I just don’t have time!
I started writing this in a co-working space in Loulé, a twenty-minute drive away from my apartment in Faro. I’ve lived here for over a year, but I’ve never investigated co-working because “I didn’t have time.” That’s not entirely true - I just didn’t prioritise it. Once there, I realised I should have done it sooner. The coffee was hot, the lighting was good, and there were real life humans here who smile and chat. A very welcome change from my silent home office.
How often do you find yourself saying “I just don’t have the time?!”
Just last night, my mother-in-law asked if we do one big weekly food shop or if we browse daily to see what we fancy. My immediate response: “We definitely don’t have time to browse, that’s definitely not an option.” That’s probably not entirely true either. It’s probably not about time at all, more about preference: routine, planning, minimising stress and cost. Maybe going to the shops every day just doesn’t appeal to me.
My husband often teases me about my “Golding Efficiency” – a trait shared by my parents, brother and I, always trying to maximise efficiency in every manoeuvre. Not going upstairs until there is more than one thing to do up there, making sure we do the shopping while the kids are swimming, rather than making a separate trip later. Yet despite this efficiency, I still, regularly find myself saying “I don’t have time.”
When I was training to be a coach, I was introduced to the 24-hour priorities tool, which I have since adapted to factor in energy levels. This month, I’m launching the Lost Words 24-Hour Priorities exercise, and I want to share how it can help you.
This is more than a five-minute task, but I promise it’ll help if you’re struggling with workload and prioritisation. You will reflect on how you spend your time across a normal 24-hour period: any areas of wasted effort, inappropriate use of time, opportunities for the things you’ve neglected. You’ll also consider your energy levels, which can help you identify your natural peaks and troughs, so you can maximise your productivity and down-time throughout the day.
Once you’ve done these two parts, you can determine where you want to find time for what matters, and what you want less of. What about those niggles that say you should be doing something – this is the time to either find time for them or cross them off the list for good.
When I first completed the exercise, I noticed two things:
1. Sleep and work dominated my weekdays (predictably)
2. After totting up all my activities, I was still 2 and a half hours short of 24 hours. Where did that time go?!
A big chunk goes on distractions for sure. Even whilst writing today I’ve switched my attention to another cup of coffee, to LinkedIn notifications, and to photos from my mother of a half-finished cardigan she’s making. These things aren’t inherently bad, but the time certainly adds up.
Lost time also goes on things that I think I “shouldn’t” do: scrolling on my phone, watching trash on TV, painting my nails. But these things are sometimes exactly what I need. Other times it’s unexpected life admin – negotiating a house purchase, popping to the shop for a forgotten ingredient, calling the landlord because the oven broke. Then, occasionally, when I’m lucky, it’s spent doing something that really feeds my soul: meeting new people and just chatting.
I have really struggled to make the time to socialise recently. I tend to go to events and frame it as networking, rather than just meeting people for fun. That’s changing now though, it’s all important, it’s all part of me, and it’s all something worth making time for.
But, how do I do that, when 24-hours of my day are already allocated to sleep, work, meal-prep and childcare? By reviewing my priorities. I track when my energy is highest, reassess the necessary, and, with a sprinkling of Golding efficiency, I find the time.
So, have a look at the Lost Words 24-Hour Priorities exercise. You can find it here.