Shift your mindset about time

Change how you think about time! Four crucial truths to keep in mind.

Let’s see how you think about your time…

If you saw me on the street just carelessly throwing hundreds of £20 notes around, you’d probably think I was crazy, right?

However, if you saw me binge watching Netflix or aimlessly scrolling on my phone, you’d probably think that I was just relaxing… Just having some down time, right?

And yet, in reality, throwing away money is so much more “sane” than throwing away time!

Here are 4 important things to remember about your time:

1) Your time is a commodity

Your time is your most precious possession. Value it as such. Value it over your other possessions. Value it over money.

You can always make more money. You can borrow money. You can deposit money or save it for later on your pension account.

You can never make more time. You certainly can’t borrow it from anyone else. And you most definitely can’t deposit it for later.

Your time is a non-renewable resource.

“People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy.”

Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

2) We all have the same time

We all have 24 hours in our day.

You, me, your mum, Barack Obama, a refugee in a camp in Greece, Emma Watson, an office clerk, The Queen, your yoga teacher and even Mark Zuckerberg.

24 hours in a day. No more. No less.

But do we all use our 24 hours the same way? Absolutely not!

We all have very different circumstances. Some are free as a bird, some are stuck in a tent with almost no hopes for the future. However, you and I fall into the “free as a bird” category. (Assuming so because you have the freedom, means and ability to read this blog post.)

That means you can do anything you want with your time. But how much of it are you just wasting away?

You say you don’t have time to exercise? You don’t have time to read or to pursue your passion? You don’t even have time to sleep? You don’t have any free time? (Read this to remind yourself why you need to bring balance into your life!)

But how is that possible? You do have 24 hours in a day. And so does your friend who is super fit, has a full time job and writes music in her free time. She doesn’t have more time than you. Could it be because you aren’t using your 24 hours consciously then?

You can do this little exercise if you’re not sure:

Write down everything you do during the day. Keep track of all your activities. How many minutes (or hours) do you spend procrastinating, aimlessly scrolling, unfocused, idle, …? What could you be doing instead?

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”

William Penn

3) YOU are in control of your time

You are the one who decides how you spend your 24 hours every day. Not your boss, not your partner, not your cat. YOU!

There are two key elements of becoming a master of your time:

  1. Plan it – the easy part
  2. Do it – the really difficult part
    1. But don’t despair! You CAN do it. You just need a very strong WHY to keep you on track!

Discover your WHY, learn to plan your days and become the master of your time with my FREE Time Management guide!

4) Your time is just as important and valuable as everyone else’s

Just read that again, please.

Your time is just as important and valuable as everyone else’s.

Time, time, time,

See what’s become of me,

While I looked around,

For my possibilities.

I was so hard to please,

But look around,

Leaves are brown,

And the sky is A Hazy Shade Of Winter.

Simon & Garfunkel, A Hazy Shade Of Winter

I do love this song…