Stop saying you ? lack of time ?

Because it might only mean that you lack motivation, from an outside point of view.

A researcher* has tested different "excuses" people use after not doing what they were socially engaged to do (meaning: they announced to people around them that they will do).

She tested people's perceptions listening to common excuses, that we use most of the time, and among them the 2 most common - for example, to justify not going to the gym as you had promised on New Year's Eve:

• "I lacked time"
• "I lacked money"

Which excuse are you most likely to use? If your preference is "lack of time", you should know that other people's perception will be that of a lack of motivation. After all, it's your time and you're in control of it.

On the other hand, if you use "lack of money" or any other excuse that involves something you have no control over**, people will be more inclined to accept your excuse and not see it as an attempt to conceal your lack of commitment, says the research. To the point of preferring to choose you as a team member rather than someone else citing "lack of time".

The "lack of time" often comes up during coaching sessions with my clients. The lack of time is omnipresent, frustrating, even obsessive. We usually start by working on priorities, but the discussion often takes us well beyond that: testing margins for manoeuvre, crafting the job to find pleasure in doing it, freeing ourselves from our thinking biases.... I have devoted the whole of chapter 7 of my book to this theme ***.

What I think as a coach, when "lack of time" comes up in a session:

• This is a good line of thought to find out what's behind this argument: what if there was a small percentage of truth in other people's perception about you, and the reason for your failure was that your "lack of time" was actually a lack of commitment? If your answer is "yes perhaps", or "yes partially", then there is work to be done on defining your priorities and/or what you communicate.
• Investigating is a vector for progress: looking for reasons for failure other than "lack of time" (a smokescreen) is a step towards acceptance of that failure, and therefore an opportunity for progress - because there can be no change without admitting what's going wrong! If you're a leader, manager, or parent, admitting real issues is a good example to set for those around you.
• Questioning the "lack of time" is good practice when you're interviewing for a job, conducting an end-of-year assessment, or giving feedback : instead of feeling a negative prejudice if your interlocutor's "lack of time" comes up in conversation, go beyond that, and push them to analyze what's going on behind this easy excuse: you'll help them progress, and you may well discover useful information about this person that you didn't even suspect!

Nevertheless, the study also makes me think that we, humans, are still optimizing a very limbic "it's not my fault / it's my fault" way of functioning: we are primarily concerned with justifying themselves and saving our image, rather than tackling the real problems. The truth lies elsewhere, as Scully could have said.

* European Journal of Social Psychology “Too little money or time? Using justifications to maintain a positive image after self-control failure” Janina Steinmetz

** Another example of this type of excuse: "no means of transport to get somewhere".

*** The middle Manager's Survival Guide, 2023, ISBN 979-8378838936 ; Chapter 7: Chart your course p. 93-108. Additional info on ceciledemailly.com