The Problem Isn't Lack of Time

(Transcript edited for clarity.)

Hi, I'm Wes. Welcome to The Problem Isn't Lack of Time.

We're going to talk about time today, and the thing that first came to mind for me is time management.

Time management systems are a big thing. They have been for as long as I can remember. People are always looking for a better time management system.

If I could just learn to manage my time better, I'd get more done or I'd reach my big goals faster or better.

But what I've found is it's not a lack of time. It's a lack of priorities, and moving back even a step from that, maybe it's not even a lack of priorities. It's a lack of figuring out what should be a priority.

So keep those things in mind as we talk about that today.

The problem isn't lack of time.

People often say they don't have enough time. Sometimes that's true.

Life gets busy. We all have days where we literally don't have a lot of extra time.

But more often, the real challenge is deciding what deserves the time we already have.

Think about that.

When you say you don't have enough time, does it mean you really don't have enough time, or does it mean you're not deciding well what deserves the time you already have?

We all have the same amount of time in a day, right? There are 24 hours a day. We all have the same amount of time.

We also all have different responsibilities and different things that have to have our time.

But usually when I say - and I'm not judging you - when I say, "I don't have time," what I really mean is that's not enough of a priority for me to make time to do it.

I've found throughout my life that the most important things to me are the things I intentionally gave time to.

And because of that, I intentionally didn't give time to other things that would interfere with the most important things in my life.

If you watch a lot of my videos or read a lot of my things, you may occasionally hear me talk about my core values.

I have core values, and I have them in a list: faith, family, freedom, and fulfillment.

I have them in order.

So the things that are important in my life - and this show is not about this - start with my faith.

My faith is very important in my life. That's why it's the first one listed.

My family. Family is very important in my life.

Then my freedom.

When I talk about freedom, I talk about a lot of different kinds of freedom.

Financial freedom is what most people think about. But to me, time freedom is almost as important and in some ways more important than the others.

Time freedom means that I develop my life and put systems in my life so I have the time to intentionally focus on the things that are most important to me.

Health freedom, other types of freedom.

Then fulfillment, to me, is creating things - creating Your Life Systems as an example, writing books, recording videos, building projects, and other things that you don't see.

But I have a list.

Now I get to decide what I do with my time.

I've used this in the front of my mind for years and years to design my life so I have a lot of time freedom.

I work for myself for the most part now. I work with clients one-on-one, as some of you know.

That means I'm working with other people, but it's not like a traditional job.

I've worked plenty of traditional jobs, but I've consciously and intentionally designed my life so I have time freedom.

For example, my one-on-one clients, my consulting clients, do create a time commitment.

It's a scheduled time commitment, and we work together and schedule it when it works best for both of us.

But I get to intentionally schedule that time for the most part on my time and my client's time. We work together.

So that is a time commitment, but it's not like a job time commitment.

I remember the first full-time job I ever had. I worked from 7:00 to 3:30.

That was a time commitment. I couldn't do other things with that time. From 7:00 to 3:30, I was there, and that was it.

And that's fine. I'm not saying jobs are good or bad. This is not about jobs like that.

I'm just using it as an example of time freedom.

I never liked being in that position. I didn't have time freedom.

So I've intentionally designed my life so I have time freedom.

Now, what does all this have to do with the problem not being a lack of time?

The reason I'm talking about all this is because I'm going to use me as an example.

I get to choose where I focus most of my time.

I have very little time that I don't get to intentionally choose what to do with.

So a lot of people think, "Oh, that's great. I just sit around and play games or watch TV all day."

Well, that is not how I got to this point in my life where I have time freedom.

If you can do that, that's great. If that's what you want to do, that's great.

That would drive me nuts.

Nonetheless, that doesn't mean anything here.

I listed my priorities, my core values.

I talked about faith.

Well, I know what I'm going to be doing on Sunday mornings.

I also know I have time blocked on Thursday afternoons and evenings that fits with that.

That's non-negotiable.

Then the second thing I listed was my family.

I get to intentionally decide what time I'm going to spend with my family and do different things with my family.

We schedule things, but even when we don't schedule things, my family's a priority.

So I get to spend time where I want to spend time.

The third one I mentioned was freedom.

A lot of the time I spend doing things is to ensure that freedom and to build that freedom - financial freedom, time freedom, health freedom.

That's why I work, so I can continue to have financial freedom, continue to have time freedom, and continue to have health freedom, and other freedoms.

So what's all that have to do with this?

I decide where I get to spend my time.

You decide where you're going to spend your time.

Now, if you're forced to spend your time someplace you don't want to spend your time, what are you doing to change that?

That's what I'm talking about.

When I used to work full-time jobs for someone else, I didn't like it.

It took me a lot of years to develop the ability, put businesses into place, and build my skills so that now I don't have that same time commitment.

It bothered me enough that I figured out how to put things in my life, build systems, and create systems in my life so I wasn't forced to be in that situation any longer.

Now I have more time freedom.

Now I choose to work on businesses, my businesses, and things like that, but there's a difference there.

I hope you can see the difference.

I felt like I was forced to be tied up for 40 to 50 hours a week, and now it's a choice.

I still work, but, for example, I think I used this in another video.

If my grandson shows up while I'm working this afternoon and wants to do something, I don't have to ask anybody.

It's my time.

I get to choose what to do with it.

I can make two choices.

I can tell my grandson I'm too busy, or I can stop what I'm doing and go hang out with my grandson.

Well, where's my list of core values? Faith, family, freedom.

Family - that's the grandson.

Working on whatever project I'm working on - that's in the freedom bucket.

So I've already made that choice.

I'm going to go hang out with my grandson because I've done enough building these systems so that I have the time freedom.

That's what I'm saying, and this all ties back in.

The problem isn't a lack of time.

Time reflects your priorities.

What are my priorities? I told you what they were.

The grandson is a bigger priority than the freedom bucket.

I call them buckets sometimes. That's where things go in my mind. It's like my mind's filing system.

The family bucket is more important than the freedom bucket.

Now, I can't be 100% family because then the freedom goes away. So you've got to be smart, but that's the choice.

If the choice right now is the family bucket or the freedom bucket, then family comes first.

So time reflects your priorities.

Now, here's the awesome thing about it.

You get to choose what your priorities are, and if your priorities are different from what you're being forced to do now, what can you do to change that so you get to choose more?

Every yes requires a no.

Grandson shows up. Yes, let's go do something.

I have to say no to what I was working on this afternoon, so I have to do it later.

I'm willing to make that trade.

Protect your highest priorities.

That's the really important thing we're talking about here.

It took me a long time to do it, and it's still not 100% perfect, but when I wasn't happy about having to go to work, I figured out ways to start protecting my highest priorities.

So I designed my life intentionally to get from there to where I am now, and that's what you need to do.

Protect your highest priorities. Design your life. Build systems that reflect what matters most to you.

Figure out what matters most, then start creating systems that let you do what matters most.

The question isn't always whether you have enough time. It's whether you're spending it where it matters most to you.

In closing, better priorities usually solve more problems than better scheduling.

So stop chasing time management and start chasing what's important to you.

What are your priorities? What matters most to you?

I'm Wes. Thanks for being with me.

Like, subscribe, take care. We'll see you soon.

What's Next?

·        Write down the three or four things that matter most to you.

·        Put them in an order that helps when two priorities compete for the same time.

·        Look at your calendar and ask whether it reflects those priorities.

·        Identify one recurring commitment that deserves less time or attention.

·        Protect one block of time this week for something higher on your list.

·        Build a system that makes that choice easier to repeat instead of re-deciding it every time.

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