“I just don’t have the time…”
“I don’t have time to do everything.”
Cue body: Shoulders slumped in resignation. To do list crumpled in hand. Complete exhaustion.
I had gotten to the point of such total breakdown around the concept of having time for what mattered that my coach had me repeat the following mantra:
I drink when I’m thirsty.
I eat when I’m hungry.
I sleep when I’m tired.
It seemed so basic and so absurd that I finally got it. Why wouldn’t I eat when I’m hungry? Why wouldn’t I sleep when I’m tired?
Actions speak louder than words and my actions reveal what I was committed to.
Five years ago, I wasn’t committed to taking care of myself.
My time and my actions were going to everything but me. They were going to my job. And, yes, I still had a day job. They were going to all the “busy work” of life that was taking me away from life.
Why is that we all have the same number of hours in a day, yet the outcome and experience of those hours is so wildly different?
Have you ever met someone who was so productive you found yourself asking, how can they possibly get so much done?
How can Richard Branson possibly run over 400 companies?
Well, the other day I was traveling with my friend Natalie Ledwell. Just like me she’s into positive thinking, body hacks, nutrition and all the ways to bend time and do more… while enjoying more. (Yes it’s possible!)
And she shared with me her personal time mantra.
It goes like this: “Time expands to meet my needs.”
Every time it feels like she can’t possibly do what she needs to do, she tells herself “time expands to meet my needs.”
Since I’ve started using this mantra.
And here’s what I noticed: The more I tell myself that time expands to meet my needs, the more I realize that I have enough time to do what I really want to do.
No excuses. No stories. If I act in alignment with my commitments, I have enough time to do what matters.
And you have enough time too. The question is what will you do with it? Spend time with your family? Build your business? Let me know in the chat.
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In this series, I invite you to imagine that your life is like the Starship Enterprise. You’re the captain. You have access to a fully-equipped control deck. And on that deck are 3 warp drive controls that allow you to bend reality.
The first control is the time warp. It allows you to expand time to meet your needs. Every. Day.
Stay tuned for the next two warp drive controls… things I’ve learned over the last 5 years as we built our business from zero to multi-million.
Love it? Hate it? Let me know...
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I agree with the premise. How might the approach be different if you have competing needs?
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You work out your priorities. What to do first. Second. And third. Not everything has to be done at the same…
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I just reviewed a really good book on this topic, I Know How She Does It, by Laura Vanderkam. She had high earning women do time logs that revealed they were indeed able to fit in work, family, and leisure in the 168 hours of a week. Here’s link:
http://francesothomas.com/2015/08/25/having-it-all-is-not-out-of-reach/
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Thanks for sharing! I’ll check it out…
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Marisa – the choices we make and decisions made definitely affect our time usage. I admit to not being so good at this because I allow distractions to take me off course. When I really focus, wow – things just flow. With the attitude of ‘let it be done’ – more will happen.
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We definitely get in our own way or allow others to determine our agenda. It’s amazing to take responsibility for your own attention.
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This post is just what the doctor ordered! I’ve been beating myself up about not having enough time. Being honest with myself, I do see where I should be dedicating more time for my business. Watching television before bed even for an hour, could be an hour working on my business. Thanks for the kick in the pants. Looking forward to the next part in the series.
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You’re welcome! 🙂
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Great post Marisa,
I can very well relate to this. I always wonder why some people always get things done easily than i do. Do they have more extra time than i do or what?The funny thing is that no matter how i try to balance my time so i can all i want on a daily basis, i always see myself struggling to achieve it.
This is actually my first time of hearing the sentence “Time expands to meet my needs” and if i this simple sentence will be able to always buy me more time then, its a no brainer.
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I find it’s a way to destress and when I’m less stressed, I accomplish more. 🙂
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I love it! “Time expands to meet my needs.” MUCH more positive than the ol’ “everyone has the same 24 hours” which feels as though we aren’t as important or as good as the person who says it to us. Time truly does expand to meet our needs and things take as long as we let them. I’ve often noticed how when I have to do more, I actually get more done and am more productive. If we give ourselves 4 hours to write a blog post, it usually takes that long. But if we give ourselves 1 hour, it also usually takes that long. Which is not the same as estimating how long it might take to get another task completed. We think it might take an hour, but it actually took us 2. “Time expands to meet my needs. Time expands to meet my needs. Time expands to meet my needs.” You gotta say it 3x, right? 🙂
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That’s exactly right! The same task can can take 4 hours or 1 hour, depending on how you approach it… and saying it 3x does help.
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i commit to taking on this mantra. maybe my frustrations will go away. It’s about taking control I guess…thanks Marisa
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You’re welcome… 🙂
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