Or, there is always enough time, just too many things on your list. Be selective. At one point, your maker will say, ‘time’s up.’ Make sure you have completed the important stuff by that moment.
Having more time seems like a luxury.
Getting more time at the end of a match or exam can be helpful. More time after a difficult diagnosis. The extra hour when clocks fall back in the autumn.
But when it’s time, it’s time.
Aim to go to bed at the same time each night. And definitely keep your alarm set for the same time each day.
Consistency has value. The value comes to both the body and mind.
Do this every day for this week. Then tell me how good it’s felt.
If you want to declare a thought to be yours, how long do you need to wait after someone else says it?
Can you get away with saying you thought of that weeks ago?
It’s the old, ‘You can’t fire me, I already quit.’ Or, ‘I broke up with you three weeks ago. You mustn’t have heard me.’
We seem to be getting that from the provinces in Canada. They do not want the world to think that the recent protests heightened their awareness of the desire for the mandates to end nor that the protestors influenced their decision to end, or not extend, the mandates.
So they weren’t forced. But perhaps, maybe, just maybe, the provincial governments were made aware of the issue and it’s importance to a growing number of Canadians. Some other provinces haven’t made any decisions yet. Possibly, they are penalising Canadians with longer Covid restrictions, just so they don’t look like the protests had any influence.
So how long does it take before a decision will be sufficiently far into the future to not count as being influential or awareness-enhancing. Would a week do it? Probably more like two months. Maybe three. Just to be sure no one thinks you’ve been influenced.
Mr. Trudeau may also be considering how long he has to wait to change any Covid measures before he can claim it has nothing to do with the Truckers or Freedom Convoy.
Well, the fine citizens of Canada may have to live with many more months of Covid restrictions, just so Mr Trudeau, and some Premiers, can claim total control of the decision making. Oh, Canada.
Why do you need to read the news? What is it that is so important about some tragedy 3,700 miles away that you must know? Isn’t there enough struggle, challenge or tragedy on our own doorstep?
There’s about 7.9 billion people on this planet. Assume just 1% of all these people had a tragic moment at sometime during your 80 year life. That’s 79 million people. Let’s say it took you just 5 minutes to read, listen to or watch something about the person and their event.
Then it would take you 751 years on a 24/7 schedule to learn about each one. Who has 10 lifetimes to give to simply learn about the challenges of people around the world.
Be clear why you are doing it. Perhaps your time would be better spent improving the lives of a few people near to you, rather than imagining the pain of people in a distant land.
Is quality time what you want or what they want? If one of you isn’t delighted, is it still quality time? It’s time to have quality time defined.
Deciding you are going for a walk with a friend, who doesn’t enjoy walking, might not be the best idea of quality time. Do you both have to enjoy the activity, discussion or company? Or is it ok if just one of you do?
When you spend some of your day with your young child, is it enough to just enjoy being together? Or do you need to enjoy the event too? Is it quality time either way?
Encouraging your child to try something with you might seem like a good idea. You will be expanding their horizons and possibly adding a new, burgeoning skill to their repertoire. This is brilliant if they thoroughly enjoyed it. However, if they were not very interested or engaged, is it still quality time?
Is a shared memory considered quality time, even if it is not a brilliant or positive one? Perhaps they learned a lesson, or you did. If it came from a difficult experience, but something good came from it, does it fit the description?
In summary, life will be different for you with quality time defined.
You’ve been holding back on something. You want to move forward but the timing doesn’t feel right. Well, the right time is now.
The lights may never be green at every intersection from here to your destination. You may have to slow down or stop once in a while. But another green light will appear and you will be able to continue on your way.
However, getting off your bottom, getting in the correct attire and getting in your car is the start of the journey. You can’t be part done until you start. And yes, you may not have all the information you think you need. Few people ever do. Perhaps you’ve waited too long if that is the case.
Make those phone calls and speak to the people you need to. Read what is critical and do what is required, but at least get going. 90% of life is just showing up. If you show up, they may pick you. If you are the only one there at the right time, you may be in luck.
And you never know what the right moment will be, so you best keep showing up. This reminds me of a time I was walking down a street in Sydney, Australia. A police officer stopped me and asked if I could join a police lineup. But that is another story…
The right time is now. Get out there.
Time is amazing and challenging. There are so many interesting things to do and yet not enough minutes to do them all. Allocating time is the ultimate challenge in life.
Reconsider how you parcel out your time. Is it hyper-methodical? Or is it free flowing? Perhaps you are generally somewhere in between but vacillate from one end of the continuum to the other.
There is an amount of time for work matters, family, play, friends, sleep, eating and relaxing. How much to apportion to each area on any given day is the challenge.
I try to get my work done while the kids are at school or out with friends. Sometimes you radically change the allocation by choice, such as for a holiday. At other times, the change may happen to you. This could be the case if you come down with an illness or if someone close to you is unwell.
The other challenge is that it is hard to tell ahead of time, which combination is the best one. Working 100 hours a week can take its toll on your health and relationships. Of course, even working 60 hours a week can have an adverse effect on many things.
So it may be quite helpful doing a monthly review of how you are allocating time.
Why do we wait until the last minute to complete things? If we know three months in advance, why wait until there are 3 days to go? Just in time solutions are fine for supply chains. However, they are not ideal for getting items off your to do list.
When assignments at work, at school, accounting, tax or financial matters often seem to be done at the last minute and not weeks in advance.
My ideal situation for these things is to do the work when it is available to be done. This means when the assignment is handed to you, get going on it. It does not mean throw it on top of a pile of papers or in a drawer and forget about it. Receiving multiple red font alert-type letters is not a sign of a well organised operation.
I understand it can be challenging. I know other things come up and take your focus away. And it can be difficult to juggle many balls at once. However, start making it a habit to deal with things as they come up. Make plans and put the time required in your diary.
Just in time solutions can work but ahead of time is usually even better.
Do you do something for charity, your community, people coming up behind you? It’s good to reflect on this. How do you give back?
I am trying to add more of this into my days. I do it sporadically and I would like to do it in a more structured way. It starts with giving my time to people who are building their careers or businesses. Then, Money for charitable causes and effort for good causes.
Getting clear on how to apportion time and money, and setting those aside for good causes, is a useful exercise. It makes you stop and think about what you do now, what might be good and even how it makes you feel. Should you set aside more time and money? To whom and how should that be done?
Some people are very good with structuring their thoughts around this. I’ve known people to set aside x amount of money and y amount of time. Then they gift that away through the year. Other people simply donate a lump sum and that’s that. All requests after that are denied.
Some people will give money freely but not their time. While others do the opposite. There are those that give 1% of their income while others give away most or all of it, like the incredible Chuck Feeney.
How do you give back?
