I started writing this article in June last year when I was still working nbn. Many of my colleagues were working long hours and feeling ineffectual. The work was piling up, they weren’t getting things done and to top it off it was affecting the rest of their lives in an unhealthy way. There were personal projects they wanted to do, healthly lifestyle changes they wanted to make and they wanted to have more quality time with their loved ones.
Twelve months later and a different country and guess what, the story is pretty similar. I am surrounded by some very capable and intelligent people that are feeling the same thing, there aren’t enough hours in the day, myself included. You would think that the pace around small town Colorado would be a bit slower than a city of 4.5 million. Maybe we are filling our days with different things but they’re still full.
I’ve heard the phrase, ‘I need to make time for xxx’ so many times over the years and it is time for a perspective shift. Yesterday, I found myself chatting with a friend about how everything is so busy here and I don’t seem have enough hours in the day to get back to the things that I want to like writing and running. I work a 50+ hour week because I have two jobs with days that are a different schedule to my old Monday to Friday. Eliot needs time out, we need family time and then there is the ‘life’ stuff, laundry, all the things around eating and kid stuff so those 168 hours in the week have been disappearing pretty fast. And I really can’t make any more.
The fact is, time is a finite resource and unless you’ve figured out time travel, making time is impossible. When I first started writing this article, I tried to make a slight tweak to this language and how I implement prioritisation. Instead of making time, I started taking time. It seemed so minor and it did change the way I thought about my 24 hours in a day. I have definitely needed a reminder of this.
Where you take your time from will depend on your priorities. For me, my priorities at the moment are to get back to the things that make me feel centered and that I am providing value to others. Running makes me feel centred and writing is where I feel I can add value. So this morning, I took time from my sleep schedule and I got up to write before I go to work. And it may seem silly but I am proud of myself because it wasn’t easy. I could have stayed in bed but damn it feels good to align with my values and take time for my priorities.
So next time you find yourself thinking that you need to make time for your priorities, catch yourself and instead ask where can you take that time from?