Do these phrases sound familiar? I don’t have time. I’m too busy. Sorry, I’m slammed. I wish I could, but I really can’t. You’ve probably said at least one of these phrases in the last week or two. I get it. We all have jobs to do, responsibilities to handle, errands to run, and chores to complete. We’re busy at work, we’re busy at home, and so our time is very precious to us. I’m sure that you’re actually busy and don’t have time to do certain things, but I’m here to tell you that you might have more time than you actually think.
Time as an excuse
I bet you’ve used the phrase ‘Sorry, but I’m so busy‘ when you didn’t want to do something: take on a project, meet up with someone, or participate in some kind of an event. Saying that we’re too busy has become our go-to excuse when we don’t want to do something. It’s our easy way out.
It’s almost like when you were a kid, and your friend asked you; ‘Hey, wanna go play outside?’ If you didn’t feel like it, you responded with ‘Sorry, my parents said no.’ Sweet! You just got out of an unwanted situation, and you didn’t hurt anyone’s feelings in the process!
You’re lying to yourself
Now that we’re responsible adults, we can’t use our parents as an excuse. However, we’ve begun using time as an excuse. I understand that saying ‘no’ to someone is harder than saying ‘I simply don’t want to go to your birthday party, Karen!” but because of this conditioned habit, we’re beginning to lie to ourselves too. If you’re constantly using the excuse ‘Sorry, I have no time’ when dealing with other people and situations, no wonder you’ve begun to believe that lie yourself!
“Too busy is a myth. People make time for the things that are really important to them.” – Mandy Hale
You have time
Is there a side project that you really want to start? Is there a side hustle you want to build? Are you really passionate about books but you haven’t read anything in the last year? If you said yes, but you haven’t gotten around to doing it just yet, it’s probably because you, ahem, don’t have time. But let me ask you this… If somebody were to give you $1,000,000 dollars in order for you to start that side hustle ALONGSIDE your 9-5 job, would you do it? If somebody paid you to finally start making those videos that you really want to make, would you do it?
I know your answer is YES, and I know you would do everything in your power to hustle your butt off so you can get that $1,000,000 dollars. The funny thing is… suddenly you’ve found some time! The amount of hours in a day didn’t change.
The amount of hours you spend at work didn’t change. ALL the circumstances stayed the same, but what changed were your PRIORITIES. Suddenly, working on your side hustle (in hopes of receiving the $1MILL) became more important than wasting time on the web, or watching that new TV show on Netflix.
It’s all about priorities
The point that I’m making here is – it’s not about TIME, it’s about our priorities. If meditating was your priority, you would simply find the time to do it. (I mean… how hard really is it to find 15 minutes?) If exercising was your priority, you would wake up an hour earlier and go to the gym. If building your side hustle was a priority, you’d work on it after you’re back from your 9-5.
We’re all busy. We all have jobs to do and bills to pay. However, if you start using this as your constant excuse as to why you can’t do something, you’re only shooting yourself in the foot. You’re only stopping yourself from doing something that you really want.
“In order to say yes to your priorities you have to be willing to say no to something else.”
Get off your phone
To top it all off, I just want to make you aware of how much time we spend on our phones. A few days ago I watched a video where a woman explained that if you use your phone for 80 years, 4-6 hours a day, it would mean that 20 out of those 80 years would be spent starring at your phone. (If that isn’t terrifying, I don’t know what is!)
Now, add another 20-25 years of sleeping, and you’ve just lost half of your life. 80 years might seem like a long time, but how many of those years do we actually put to good use? We spend hours scrolling on our phones, we binge watch an entire season of a new TV show in 2 days, and we forget how precious and limited our time is. So, I want to ask you, how are you going to spend your time?
Image courtesy of Twenty20.com
So true! I know I use that excuse myself but it was nice to hear it so well explained