If I had Time…

The saying, “If I had time” is largely a lie. The uncomfortable truth is if something is important to you, you will choose to make time. If it isn’t, you won’t. In choosing not to make time, people often hide behind the “I don’t have time” statement. We do not have unlimited time in the day but we do have the ability to prioritize what is important to us. By recognizing there are only 24 hours in each day, it is easier to map out our priorities and how we should use our time.

Using “If I had time” is another convenient way to not do anything. Even if we have a small amount of time, 5 minutes of learning here, and 15 minutes there, eventually add up to compound into a greater result. It is very possible we do not have hours and hours of free time, but there is near certainty we have a couple of extra minutes during our days where we can focus and prioritize what is constructive for us. Using our time is a choice, a choice that helps limit the feeling of “if I had time.” The quote below by the author, Julia Cameron, outlines this concept.

Finding time is uncomfortable but everyone has the ability. A general understanding is time can be found in the mornings. Waking up earlier gives us more free time because that time would previously have only been used for sleeping. Using “I don’t have time” to work out consistently when we sleep in is a false statement. We are choosing to not have time by sleeping in. Saying we don’t have time to read because we sleep in, is again, a false statement. The argument could be made for any number of hobbies, tasks, or pursuits. If you are choosing to sleep in, you are accepting the inability to add hours to your day. Waking up earlier is the easiest change to add time because that time is only being used to sleep.

Mornings are not the only way to add more time to our days. In the age of social media and screens, humans are seemingly always tuned in. Assessing how much time we spend scrolling social media, texting, watching television, or browsing the internet are all usages of time we could choose to use differently. Instead of watching 2 episodes of our show every night, watch 1 and use that extra free time to work on something else. We can place limits on apps that sucker in our time and condition us to consume less. These limits will effectively open up extra pockets of time we did not realize we could have. Finding time is a choice. A choice we all can make.

The next time you go to say “If I had time,” pause and think about the validity of that statement.