Is there such thing as “I don’t have time for that”

 Time is not short, but it is limited. It must be used wisely just like anything else that is
available in limited quantities. (There are only 24 hours in a day and eight of those
should be spent sleeping!) These people are making a conscious decision to allocate
their limited time elsewhere.

 The exact reasons will vary but one thing to realize is that they are prioritizing. It may
be disappointing for you to realize that you are not where you expected to be on that
priority list. But consider the fact that you have your own priority list as well.(or at
least I hope you do)

 What do we mean when we say that we don’t have time? If a task would require two
hours, but is due in an hour, then we don’t have time to do it. Who could argue with
that? However, more frequently, we mean “I can’t do that in addition to everything
else I’m doing.” If I have a full week’s work to do, and something new comes in
which would require a whole day to complete, I might say that I “can’t” do it this
week because “I don’t have time for that.” I clearly have enough time, though,
because a day is less than that.

 Ironically, it’s seem some of those same people who claim to be “so busy” miraculously
finding the time to carelessly blow money right and left. It’s an interesting
phenomenon. Perhaps they feel that because they work so hard and are “so busy, ” that
they’ve somehow earned it? Perhaps, they’re not considering the consequences of their
actions?

 What I’m getting at here is that if you “don’t have time” for something in your life,
what you’re really saying is “that’s not a priority right now”. I’m not necessarily saying
you’re wasting time. I’d love to spend more time reading, but as things are, I’m already
busy doing productive things for the majority of my day. To read more, I’d have to cut
out some other thing that I love, enjoy, or need to be doing. By reading less, I have
more time to do other things that are higher in priority. If and when I decide to make
reading a priority, I’ll have to cut back somewhere else and decide which thing needs
to move down the list of priorities instead.

CREATE

 First, we’ll list our priorities. I know, that sounds obvious. And some of them will be.
But we want to be thorough here, and the definition of “priorities” in this case may be
a big broader than you’re used to, so we’ll go step by step.

 Start with the non-negotiables. Typically, work and family will be items number one
and two on the list, since these are very important to most people, for obvious
reasons. Still, think carefully about which order you want them to go in. There may
 be times in life where work related things will try to push themselves to the number
one spot in your life.

 Decide ahead of time if that’s okay with you, or if you’d leave a job that starts asking
for 60-80 hour weeks. You may have to make that decision one day, and it’s better to
show up to it knowing what is important to you, not your company. It’s perfectly
okay if worries your first priority as long as you’re the one who put it there.

EVALUATE

 Now that list is together, don’t panic. It may look daunting, but so does any major
task we are faced with all at once. It’s about first evaluating your tasks. Are there any
tasks that could be grouped together as one? Think about it — there may be things on
there that are one and the same and your daunting list of 27 “to do’s” is really more
like 15. Once you evaluate and start thinking about the list you’re ready to….

DESIGNATE

 A level of priority to each item on the list. Literally place numbers next to each task
in their order of priority. If a certain task has a time constraint, then those are the ones
that may need to lead the pack. What about everything else? Is there anything you
could….

ELIMINATE

 Could you do without some things you included on this list? Your immediate impulse
may be to say no, all this has to happen” but I’d bet there is something included that
you could actually do without or avoid altogether. And a great way to do that is to
actually practice saying the word “no” not to me, when I ask if you can avoid
anything on the list but to some of the commitments you make in your life that you
really don’t have to do and don’t really want to do.

 It’s with the best intentions, but in our quest to try to be all things to everyone, all the
time we have forgotten how to say that simple, two letter word. Except maybe when
our significant other wants to get laid. Try saying NO to some other things and you
may actually want to do the nasty when propositioned. Or better yet —you’ll want to
even initiate. Yes, you can. More on the art of saying no in a future blog
 Now that you have your priorities, how do you stick to them?

 Use a calendar. If you want to work out, sleep, meditate, read, cook, whatever, block
out a recurring event on your calendar to do these things. Schedule it in. Be realistic
with yourself about how long each of the things you want to do takes, and give
yourself a bit of extra time.

 If you can fit your priorities onto your calendar and still have time left over, then that
extra time can be put toward lower priority items. If there isn’t enough time on the
calendar to do all of your high priority tasks, then you’ll have to decide which high
priority thing temporarily becomes low priority.
 Even if you don’t currently spend time doing things that you consider to be low
priority, your actions show that the things that you are making time for are more
important to you than working out is. That’s perfectly okay. All that means is that
working out is lower in priority than the other things that you do spend time on. Find
a balance that works for you.

 Your time goes to your priorities. Intentionally choose priorities that you value and
act on them regularly, and you will create a life that you love to live. I no longer want
to hear that you, “don’t have time”. I’d rather hear that, “it’s not a priority right now”
 What dozens of other busy people was that it is not a matter of time what you do, but
a matter of priorities! The woman just thought that the weather was so good and she
had to go for a hike, enjoy her time a little before she proceeds with her busy life.
Vanderkam suggests with anything you are interested or planning to do, to think
about how important it is to you and your life, and if it supports you to life the live
you want. If it doesn’t, important enough, so don’t do it.

SOLUTIONS

 Start accepting responsibility for your decisions. It usually is not some force in the
universe preventing your from doing things; it is you, and you alone.
 By considering our priorities thoroughly, we can make better decisions about how to
manage our time. I think that making that decision explicit, rather than concealing it
behind “time”, is one way to do a better job at prioritization.