The Real Reason You Never Have Enough Time
Photo by Luca Nardone
“Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity.” – Jean de La Bruyère
Who doesn’t love a good quote? And especially one that rings this true.
But before we dive in too deep, I want to make one thing clear as day:
How you define a “good” use of your time is totally up to you.
I’m not here to judge and I’m willing to bet that there are plenty of things that I do that you might think aren’t a great use of my time:
To folks who don’t enjoy cooking, it probably seems silly that I spend at least an hour cooking every day, and many more on the weekends.
To folks who brag about not having a TV, I probably look ridiculous for watching a few hours of TV several times a week.
To folks who don’t enjoy “making”, it probably seems very strange that I spend hours each week at a pottery studio, for which I pay a monthly fee, to make imperfect bowls instead of buying perfect ones for $2 from IKEA and having them delivered to my door.
So just know that whatever you choose to do with your time, it doesn’t matter one lick what I think about it.
It only matters how YOU think about it.
You’re the only one who gets to live your life.
But let’s get back to the quote, because here’s what I take from it:
It’s all about intention.
And your perception of how much time you have does not directly correlate to how much time you actually have.
When you have a whirlwind of a day, and you look back and think “How can I have worked so hard, how can I be so tired, and yet still feel so far behind?” it’s very possible that you’ve let the day happen to you.
Instead of starting with a realistic plan in place, instead of intentionally limiting distractions, you likely got stuck in reactive mode.
And when you spend your time reacting instead of proactively doing what you intended to do, you end up feeling like there’s no time for what you want to do.
Because there isn’t.
So when you’re feeling like time is in short supply, I want you to make a list of the things that make you feel like your time has been well spent.
And then I want you to make a plan for how to get just 10 more minutes of that thing into your day, every day.
And then I want you to keep going, little by little.
The more intentional you become, the better use of your time you will make, and you will feel less and less of this terrible feeling that there’s just never enough time.
Because time is neutral.
There’s just time.
Not too much time.
Not too little time.
It’s just time.
And what you make of it.