Rather than say ‘I don’t have time’ when you feel crunched, you can say ‘It’s not a priority’ and see how that feels. These words remind us that time is a choice.
Laura Vanderkam
Coaching Tip of the Week:
Years ago, as a young mother and a new entrepreneur, I attended a time management workshop where the facilitator really wanted to impart the “time as a choice” lesson. “In every moment,” she shared, “you make the choice how to use that time. Saying ‘yes’ to one thing means you’re saying ‘no’ to something else.”
So true.
We may feel at times like we don’t have a choice (“The deadline is today, I have to work on this project”), but we do. We must accept the consequences of our choice, sure, but we often have more power of choice than we think.
This week, make purposeful, priority-based choices.
When faced with one choice over another, instead of lamenting that you don’t have time, experiment with Vanderkam’s suggestion. You might say, “It’s not a priority right now” or “It’s not as high a priority as XYZ” if that feels better.
At the end of the week, see if this rewording has shifted your thoughts about time. Feel free to let me know how it goes!