The illusion of time

How often do you find yourself saying, “I wish I had the time to do ABC”?

That ‘ABC’ can be to read a new book, learn a new language, travel to a new country or even just to visit the pub that opened round the corner. It doesn’t matter whether ‘ABC’ will take only a few minutes or many hours or even days to do. It seems like you never have the time to do it.

My ears hurt when I hear the phrase being used as an excuse. Even if it comes up in some mundane conversation. You create this illusion of time for yourself. It’s a lie that you can use to fool yourself (and sometimes even others). A very convenient lie indeed.

You do this probably because somewhere inside you feel good about making this excuse. It means that you are a very busy person. That you have so many other things to do. That even though doing ABC is important, you just don’t have the time.

Well, here’s the truth. You will always have enough time to do what you really want to do. This façade of busyness that you create for yourself or for others is only a façade. If you are doing this unknowingly then take this as a warning to fix your ways. And if you are doing this knowingly then this is a warning to inform you that your façade will not last very long. Give it up now.

Prioritising is a hard thing. All of us are troubled with it all the time. Especially because all of us underestimate the time needed to do something (and sometimes overestimate our abilities to do it). But beyond all that faff, what you really want to do… you do anyway.

If you can’t do something then it is not because you don’t have the time. It is because you did not really want do it in the first place.

Get over this illusion of time. You don’t need time…. you just need to decide.