I don’t have time often means it’s not a priority.

If you think about it, that is more accurate language. I mean I could tell you I don’t have time to dust my blinds but that’s not true, If you offered  to pay me a hundred thousand dollars to go dust blinds, I’ll get to it pretty quickly. So since, it is not going to happen, I can acknowledge this is not a matter of lacking time, it is that, I do not want to do it. Using this language makes us understand that time is a choice.

Time is a choice.

Yes there may be horrible consequences for making certain choices but we are smart people and certainly over the long run,

We have the power to fill our lives with the things that deserve to be there.

 

Lets work with some empowering numbers. There are 168 hours in a week;  24 multiplied by 7 is 168 hours. That is a lot of time! If you’re working a  full time job up to 40 hours a week, sleeping 8 hours a night, say 56 hours a week. That leaves 72 hours for other things. That is a lot of time!

You say you’re working 50 hour  a week — a main job and a side hustle well, that leaves 62 hours for other things. You say youre working 60 hours , that leaves 52 hours for other things. You say you’re working more than 60 hours…are you sure?

There are 168hours in a week. That’s a lot of time!

 

In 168 hours in a week, I think we can find time for what really matters to us. If you want to exercise, volunteer for a community service, you can and that’s if you’re working full-time hours. So we have plenty of time which is great. And guess what, we don’t even need that much of time to do amazing things.

So when most of us have bits of time what do we do, we pull out our phones, delete emails, watch tv ,go on social media, etc. But small moments can have great power. You can use your bits of time and turn into bits of joy; maybe read a book on the bus on your way to work. Breaks at work can be used for meditating or praying. A family dinner or breakfast. Its about looking at the whole of one’s time and seeing where the good stuff can go.

I truly believe this. There is time. Even if we are busy we have time for what matters and when we focus on what matters, we can build the lives we want in the time we have got.

 

Story by LAURA Vanderkam on  TEDx

LAURA Vanderkam is the bestselling author of 168 Hours. Her work has been  featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, and other publications. She is married with four children.

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