Newsletter - December 2007
I Don't Have Time For That!
December 13, 2007 - Suzette Langley
Can you recall a time when you said, "I don't have time for that?" The phrase often creeps into our vocabulary. Do we really lack time? Is what we don't have time for really another way of saying something is not a priority? Or does our belief that we never have enough time create a limit in what we accomplish?
Like so many homeowners, I recently undertook a renovation project. This particular project involved demolishing my kitchen and installing a brand new one. I procrastinated for a full year before taking action. My primary objection to beginning was that I did not have enough time to tear apart the room, displace my cooking equipment, lay the new floor, mount new cabinets, and wait for countertops. Despite my timely objections, the project loomed and inevitably began. And, a strange thing happened - I found plenty of time to devote to the project. How'd that happen?
Eventually the energy drain of walking into an old kitchen with rickety cabinet doors and disintegrating particle board shelves took its toll and pushed me past my limits. The priority of replacing the kitchen to create a functional, fabulous space outweighed my excuses.
Furthermore, I adjusted my belief about how much time I had in the evenings to devote to the kitchen project. I shifted my thinking from "I only have an hour so I can't accomplish much" to "I have an hour. What can I do?" Big difference in how I viewed an hour's worth of time!
What do you say you don't have time for? Exercise? Revising your resume? Organizing your office? Do you lack the time or has the task just not hit the top of your priority list? Possibly you are not uncomfortable enough with the way things are to make it a priority and create change.
Furthermore, you may not start taking action because you believe you have a time shortage. You create a limitation when you believe that you cannot accomplish something in the time you have. Your beliefs become your reality.
Thus, two ways to avoid saying "I don't have time for that" are being honest about, and reorganizing your priorities if necessary, and changing your beliefs about time. First, identify your priorities by making a list of what is important to you. If some activity is not happening in your life, that activity may not be enough of a priority for you to make time for it. Another possibility is that you will have to shift your priorities and let something less important fall off your list. If you have to shift your priorities, list the benefits you will receive if you change your focus. Knowing your benefits increases motivation.
Next, change your language and beliefs about time. Instead of saying "I don't have time" change your words to "I have plenty of time to accomplish what needs to be done." This simple shift in language moves you from a constant rush to a more relaxed, focused place that allows you to accomplish more because you are aware of your actions and less scattered.
These two steps are how I made time for the kitchen project. I reorganized my priorities and let some things fall lower on my list such as housecleaning (the project created a mess anyway), personal time for reading, no TV shows, and no weekend excursions. I could live with these changes as they were temporary. And, I repeatedly told myself I had plenty of time to accomplish the tasks I needed to do. In reminding myself of this, I stayed focused and kept the project moving forward without falling behind on work or household chores like laundry, bills, and groceries.
When we know what our priorities are and believe we have enough time instead of believing time is slipping away, we find much more time then we thought we had. What a wonderful discovery!
Suzette Langley, Life Coach, MSW, author and speaker, assists people in creating lives they love to live through improving their health, fitness, time/stress management, and work-life balance. Suzette moves clients from possibility to reality through goal setting and action evaluation. She offers individual/group coaching, corporate trainings, workshops, and a free monthly newsletter through Passion for Life Coaching. She can be found at http://www.suzettelangley.com
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