I don't have the time.
That's the number one excuse I hear when people want to skip the gym.
When people complain about not earning enough, or when people want to get another job but can't because they have to study.
I don't have the time.
It's something I've said myself over the past few weeks. But that's all it is. An excuse. But what do we really do with our time?
When you actually look at it, we waste a lot of time with stuff that doesn't help us, doesn't serve us.
You have to audit your time. Every now and then, write down what you do, and when you do it. Plot it out, hour by hour. When you sleep, work, and anything else that goes on in your life. Then you'll see exactly how much free time you do have.
The amount of time we allocate to a task, is the amount of time it will take to complete it.
Lets look at it like this.
Its Saturday. You don't have work, don't have anything planned. All you have to do is clean the house. I bet it takes all day. And its a pretty shitty job when you're finished. Does when I try it anyway.
But what if you had a bird coming round? And you've only got an hour to do the entire house?
(Ok, not the entire house. Just the kitchen, living room, bathroom and hopefully the bedroom.)
You smash through that housework, and you do a pretty damn good job. Because you're under the gun. You've got a mission, and you do it, and hopefully it pays off.
See, not having enough time for things, is the same as having too much time for things. It's not time that's the issue. Its structure.
For instance, I used to say that I didn't have any time to do anything. Didn't have time to go out, didn't have time to learn something new, didn't have time for myself. Until I audited my time properly. I sat down, spent most of an afternoon doing it, and listed exactly what i did, and when I did it. I worked 40 hours a week, slept for 56, and the rest of my time was wasted, playing xBox and watching Netflix.
That was 72 hours a week, wasted!
That's a lot of hours.
But it goes to show. Saying you have no time, it isn't an excuse.
You want to start your own business?
Great, you can have a full time job and still start it up.
You want to lose some bodyfat and gain a little lean muscle?
Good! You have 72 hours a week to do it in!
I wanted to change careers. Need a degree to do it. I have 72 hours a week to study.
Ok, that's not realistic I hear you say?
You're right. We all need downtime.
How much?
2 hours a night? And a little more at the weekend?
That sounds pretty reasonable.
Ok, sleep for 52 hours, work for 40, and 18 hours of free time a week.
Leaves 54 hours to educate yourself, earn more money, and get fitter and stronger.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
It's not that we don't have enough time for things. It's just that we don't have any structure to our time. And structuring our time is the difference between making the most of what we have, and wasting it.
Course I'm writing this after spending a weekend watching supernatural and drinking beer. Need to follow my own advice I recon.
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