Why I Stopped Saying, ‘I Don’t Have Time’
You have all the time you need, so stop telling people you don’t.
You have all the time you need, so stop telling people you don’t.
“I’m sorry, I just don’t have the time to do that today.”
A line that has been uttered in millions of emails, business meetings, and discussions about chores in households all over the world. It’s an easy thing to say and one with which people can empathize. The problem is that it’s a lie.
You have all the time in the world to do anything you want, every single day. But you don’t have time to do everything. When you are telling someone, or the little voice inside your head, you don’t have time, what you are really saying is, “I can’t make the time for it because my other priorities are more important.”
It may not sound like a huge difference, but by admitting to yourself and others that you are choosing not to do things because of priority instead of busyness, you are confirming what things are important to you. And if you pay attention to the things you consistently find important, it becomes easier to make decisions about what new opportunities to pursue.
I realized how powerful this phrase was when I looked back on my to-do list over the past couple of months. What I noticed was a task that sat as undone for multiple weeks. It was an idea that I had for a new website that, when I had the idea, I thought I would love doing it. But every single day, I added that unfinished job to my daily tasks and every day it went unfinished, I told myself I was just too busy to get started.
However, as other things came up and were added to the list, I found it quite easy to complete them. No other task stayed on the list for more than a couple days and yet here was this idea, one I continually convinced myself was important, that never made the move from unfinished to finished.
That was when it hit me. It wasn’t that I was too busy to do it, starting a new website was just low on my priority list of things that were important to me. I wasn’t making the time for it.
By saying, “I can’t make time for that” you are consciously marking something low on your list of priorities. Whereas, “I don’t have time” has no bearing on whether or not is important, just that you are too busy. Tasks you are too busy for are an unshakeable weight on your mind. They feel important because it feels like you still have to do them in the future, even if deep down you never really plan on getting around to them.
When you have a list of priorities, you are more productive by honing your focus and becoming less distracted by the endless opportunities around you.
Everyone has the same amount of time in a day. Whether you do it knowingly or unwittingly, each and every day you choose your priorities through your actions. When something comes up that is high on the priority list, no matter how busy you are you will make time for it. When things fall lower on the list, you’ll find an excuse not to get around to doing it.
This isn’t a bad thing! Your life should be set to our own priorities. If you are constantly saying yes to requests that pop up, you lose control over your time. There are going to be times when you have to make tough choices between two things you want to do, but that’s where understanding your priorities makes things easier.
Now when people ask me if I can do something or an opportunity presents itself I don’t say that I don’t have time to do it. I decide if it’s important enough for me to take on. If it’s not, then I can confidently and without guilt utter the simple phrase, “I can’t make time for this.”