The Beauty to Find Time Anytime

We should catch up, he said, then sent an email through the PA to book a 6,30PM slot in 2,5 weeks. “is this slot convenient?” I was asked.

My agenda that WEEK is actually empty, with a couple of recurring meetings taking some space here and there, none of which can’t be moved or I requires my life or death presence.

Does this mean I will just bail and take time off? Not really. It’s actually better than this. It’s a blended work-life balance where the two moments are not really separated. It cam eat you up if you don’t manage it properly, but it can also be your greatest asset.?

I am writing this post on a grey Sunday afternoon, in the french Alps, where i came to spend some time with my teens. Off to Kigali tonight for one of the largest event we have worked on this year, and earlier this morning I prepared the few panels i will me speaking or moderating at.?

It’s a Sunday, so what??

Being able to take an hour, half day, or more if necessary at any given moment in time is a blessing worth so much more than money.?

There is a flip side of the coin though: you need discipline and sense of ownership.

It’s very tempting if you are not used to full freedom to always prioritise the wrong things, including personal matters.?

I have been on the other side of the (corporate) fence, where travel expenses were just a form to fill up, and the deliverables were so diluted and accountable for many that you could afford not to care in the same way (I say “could” because personally I always worked as if the company was mine, I guess it comes natural).?

The paradox is that people is afraid to say that have time. As if it was a sign of not being important enough, not worthy of attention.?

How much money is worth to be able to find time anytime??

Hard to say.?

What good does it to you to make plenty of money but not to be able to rest, think, exercise, dream, breath or sleep properly??

What about the relationships you can build with no or little time … truth being told, true friends don’t look at time spent together, yet you are missing out on their lives in a way that will carry some of your relationship out of sight.?

Ask yourself: how difficult is for me to find time?

Something else I want to reflect on: did it ever happen to you that an unexpected event broke into your life and kind of scrambled completely your agenda? It can be something basic like loosing a plane, or something more serious and more impactful like a sudden health crisis, or another type of (life) set back.

When it happened to me, I realised there were no agenda slots that were a matter of life or death. Other people would understand, adapt, step in, juggle things, and I managed to take that forced break, and peacefully deal with the consequences.?

That feeling, that “well I can’t make it, and it’s ok” should not teach us that perspective, sometimes, is what we are cruelly missing?

Your capacity to spare time for things that matter for real (or don’t, but we judge important somehow) is inversely proportional to how slave you are of your own agenda.

Rebelliously yours

Matteo