Time Is Not Your Problem

I hear people around me often saying things like: "I don't have enough time. Time is an issue for me. My only problem is time… There's just not enough time in my day…" and things like that.

And I'd like to point out what should be obvious and yet, while we all get it on the conscious level, most people, especially those that I just quoted, it seems to me that they have a wrong relationship with time.

So here we go, you cannot have enough time, or have time at all – because time, is not a thing. Time… is one of those nationalizations in language, where we take a process, a verb, and freeze it in time, and then use it, as if it was a noun.

Have you ever seen time? Can it be moved from one location to another? The answer is no, and that means that time is not a noun, it's not a thing that you could have, right?

So it's an illusion to say the least. And I can hear you going now, yes yes yes, Robert, I get it… but that doesn't really change anything for me – I still don't have enough time!

And that… would be only because… you didn't get it, get it, get it… yet.

You see, if you were to realize that time is not truly a thing, you would realize that lack of time… is not your problem.

You don't get to manage time… you get to manage yourself.

Let me say this again, you don't get to manage time… you get to manage yourself.

We all have twenty-four hours per day sort of speak, and it's the same for all of us.

A homeless person on the street doesn't get more or less time in a day, does he? And it's the same for presidents of nations, workaholics, children, it's the same twenty-four hours, for all of us.

So, here's the good news – you need to learn to manage yourself, and not desperately trying and learning how to manage time.

Enough with multitasking, enough with lack of focus and distractions!

How often, or how much time do you spend on your phone, checking out your facebooks, twitters, instagrams, emails and messages of all kinds, in the middle of important work that you are busy with? You wouldn't believe how quickly it all adds up in time…

Start being aware of those things and learn to guard your focus, learn to… manage yourself and your behaviour. So here are some helpful tips that will assist you with performing even better from now on. My high-performance clients that pay me $10,000 per hour for my private coaching sessions are getting the same kind of advice, so I hope you'll take those to heart too:

Tip number 1: When it comes to performance, decluttered and rested brain is twenty times more effective than the tired and overloaded one. So those of you with a four hour sleep nights, especially those of you who are proud of that, and telling yourselves that you are a machine, and that you own this stuff… technically speaking, you are delusional and headed in the wrong direction. Certainly, not sustainable way to operate.

Now, chances are good that you won't… take me up on this, but my advice to you would be to add at least an hour of extra sleep, each night… to whatever you are already doing. We are probably best off with eight hours of sleep, just so you know.

Tip number 2: First thing in the morning, and the last thing in a day matters a lot. What are you doing, the moment you are awake? With your eyes semi-open, does your hand reach out for the phone first, to check your stuff right away? Do you… go to sleep and… the screen of your phone is the last thing you see at night? Not good my friend, really bad actually. Bad for your health, bad for your creativity , bad for your performance.

If I were you, I would make it a mission, to not have any screens whatsoever, of any kind, for at least an hour before bedtime and at least an hour after I get up. Most of us need to re-learn how to be with ourselves again, how to be ok with no stimulation from the outside world. How to restore our own peace and mindfulness, right?

Now, as for the mornings, do you really want to start your day with checking your inbox? As far as I am concerned, email inbox is a place for other people's agendas, not mine. So my day starts with my agendas instead.

Whatever that is for you, from a shower, to making love with your partner, to breakfast, to exercising, to mentally plan your day ahead… whatever works for you! But during that hour, instead of opening my inbox and get my brain to start responding to all that stimuli, I have my brain to be in a creative mode, and consciously design my own day.

Tip number 3: You must be clear on your priorities, as that will affect your decisions, when it comes to your focus. So plan ahead, get your priorities straight, and have a list of "must do's for the day" and a list of "if I get to it today". Have them listed out in the order of importance. Then, shut down all potential distractions, and get right through the most important things on your list, get them out of the way first!

So, whatever other things get your attention for a moment, you can quickly make decisions around it, in terms of what gets addressed right now, and what will simply have to wait. You can do this super easy and guilt-free, the moment you are super clear on your priorities!

Tip number 4: Take breaks every hour! I hear you say "What!?" Yes, you heard me well, take a short, 10-minute break, every… single… hour. I'll work for fifty minutes, highly focused on one task at hand, and just drill through my list, and then I'll rest for 10 minutes. This rest can be whatever passionate thing you want to do, that gets you energized.

Ideally, you'd get off your butt, off your chair I meant, and involve your body in some healthy movement and breathing. Take full 10 minutes to rest your mind, and recharge. Again, practice mindfulness if you will. Take a moment to breathe… and just… be.

Then come back for the next 50 minutes, of distraction-free, power hour. The amount of work you'd get done in one day is unbelievable. But you'd have to be strict and stick with this plan, plan your work, and then work your plan.

You see, by learning how to manage yourself, you'll feel that you have more time in a day, and you'll feel waaaay better about yourself and about your life. Time was never your enemy, nor the problem itself.

We all have twenty-four hours in a day, and it's the same for all of us. You don't get to manage time, you get to manage yourself. So no more complaints about time itself, as you are just distracting yourself from the real issue. And the real issue, if you speak to me about issues… is always you… or within you, if that sounds better.