The real reason for the lack of time

If we want to achieve worthwhile goals in life, it is important that we schedule time for activities that lead us toward those goals. Due to the accelerated pace of life and the excessive offer of various contents, personal progress often falls into the background because simply - we don't have time. However, is it possible that this is a commonly accepted illusion? Is it still possible that we can have time for everything? If we feel like we don't have time, what could be the real cause? Could it be a lack of planning? And if we are a person who plans, is the cause perhaps inadequate planning? Whatever the cause, we must not be too hard on ourselves. No one taught us how to adequately plan time in this strange digital age.

What activities do we usually plan

We usually plan activities and events where we have to be present. These are various meetings, business and family obligations and other things. Such activities have a high priority in our life and we rarely neglect them. However, our presence at such events does not mean that we are productive. We all know the saying: "Present in body, absent in spirit." We must not forget that all the previously mentioned activities are permeated with many other smaller tasks, calls, interactions, and even trivial but still important activities such as, for example, going shopping and cleaning the apartment. If we don't have an appropriate method of planning our activities, it can happen that we fly in all directions in order to get everything done on time and we are constantly under stress. Do you know that feeling?

What is the problem?

In short, the problem is in setting priorities. On the other hand, it is not easy to juggle tasks that come from all directions. So if a friend invites us for coffee and we say we don't have time, it means that something is wrong with our priorities. If our priorities are set correctly, we will tell our friend that we do not have time at the moment, but at the same time we will offer him an alternative date or time. We simply have to have time for friends because we need them, and they need us too. But how to maintain such flexibility?

Should we answer emails?

Responsible people tend to fill every free appointment for the needs of others. We are not only referring to the needs of close people, but in general. For example, do we immediately respond to someone's emails or messages just because others expect it? If so, it could mean that we are not paying enough attention to our needs. It may sound crude, but they are the ones who control our time. And the one who controls our time also controls our life. Have you ever received a reminder: "I sent you a message. Sometning's wrong with us?" So, we live in a culture where instant responses are seen as confirmation of good interpersonal relations, and the opposite as a lack of respect and love. It is not easy to live in a culture that considers digital minimalism sacrilegious. (See Cal Newport's book "Digital Minimalism"). So, should we answer emails then? Absolutely! However, the question is when and how. Since we receive so many emails, we might be tempted to respond to each one immediately. The consequence of this would be that our work is mostly reduced to answering emails, which leaves little room for focused work that brings the most value (see Cal Newport's book "Deep work").

Is overtime a necessity?

Have you ever heard the statement of a colleague who said to you: "I will stay after work to do everything in peace." Do you see a problem with that? Namely, we must keep in mind that when we say "Yes" to an activity, it means that we have simultaneously said "No" to all other activities. Isn't it better to devote time after work to family and children or to some other activities that contribute to our personal progress, such as, for example, reading books or exercising? Certainly, but how to achieve this?

A method of pushing tasks

The method of pushing off tasks is a method of organizing tasks with the aim of clearing time for focused work. Don't be surprised if I tell you that this method is not easy to apply in life. What tasks should we postpone to the future? These are tasks that do not have a high priority. Answering a colleague's email does not have a high priority, unless it is specifically emphasized in the email with a familiar exclamation mark. By the way, isn't it better to arrange priority emails with a short phone call instead of the recipient having to assess the urgency by reading the email? Such a systematic approach allows us to answer some of the emails we received today with peace of mind tomorrow. Not in three or five days, but tomorrow, which is usually a reasonable deadline for an answer. Isn't it true that others push us just to get an answer in a day or two? :) By pushing these tasks away, we clear a period of time in which we can dedicate ourselves to thinking and deep work that requires peace and concentration, without the need to stay working overtime.

The paradox of planning time for nothing

No matter how successful you are at procrastinating, you won't be able to increase productivity and reduce stress without scheduling time for nothing. It is a tendency to block time for potentially important tasks and calls. If we have not blocked such periods in our schedule, it will happen that we will tell a friend that we do not have time, but we will not give him an alternative appointment. If a really urgent task suddenly appears, we will have to put it in our schedule, which will disrupt our "perfect schedule" and lead to stress because now we will have to do more work in less time, which is a common solution, or postpone other planned activities for a while, which can cause great resentment of those who are waiting for us and result in even more stress. However, if we were tendentious in planning time for nothing, we will have time for sudden calls and commitments. Others might say, "Well, you have the perfect schedule!" But our secret to a "perfect" schedule is that we planned time for nothing and didn't let less priority tasks invade our precious time set for unforeseen activities. We pushed those less priority tasks intentionally in the future.◼