Develop a Mindset to Know that You Have Enough Time
Hey there, thank you for joining me on the Mindset for Life Podcast. I’m very, very excited about this particular episode, because time management is something that comes up a lot. Most people that I talk to, whether at work or when I’m coaching, or in my family life, talk about time.
Time comes up over and over. If time were a person, its ears would be burning all day long, seriously, because we’re just always talking about it. So today, we’re going to talk about a mindset to know that you have enough time. I was really intrigued by this. In a book I read by Gay Hendricks, who wrote “The Big Leap,” if you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it, it’s about the upper limit problem.
Stretching our comfort zone, and our ability to achieve more success, feel more love, and feel more positive emotions in our life. Now we fight this.
Why? Well, there are a lot of reasons why, that I’m not going to get into today. And I encourage you to listen to some of my other episodes of this podcast. Today, we’re going to focus on how you can develop a mindset to know that you have enough time, you really do.
And in my experience, it’s all about your mindset. Once you have a mindset to believe that you’re capable of something, that it’s open to you, you can achieve anything, literally, that you put your mind to. You can really set the goals that you want to, and you can move forward. So today, we’re going to talk about the feelings that we have about time. I’m going to share a lot of feelings that I have had about time in the past, and feelings that you might have about time.
I’m going to challenge each one of these thoughts and going to encourage you to consider your own thoughts and feelings about time.
Why do we think we don’t have enough time?
Thoughts are ideas that we have. Feelings are emotions. So when I say we have feelings around time, I’m really talking about like, angst, anxiety, worry, regret, fear. A lot of those things, right? One of the biggest thoughts that we have around time is that we just don’t have enough of it.
Whenever you think about not having enough of something, what does that do for you?
For me, when I think about not having enough, it starts me down the path of worry. Now, I’m not super familiar with the emotion of worry. My brain worries, I have a lot of thoughts around scarcity and worry, but I don’t really notice the feeling of worry.
Worry, feels kind of tight in the shoulders. It feels tight in my neck. It feels like I’m hunched over a lot, I really have to think about what that feels like. What does worry feel like to you?
Do you like that? Well, when you’re worried that you don’t have enough time, that it’s limited, that it’s finite, you’re probably thinking some of the thoughts that I have thought, and here they are.
I have thought, “There are only 24 hours in this day, and only seven days a week. And no matter how carefully I plan, I just might not be able to get everything done. I need to plan wisely, or maximize the time.”
I want to challenge this today, so I ask you, is it really true?
Is it really true that time is limited, that It’s finite?
In his book, “The Big Leap,” Gay Hendricks talks about playing with time. Stretching time. Always having enough time. Have you ever met anyone like this, that seems to get a lot of things done that they care about? And you wonder, where did they find the time for all of that?
They teach a college class.
They teach coaching in the evenings.
They go off and create a lot of art.
They have time to go camping, go fix up their cabin.
They’re doing all of this in a state of ease and flow and feeling like it’s all working together for them.
To me, it sounds like a very busy schedule. I don’t know how they’re fitting it all in, because I’m thinking time is finite, it’s limited. There are only 24 hours in a day, seven days a week. So I’m really wondering about this. And today I’m suggesting that when we think differently about time, it becomes a resource for us to use, not something that we are slaves to. It is our slave. We are the masters.
It’s not a limited, few, fleeting hours that pass by that we cannot hold on to. Today I invite you to take this journey with me to cultivate a mindset to know that you have enough time.
What are your thoughts about time?
Let’s start with your current thoughts about time. I’m going to read some of these that come up a lot. Here’s the first one.
- Time, I’ll never have enough.
- Time disappears, I can’t control it.
- Another common thought is, I don’t want to look at the clock, because it will be bad. There’s never enough time. And I will be disappointed too, how much time has passed.
- Another thought around time you might be having is, I have to hide my real time management habits, and try to look like I spend time wisely. And that I look like I’m fine in areas of productivity and time management.
- And another thought that comes up is, everyone else seems to have enough time and to have this whole thing figured out. But only I don’t know the real secret to saving time and being productive, focused, or having extra time. Having free time. How does anyone do that?
- Some people think time is always out of control: Other people interrupt my time asking things of me, disrupting my schedule, taking my time, wasting my time, spending my time in ways that I can’t anticipate or control. I literally spend all my time trying to get enough done and make time and there just will never be enough.
All of these thoughts might seem true. You might have had some of these thoughts before, I know I have. And when I think these things, they don’t feel great. A lot of the feelings around those thoughts are that I am the subject of time, and it is the object controlling me.
In fact, when I think it disappears, and I can’t control it, I feel like nothing is in my control. There’s nothing I can do. So I might as well not try. And if I think that I need to hide my time management habits, then I start to have to hide who I am. And a lot of other things too.
I want to challenge all of these thoughts. Because while they might feel true, they might seem true, all of the thoughts that I just shared with you drive away creativity and curiosity. And when we think in these ways, we really cannot try to live with ease and flow.
How can thoughts about time focus on ease and flow?
Ease and flow promote creativity and innovation. We get really tense and uptight and worried and anxious when we have these other thoughts about time. These thoughts chase time away. They make us subject to that idea that we are in poverty.
In fact, they cultivate a mindset a lot like poverty. So what new thoughts can we have instead? What can we think about time, that’s going to be different, that’s going to be inviting, and maybe turn it around for us? I’d like to propose about 10 new thoughts. And I’ll share these one at a time.
Ten thoughts to develop a mindset of having enough time
Here we go. The first thought is I have enough time and I can always get more and grow time. Doesn’t that sound magical? I have enough I can always get more.
Someone asked me during a coaching call the other night, should he give up sleep to get more time to study? I thought, “Okay, sleep is essential for studying.”
But it made me think about this time when I was pursuing my doctoral degree. And I went back east to Boston where the residency was going to be held. And I literally stayed up two nights in a row. So I was up on Tuesday, stayed up Tuesday night was up on Wednesday, stayed up Wednesday night and presented on Thursday. And none of that time did I sleep.
And I had planned ahead that if I wasn’t ready, I would simply stay awake and keep working. I never felt tired. I never felt exhausted. I went for those two nights and three days with no sleep at all. I thought it was just a gift. And I’m not sure where the energy came from. But I had enough time to get everything done.
And it didn’t feel out of control. So sometimes, time might be produced in ways that take sleep from us. But I don’t think that’s always the case. I don’t think you have to always give up sleep to make more time. Time will appear in ways we don’t expect.
Maybe a meeting gets canceled spontaneously. And now, all of a sudden, we have another hour. So we can’t always plan on where that time is going to come from. But we can believe there is enough, and we can always get more, and it will happen.
The second idea is there is no end to my resourcefulness to use time well. I believe that about you. I believe that about me.
Number three, I can plan for, track, and account for all of my time. That is true. If you have never used a time tracker to write down what you’re doing every hour of the day. I suggest trying this.
When you try to track and account for all of your time, you’ll notice what habits you have. The way you spend your time. And you can intentionally change your habits and decide to invest your time differently. So if you do notice your time seems kind of like it’s disappearing, just use a tracker, you can account for it and you can change course.
Number four, time is given to me by God and the universe as a tool, I have stewardship over it, I can train time to be my servant, or my companion to do what I want it to do. And to hold space for me to do my greatest work. My timeline is clear and understandable. Time is neutral.
Number Five, Time is a tracker and a status updater, not something good or bad.
Number six, I can tell my true story about time and my relationship with time, it’s not a secret, I don’t have to appear a certain way in relationship to time to please others, or to hide anything. I’m accountable for the way I work with time, and I’m not ashamed about it.
Number seven, there is no secret to having enough time, only the skills to use it well, to maximize it, and to flow with the time available, even to expand time, and I’m willing to learn better skills every day.
That’s true, I’ve been seeking out better time use strategies for years now. And I feel like I get better and better all the time. So I believe in that, and I know you can do it too.
Number eight, I can devote time to fun and enjoyable experiences, relaxation, and focused work. I will intentionally decide where to invest time for a balanced work and life that I love.
Number nine, I am able to always have enough time for what I’ll accomplish, without exhausting myself or overworking, and I will let go of those priorities I don’t believe in, or that belong to someone else, to focus time on my gifts, and on areas in which I’m uniquely qualified to make a difference, contribute and keep growing.
And the last one. Number 10, I always have time to include others, to bring them with me, and to invite them to play a part in the great work that I’m doing, and to appreciate what others care most about as a companion, when I’d like to do that.
That most important part of bringing others along and taking the time to do that…. I think that’s probably one of the most insidious thoughts that we have, is when we’re trying to get work done, when we have children around, when we have family members around, or when we’re thinking of our colleagues, we might think we just don’t have time to connect with those people.
If we stopped to talk to people, we’ll run out of time to get the work done. And we go back into that lack. That poverty. Mindset of never having enough. But when we bring others with us, we will find that we always have enough.
Pretty soon the work gets redistributed and they’re contributing to our ideas. They’re helping us out. We’re benefiting by connecting with other people too. And when we’re able to bring others with us, we will find our time measurement changes quite a bit. And that is one of the gifts and blessings of using time differently.
The next step: Make time a friend
So this week, I’d like to invite you to look at time as a resource and a friend, one that is not so structured as you might think it is, but one that is somewhat malleable.
When you put your priorities in order, and you put your priorities where you’d like them to be, and you use your time resourcefully, and well, looking at it as a tool and something you can always have enough of to get the important work done, you will find you will have enough time to relax.
To work in a state of ease and flow. And to let go of some of your worry, some of your anxiety, and some of your fear about losing time or managing it poorly. And pretty soon, you will be the master of time instead of its slave.
You can do this. This is a wonderful way to develop a mindset that you have enough time. And I want to make one thing perfectly clear before we sign off today. And that is, that the mindset to know that you have enough time is not about putting things off.
It’s not about procrastinating. And it’s not about “kicking the can down the road” and saying, “I’ll just start it later. I have plenty of time. I’m just not going to go there.” No, it’s actually about working with confidence and calm to do your best work now, instead of working in fear, worry, anxiety and panic mode.
So it’s a different mindset about the way you’re using the time right now so that you can do your best work. I hope you will try these ideas because I know they are working for me, and I know they can work for you.
I want you to feel excited about time and look forward to the time you’re going to use and the way you’re going to interact with time. Best wishes this week trying it out. And I hope you will reach out to me very soon to let me know how it’s going for you. You can email me anytime through my website at DrBCoach.com. There’s a contact form there.
Get in touch with me. Let me know how you’re using this information about time and what suggestions you might add for other listeners that I could share for future episodes. Take care of yourself, and best wishes being the best version of you this coming week.
This episode’s theme song is “Sunshine Club,” by Ishan Dincer. Used with Permission.
Like what you read here? In this podcast, I’m sharing some core principles I’ve learned in coaching that have completely changed my life. These ideas restore personal power and bring the confidence to grow our unique traits, strengths, and attributes, to live with purpose and joy as we make each day a little better. And when we do that, we’re putting good into the world. Right here, you have the tools to take one small step. And with a personal coach, you can take it deeper, to make these changes a lasting part of your life. You can live your true purpose with joy, every day.
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