, or lack thereof. How we spend our time is our choice. What we do with our time is our choice. Where and who and how we spend it is well, I’ll let you finish the ending.
Audit your time – do you like how you are choosing to spend it? The beautiful thing, is you can always change how you do. When you do, maybe you’ll find you actually do have time to read, write, workout, learn, meditate, sleep, see your grandparents, have dinner with your friends or family – the list goes on.
The next time the words ‘I don’t have time’ try frantically to escape your mouth, try to pause and adjust. It’s not your priority. If we can live with that, we know we’ve made the right decision. And if we don’t like the way that sounds, it gives us the perspective we need to adjust our course.
Thanks for spending your time here.
Sara
