What To Do When You Don’t Have Enough Time
I was talking to a friend yesterday about my projects.He caught me saying: “I’m spending this much time here, that much time there, and now I have no time left to do any of this other stuff that I want to do.”
Yep. I said I didn’t have enough time.
Ouch.That’s one of those “excuses” that’s not a good reason you can’t do something.You’ve heard me talk about this a lot.And it came out of MY mouth!!It was time to face the truth.“It’s not that I don’t have time, it’s that I haven’t been prioritizing the right stuff.”
Now here’s where it gets good:
Instead of just saying that I’d prioritize one project or that I’d just make the time, I got specific.I said I will commit to 15 minutes per day of working only on my priority project. It will be right after I write my blog post, so I know I’ll have the time. You, friend, are my accountabilibuddy and you have permission to annoy the hell out of me if I don’t follow through.
What’s so special about being specific about all this?
1. I committed to a friend who will hold me accountable for the output. He’s watching.2. Being specific about how much time and when I’ll work on this project sets expectations and makes it feasible with an aggressive schedule. (People who are specific about when and where have a 91% of following through.*)3. I attached this task to an existing habit. This means it’s less likely I’ll forget or that I drop the ball by trying to create a habit from scratch.
2 Minute Action:
Whats something you’ve been meaning to get done recently?Jot down the 1, 2, and 3 for this.1. Who will hold you accountable?2. What small amount of time can you commit to progress?3. When will this happen and can you attach this to an existing habit?
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*In 2015, Fast Company published the results of a study on the effects of specificity on action.1 Researchers asked a control group to exercise once during the next week—29% of participants did. Researchers asked a second group to do the same, except this time they provided the group with detailed information about why exercising is necessary (e.g., “You’ll die if you don’t”)—39% exercised. Researchers asked a third group to commit to exercising at a specific time, on a specific date, at a specific location—91% exercised.
Feel Guilty: It Helps . . .
I crashed today.I have been overworking, for sure.Long days and few days off.I'm used to 60-80 hour weeks, but it can grind you when it's physical work or after too many weeks in a row.I took today off and I'm taking off tomorrow, too.The trick isn't just identifying burnout when it's happening, it's also giving yourself permission to take the time off.
Wanna make sure you kill your motivation?
Feel guilty.The trouble is that people like you, who care, are going to feel it no matter what.The trick isn't NOT feeling guilty, that's just going to create problems down the road.The trick is to feel guilty and THEN notice and regulate.
2 Minute Action:
Take 2 minutes and meditate today.Take 2 minutes and block off a day on your calendar that's just for you.You're the only one who knows your limits and what you need to perform at your best.
What To Do When Your Work Sucks
It’s true.You’re not always going to perform at your peak.That’s the thing about peaks.It’s the next thing, after the peak, that’s the most important, though.It’s what you do when you are no longer at your best.Guess what?
Here’s the unpopular and kinda scary answer:
Do it anyway.Unless a lot of lives are riding on your success rate being 99.99999999%, I’d say you’re probably among the rest of us who have to deal with imperfection being a larger probability.I have plenty of mistakes in my blog posts. I have them on my website and on Medium.I’ve done some pretty mediocre TV interviews, and I’ve put together some crummy Facebook ads.I’ve done some pretty ugly work in front of a lot of people.But guess what? I’m still alive, I still have an ambitious career, and my output is still relentless.The peak is the peak. Great job getting there.But now it’s time to talk about the dip that comes afterward, the most important time to focus on.
2 Minute Action:
When was the last peak you had?Could be work, personal, whatever—that’s not the point.What happened after the peak, during the decline?What might you do differently this time?Let me know in the comments what your strategies are for rebounding and recovering. We can bring these strategies to the Facebook group and talk more about implementation.For now, today, take 2 minutes to hit the “send” button, publish the articles make the call, or whatever it is.It’s up to you to take responsibility for your ups and downs. No one else is going to do it for you.