Never enough time – really?

Every time I hear, “I ran out of time” or “not enough hours in the day” or any of the many variations of this battle cry, I immediately wonder what really happened. Generally speaking, unless you were interrupted by a major emergency the problem isn’t time, it’s about priorities.

Think about it, how many of us have got engrossed in a great book and managed to find time to finish it because we couldn’t put it down. Or got hooked on a gripping TV series, bought the box set and hunkered down. Generally speaking, if something becomes important or attractive enough to us, we find the time to do it.

On the myth of time scarcity, even the highest achiever in the world are limited to the same 24-hour cycle that defeats many of us. “They have lots of help and support,” I hear you cry and that’s true, many of them do, but there are lots who do exceptional things without support.

I know someone who qualified as a journalist while raising a young family, caring for an elderly relative and holding down a full-time job. Her study hours were between 4-7am. She knew that this qualification would change life for herself and her family, so she gave it priority and donated sleeping time. 

This isn’t to say that making things a priority is easy. There are many reasons why we might not want to. We may be afraid of failing or looking silly. There could be concerns about knock-on impacts that any change in your life could create.

You may not even be sure you really want to do whatever it is that keeps falling by the wayside. Our subconscious mind is very good at protecting us from things that our conscious mind is completely blind to.

Allowing yourself to use the excuse of lack of time lets you off the hook so you miss the opportunity to work out what it is that is really stopping you. How we prioritise is a science in itself involving important beliefs and values. Yet we sometimes behave as if it is all outside our control. 

So next time you ‘run out of time’, ask yourself instead, “why did I not give that priority today?” That’s a much more interesting question, and one you can do something about, as opposed to assuming the only other option is to alter the space-time continuum!

If you are struggling to answer this question, get yourself a coach who suits you, and work on this with them. You may find you actually have all the time in the world!