“I need to make time to do that”

This is a common phrase I hear from people when they talk about their goals. I used to say this a lot myself. In fact it was my go-to excuse for why things hadn’t happened: I needed to ‘make time’.

I believe that while the desire to ‘make time’ for what’s important is a noble one, it is also a total fallacy. It’s an illusion, a mirage, a trick of the mind.

The truth is that time is not save-able, manageable, or reusable. Trying to make time is like trying to make money; it’s not something that can be done directly.

Here’s what I’ve realized: life is really just a succession of choices.

Choices to do things. 

Choices to not do other things.
Choices to do some things before others.

When you choose to do one thing, it cancels out the chance to do something else. It’s like a game of tic-tac-toe where the more moves you make the less options you have.

What I’ve discovered is that the only way to ‘make time’ is stop doing things of low value.

All of us have the exact amount of time in the day, but it is the choice to not do certain things that really sets people apart.

I believe there are only two things you can do with time: waste it or invest it.
How do you know the difference between wasting time or investing it?

Simple: it depends whether you are doing something of value.

The fallacy of thinking you are going to ‘make time’ is one that keeps you in place. It sets the control outside of you.

Instead of telling yourself you are going to make time, make a decision to stop doing things of low value. The less time you waste on things that actually don’t matter the more you will start to do the important things by default.

You will do this because you will get bored very soon, and all that will be left to do is to focus on what’s most valuable to you.

Making time comes from reducing the amount of things you are doing that are not part of our goals.  You know what those things are. You also know that deep down, you don’t want to be doing them.

Stop. Doing. Them.

Soon, all that will be left is to do the things that are actually important.

The secret to getting important things done is to do less of what’s not important. Instead of trying to ‘make time’, choose to act in close alignment with your purpose and values.

You’ll only feel truly alive when pursuing what matters.

Everything else is secondary.