Why Time Will Never Rule My World, Life or Work Again

Time is the most commonly used noun in English.

What time is it?

What time will you be back at?

What time are you leaving?

What time will that be ready at?

What time are you getting up at?

Will this be ready on time?

How much time do I have left?

How am I using my time?

I could overwhelm you with time questions all day. It all gets a bit exhausting, doesn't it? The world is obsessed with time. Time is money mentalities prevail in society. We want everything faster, quicker and on time. Are we losing our ability to be patient and embrace waiting? Is it making us more angry and less self-compassionate?

Time for a truth bomb!

No scientific experiment has ever been done or could be done to prove that time exists.

So, is time just a figment of our imagination?

One of the things I hear a lot in my work is my client's fear of wasting time in their life and career. I'm of the opinion we only waste time when we don't learn something valuable on reflection.

What went well?

What didn't go well?

What can I do better in my next attempt? (Note I purposely didn't use the word time there!)

And what if what could have been can still be when it comes to missed opportunity? Time can be used as an excuse to avoid taking action. I used it. I still do.

It's too late

I'm too old

I don't have the time to learn something new

I've missed a valuable opportunity

I'm wasting my time

I have missed many opportunities in my life and work but dwelling on it leads to procrastination. I end up in a doom loop of distraction. I enter the stagnation zone. Then I start to look outside of me for the answers. I scroll through LinkedIn seeking out self-help posts on time management and productivity!

Who doesn't love a good time management tip eh? But through self-assessment, a part of me feels that the time I have spent scrolling and reading is more of a band-aid to avoid taking action. I'm following the herd. In that space, I could just do it or as my colleague, Joe Hendley says to me #JFDI. And all without letting two hands on a dial dictate my output and measure of success.

What is the result of just doing it?

It is action and space to reflect on what true effectiveness looks like for me. I let go of the procrastination that comes with band-aiding my fear of wasting time. Don't get me wrong I am an advocate for time. I showed up ten minutes early for my wedding. There were guests walking up the aisle with me!

But there is a context in time as with everything else.

I value my time

I value my clients time

I like to be on time

I like my clients to be on time

When I working with clients I give them my time. I don't sit with a timer.

But how can we let go of our fear of wasting time and missing opportunity? Know that there is always time if you ensure your actions match your purpose no matter how many hours in the day there are.

Cue food for thought prompt...

Does our fear of wasting time gets confused with our fear of missing opportunities?

Efficiency is a beautiful thing for sure as it guards against the fear of wasted time. But true effectiveness is the key.

What is true effectiveness?

How do you define it in your life and work?

Do you remember Aesop’s fable of the goose and the golden egg?

One morning a farmer finds a glittering, golden-coloured egg sitting beneath his goose. At first, he thinks it is a prank, but he decides to have the egg appraised just in case.

To the farmer’s amazement, the egg is pure gold!

And each morning his prize goose continues laying the valuable eggs.

The farmer becomes extremely wealthy. But he also becomes greedy and impatient.

One day in his frustration the farmer kills the goose, hoping to get all of the golden eggs at once from inside the goose.

As we all know, the farmer finds nothing. And now, he has neither a goose nor any more golden eggs.

The moral of this story is normally about the danger of greed. The farmer grasped for too much wealth in too short of a time. But, there is a broader lesson about balance. There is always a tension between results and the ability to produce those results (aka effectiveness).  

Stephen Covey author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People refers to the story and describes the essence of effectiveness as:

“Effectiveness lies in the balance – what I call the P/PC Balance. P stands for production of desired results, the golden eggs. PC stands for production capability, the ability or asset that produces the golden eggs.

The more you produce, the more you do, the more effective you are.

But, true effectiveness is a function of two things:

1. What is produced (the golden eggs)

 2. The producing asset or capacity to produce (the goose).

If you adopt a pattern in your life and work that focuses on golden eggs and neglects the goose, you will soon be without the asset that produces golden eggs. If you only take care of the goose with no aim toward the golden eggs, you soon won’t have the ability to feed yourself or the goose.

Either extreme is a problem. So, you have to strive for a balance between the two. And that delicate balance is the essence of effectiveness.

True effectiveness lies in the balance. It lies in knowing what it looks like for you. It is very individual and we must respect our definition of it and avoid making comparisons.

True effectiveness is strategic.

Let’s take a moment to consider the theory of P/PC balance Covey gave us around balance in our lives and career.

Am I balanced in my life and work?

Am I balancing my production and my production capacity?

Do I need to reconsider my priorities?

What is the moral of the story overall?

Don’t kill your goose.

You can pick up a copy of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People here.

Let's return to the fear of wasted time? What re-frame can you use to let go of that fear?

I would invite you to consider:

What is your definition of time?

Here is mine...

It is respect and space.

Respect for what I have achieved even if that is only one thing in the space of twenty-four hours.

Respect for space I have created to achieve this one thing.

Respect for the space I've created to reflect on opportunity and learn from it. It's letting go of the tick-tock of the clock measuring my success and output.

It's being compassionate enough to understand that I may not achieve anything in twenty-four hours except waking up and being grateful for my breath. It is knowing that is enough.

My energy is focused on true effectiveness in my life and work to create impact.

That is what will create a legacy in my life and work.

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