Changing Your Time Mindset: Shifting from Scarcity to Abundance
If you prefer audiovisual content, you can watch the video and subscribe to my channel.
We are only in the first 30 days of the year, and I am already hearing “I can’t find time to go to the gym”. “Today I need 48 hours to finish everything on my to do list”. “There’s never enough time!” Many people have already given up on their “new year resolutions” because they feel like they do not have the time for them. Sounds familiar?
It is common to feel overwhelmed by the multiple demands of our time. Sometimes I feel like my time is being attacked from all sides, like an impala surrounded by hungry hyenas.
In the last couple of years, I have been thinking and speaking differently about time. Time is the ultimate equalizer. It does not matter who we are, how much money we have, or how old we are, we all have 24 hours every day. Not a second more, not a second less.
How we perceive and manage our time is driven by our perspective, the messages we received and the behaviors we observed growing up, as well as our time boundaries.
We all have seven levels of energy, the filters and perspectives we have developed over time. The percentage of each level at any given time will vary for each individual.
Because the quantity of time is fixed (24 hours each day), our thoughts about it depend on our energy levels and the core thought associated with each one.
- Level 1, victim – time is against me, I am at the mercy of time
- Level 2, conflict – I fight against time
- Level 3, responsibility – time is a natural part of life, I manage it
- Level 4, concern – I use time for greatest contribution
- Level 5, reconciliation – I choose how I use my time, time is a gift
- Level 6, synthesis – time stands still
- Level 7, non-judgment – time is an illusion
As you noticed, it is at Level 3 (responsibility) where we begin to see time as something we can manage and control.
My goal every day is to approach time from level 5 (reconciliation), where I consciously choose how to use my time, and to tap into levels 6 (synthesis) and 7 (non-judgment) more frequently for creation and transcendence.
“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” Unknown
How do we reach level 5, reconciliation, ‘I choose how I use my time’?
1) Change your words
Since we spend most of our time in our own company our self-talk greatly influences our thoughts, which in turn impact our feelings, which move us to action (or inaction).
Pay attention to how you talk about time. How often do you use phrases like “I don’t have time for this!”? Or “There aren’t enough hours in the day!?”
When I find myself saying “I don’t have time for Y”, I take a deep breath and change my statement to “Today I am focusing on X, so Y is not a priority.”
The first statement, “I don’t have time for Y!”, feels like I have no choice. The second statement “Today I am focusing on X, so Y is not a priority”, has a sense of choice. I have all these hours in front of me and I decide how I am going to use them.
I invite you to rephrase your language every time you catch yourself thinking about time from a scarcity mindset. Change the words and perspective from being a victim of or a fighter for time to consciously choosing how to use the minutes in front of you.
“We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch.” John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States
2) Think of time as something tangible
Imagine that at midnight each day you receive a deposit of $1,440. You must spend this income by 11:59 pm of the same day. Everyone you know, including your kids, receives the same deposit each day. You cannot save a penny for the next day – use it or lose it.
During the week you likely use this money for living expenses. On the weekends, you are “making it rain”, splurging on a nice dinner, pampering yourself at the spa, or purchasing the latest book from your favorite author.
Translating this concept into time, during the week you use your time for “needs” – going to work, taking kids to classes, cooking and eating dinner, etc. On the weekends, you allocate time for “wants” like catching up on your social media, spending quality time with loved ones, becoming proficient in your latest hobby, and so forth.
The beauty of this approach is that there are no right or wrong choices. Your decision does not have to be the same as mine. As long as each of us consciously determines how we spend our days, we move closer to level 5.
“The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.” – Stephen R. Covey, American educator, author, businessman, and motivational speaker
3) Measure and adjust
A few years ago, I did the painful exercise of measuring how I spent my time at work in various activities: meetings, reading emails, engaging in deep work, etc. If you had guessed that meetings and emails consumed most of my time at work, you would have been correct.
The beauty of numbers is that they speak loud and clear, so I decided to modify some habits and routines related to email and meetings.
I looked at the recurrent meetings on my calendar and noticed that in most of them, there were other people from my team. We reviewed and decided together who needed to attend each one, freeing the rest of us to focus on other tasks and projects. By only attending relevant meetings, I was able to fully engage and contribute more meaningfully.
For emails, I removed all notifications. This way, I am not interrupted when doing deep work or when I am in a meeting. Typically, I process email 2-3 times a day depending on the volume. I have been doing this practice for years. So far, I have not received direct criticism about it, it has not impacted my performance evaluation, or my reputation. If something needs my immediate attention, I trust that the requestor will reach out to me via instant message, text, or phone call.
Be mindful of the time you spend on social media including LinkedIn. I never thought of LinkedIn as “social media” (like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) until I realized I was spending 30-60 minutes (sometimes more) scrolling through the articles, people’s latest work news and opinions, etc. I now set a timer, or I do it in between meetings; this way I know I will spend 15-30 minutes instead of an entire hour.
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” – J. R. R. Tolkien, English writer and philologist
One more thing before you go
We can shift our mindset from scarcity to abundance when it comes to time by becoming aware of the words we use, and rephrasing. Are we constantly a victim of or fighting for time?
We are masters of our time, not its victims. How we use our time is entirely within our control. We set our priorities. Is exercising important to me? How relevant are my job and career? Is learning to play the xylophone a current priority for me?
There is always time for the things that are important to us. If we do not have time for something we either have a disconnect between what we say and what we do, or the matter in question is not truly a priority.
For example, if I claim that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a priority but consistently express that I lack the time to go to the gym or shop for and cook nutritious meals, there is a discrepancy between my words and actions. Or having a healthy lifestyle may not be as important as I say it is at this moment in my life.
Priorities are in the eye of the beholder. Writing is a priority for me; dancing is not. So, during the weekend, I invest my best time in writing, and I only occasionally use non-prime time for dancing.
How do you approach and manage your time? Please, let us know in the comments.
As a leadership coach, I enable talent to achieve bold goals with high standards. My mission is to empower underrepresented women in the financial industry transition from mid to senior level leadership positions using mental fitness to achieve peak performance, peace of mind, and healthier relationships.