Time Isn’t The Problem

While I would prefer to have more available hours in the day (who wouldn't?), I want to walk you through two critical strategies I discovered a few years ago that allowed me to get more done.

From work to family responsibilities, social obligations to personal hobbies, I agree we are all very busy — I’m not going to argue that. But there are two major problems I’m going to address with the common assumption that there isn’t enough time to do everything you’d like:

If you work for a company then you already don’t have 8 hours of the day available. And if you own a company or are self-employed, then you likely have even fewer hours of the day available (although though with the proper systems, you should at least be cutting it in half). But let’s assume you have 8-hour work days…

For the sake of this calculation let’s also assume:

That leaves us with 4 hours in a day — Where does the rest of it go?

Check your screen time and you’ll get your answer…

The average person spends 4+ hours per day on their phone (source). They’re also likely getting less than 8 hours of sleep.

So, step number 1 is to reduce your screen time! Reducing it by at least half will give you ~2 more hours in the day and likely better sleep. If you want help on how to optimize your phone, I wrote about 5 ways you can do so, here.

The second reason why time isn’t the real problem, in simplest terms, is that most people aren’t prioritizing the things that they think they want to get done. There’s a discrepancy between what they want to do, and how they’re actually spending their time.

Part of the reason is that we aren’t prioritizing our list of wants, and in turn, we end up feeling overwhelmed. When we try to do everything, we end up doing nothing. We feel like we're busy, but we're not making actual progress on the things that really matter.

The solution?

Do a brain dump of all of the things you’d like to start doing and clarify One Thing you'd like to achieve — Make it a priority. Whether it's a personal goal like running a marathon, a professional goal, or a relational goal like spending more quality time with your family, pick One Thing.

Then add a recurring time block in your calendar of when you’re going to do it. Adding it to your daily routine and notifying those around you of your goal is an incredibly powerful system. It also sets expectations for your time. Plus, you likely only need 1-hour max per day for your One Thing.

Over time, it will become a habit and a part of your regular routine rather than just another item on your to-do list. As you see progress and success, then you can explore prioritizing the next thing on your list. Until then, you haven’t earned the right.

The same goes for business. Most often, if you or your team believe they lack time, what they really lack are systems.

Even if you still believe that you cannot open up the necessary amount of time in the day for your One Thing, you can always create more time...

The easiest way to create more time is to wake up earlier. The mornings are also the easiest time of day to control with the least number of distractions or interruptions.

But if there’s only One Thing you take away from this newsletter, it’s that you have to prioritize One Thing at a time. Remember, if want to do everything, you won't do anything.

Time is not the problem, only the excuse.

See you all next Thursday 👋

PS. Whenever you're ready... Here are three ways I can help you systemize & automate operations: