Make Peace with Time

Make Peace with Time

One of the resources that a leader has to manage is time, his or her own and the time of others. The workplace is driven by time. There are specific hours for starting and ending the workday and for taking breaks with some having to physically clock in and out. Woe be unto us if we are late. We have specific times for meetings to start, although end times seem to be open resulting in meetings dragging on way “over time”. We have deadlines. By the way, ever wonder why they are “deadlines” and not termed something like “lifeline”, “successline” or “completionline”? We complain that we don’t have time for this or that, have run out of time or need more time.

And so we try harder and harder to control time and to get more of it. We attend Time Management courses, read books, schedule our calendars, set timers, come in early and stay late – all to no avail. It seems that the more we try to manage time, the more it manages us.

Can we really manage time? Can we manage something that is totally outside of our control, which ticks on no matter what and will continue long after we are gone? Can we make more of something that is given in equal measure to each of us in terms of hours in the day, minutes in the hour and seconds in the minute? It’s not possible. Why fight a battle that we cannot win? Perhaps it’s time to make peace with time (many thanks to Lama Surya Das for this insight in his book Buddha Standard Time).

How do we do this?

We STOP. Until recently, I thought that I would slow down and take things easier, slowly and be more orderly once I had completed everything on my “to do” list. But there has rarely been a day, week or month when I accomplished it all. Time always conquered my to do list, leaving my life as collateral damage. Two weeks ago I decided to make peace with time. I stopped. And then started again at a much slower pace. I have discovered that when I slow down, I open space for my priorities to become clear. My energy flows to these with ease and I get them done. Time feels to me like what it really is – endless.

Here are 3 things that I did and you can do to make peace with time:

1. Spend quiet time each morning in reflection. Even 10 minutes helps you to be grounded and calm. Do this no matter what – even and especially if you are late. Stop “running late” and be still for a few minutes.
2. Accept that if you are late, you are late. Don’t rush. Slow down and get wherever you are going calmly and “in due time”. Ever notice that when you rush to be on time you only save a few minutes? Slow down and be late. And while you revelling in your lateness, reflect on why and what you can do to make sure it doesn’t happen again – next time.
3. Each morning, scan your “to do” list and identify the ONE most important thing you would like to accomplish on that day. Can’t get your list below 11? No worries. Just identify ONE item, do it mindfully and with focus and then take a moment to congratulate yourself when it’s done. Then you can tackle the other 10, one by one.

Since making peace with time, I am getting the important things done, not just “on time” but even early. I am naturally eliminating my time suckers and being more present to life. Time is no longer my enemy, it is my friend.

TAKE ONE ACTION

STOP RIGHT NOW, breathe, and be still. In the next moment decide on the one most important task to do today as per Step 3 above. Do it and remember to congratulate yourself!

INTERESTING LINKS

One of the excuses we make for not getting things done is that we don’t have the resources. AirBnB is a fascinating study in building a thriving business without resources. Indeed, when they started 7 years ago, they didn’t even have an idea! Now they list over 800,000 beds in 33,000 cities in 192 countries. Look at their approach to Cuba. Talk about “first to market”!
– click to view article

Trust, or lack thereof, is crucial to the success of any leader. Yet it so often eludes us. This article posits 5 actions you can take to slowly build trust. Perhaps one of these should be high-priority on your “to do” list?
– click to view article