Time

Over the past few months, the theme of “Time” has been on my heart. Having the opportunity to hang out in various circles, at work as well as in my personal life, I have observed how meaningful this commodity is to others. It is absolutely something I value as well. But for many, it can be illusive.

I posted recently that I learned from a leadership trainer that there is no such thing as “I didn’t have time” to do something, only that “it just wasn’t that important to me”. Very direct, but in my experience, very true.

How often do we say something is our priority, but we don’t make time for it? Or even more so, a set of somethings?

It is so easy to let the world happen to us. We are inundated with notifications, demands personally and professionally, and constant change. Reacting can become addicting. However, in any given moment we can take back control of where we spend our time. And yes, there are consequences for our decisions, and we must live with them, but we can be empowered by choice rather than feel powerless through lack of ownership. Here is what I have found:

1. Evaluation of priorities – Defining personal values is critical. These values may or may not change in various seasons of life. However, having these top of mind serves as a compass from which we can move forward, ensuring that where we spend our time aligns to the stack rank of what we value the most. We can then look at our current list of “to-dos” to evaluate what needs to be prioritized. I like to think about the classic thought, “If I were to get hit by a bus, what decisions do I need to be making to ensure that where I have spent my time aligns to the legacy I want to leave when I am gone?”.
2. Time blocking – Once there is an understanding of priorities, we can leverage time blocking to ensure we proactively allocate time to the priorities that align most to our values. This requires forward looking to the day, week, month, and year ahead. Life will happen that will blow up a time block allocated to something else, but by having a plan we are able to make a decision on that interruption, to protect the time allocated for the current priority or to pivot to the situation that has presented itself. And this decision becomes from a position of empowerment vs. reaction without thinking.
3. Limit excuses – Once we work through #1 and #2, and we actively make choices where we are spending our time, then we must limit excuses. We have to own our decisions that align or do not align to our priorities and values. We chose whether to set boundaries, and from there, to honor them or to let the world or others break them. Ownership of choice, again, leads to empowerment.

Although I have found these three steps helpful, I am by no means perfect. I stumble and find myself spending time on things that are not fruitful to becoming the ideal version of myself. However, I do feel good about awareness to my values. This awareness enables me to hold myself accountable and creates freedom in the sense that, when I stray from using my time to align to my values, I have peace that I made the decision. I chose to work where I work, do what I do, and personally, to be a spouse, a father, a friend, and so on, all choices that come with various “hats” and responsibilities.

What have you found helpful to optimize your time? ?