by Brandi Zrallack, Perfect Wedding Guide Market Manager
This week, I spent time in Las Vegas. Vacation? No. I attended the Wedding MBA and was able to pick up invaluable information. Did I know some of the information? Absolutely. Did I know all of it? Absolutely not. While I heard some useful and purposeful information, the one thing that I heard over and over again was, "I don't have time for that." It dawned on me; it's not that we don't have time, it's that we don't have the desire to make time.
Life is about choices. As Americans, we get to choose how we want to spend our time. We may have an overbearing boss, a demanding family life, or a desire to sit by the pool for 3 hours a day. No matter what our lot in life is, we still get to choose how we spend our time.
I know. I know. You're reading this thinking to yourself, I wish I could make the choice of how to spend my time, but who's going to pick up the kids, who's going to make dinner, who's going to do the laundry. I don't mean that you get to neglect your responsibilities as a business owner, family member or even as a human being, but you do get to make choices on how you're going to manage your day.
Yesterday, I spoke with someone who told me they had no time to keep up with a blog. Yet, everyday on Facebook, I see this person at the mall, at the salon, sitting by the pool, and so on.
Again, choices. I will constantly say, "I don't have time to exercise." But, let's be honest. It's not that I don't have the time; it's that I don't have the desire to make the time. Exercise isn't a top priority for me and therefore I choose not to make the time for it. Could I get up at 5:00 AM instead of 5:45 and work out for 30 minutes? Absolutely. But, sleep is more important to me. Could I put the kids to bed at night and go out for a walk? Absolutely. But, the ability for some downtime in front of the television is more important. Could I go out for a walk during my lunch hour? Sure. But, going to lunch with the girls sounds more fun. I have the time; I just choose to use it in other rewarding ways.
The same is true for all of us. We all have the same amount of time. There are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and 365 days in a year. No one gets preferential time and no one is denied additional time. But, why is it that some of us are able to accomplish more in a day than others? Is it because they're multi-taskers? Maybe. Is it because they can combine their efforts and manage their time more effectively? Could be. I believe it's ultimately that some people have the essential desire to make the time.
They choose to start their day with a walk. They take care of their grooming and
dietary needs. They get the kids ready for school. From there, that's where we begin to differ as human beings. Some people, with the desire to get things done, get to work as quickly as possible. When they're there, they're not surfing the web or creating 2-hour spreadsheets evaluating something that doesn't make a difference anyway. They're not taking 2-hour lunches. They're not talking for 30 minutes on the phone with a friend, a husband or complaining about how they have no time with a co-worker. They're focused. They have a set of goals to accomplish for the day and they stay focused on those goals until they get through them. When they're through the list, they look for additional tasks to accomplish. They end their day with one last email check and head towards home to once again cook dinner, get homework done, get the kids off to bed and go to bed.
Because they optimized their time with a list of goals and things to accomplish, they completed the tasks they had the desire to make time for. Hopefully, they completed some that were off their radar too.
Now, you may be reading this thinking, "I don't want to work that hard. I want to make time to go to the pool, take a 3-hour lunch, or lay down my weary head in the middle of the day." That's okay. It's okay if you aren't required to get a lot accomplished in your day. However, you don't get to sit here and think to yourself, "I don't have the time to get that done," if you're making the choice to do other non-productive things.
So, the next time you want to say to someone, "I don't have the time to Facebook, " "I don't have the time to blog," "I don't have the time to check my emails," "I don't have the time to go to networking events," "I don't have the time to work on my web site," you should really say, "I don't have the desire to make the time to do that." The choices are yours and time is of the essence!
