Thinking About Time

A few months ago, I attended a workshop about productive writing. Even though I enjoy writing, I push it out of my priorities as other tasks crowd my time. 

As part of the workshop, the speaker asked us to reflect on the myths that prevent us from doing what is essential (in my case, this was writing). Folks went around the room, giving their insights into what prevented them from being successful. 

There are many reasons for what keeps us from the critical work, and as you can guess, the number one answer was time. Reflecting on time, I realized that it often makes it to the top of almost everyone’s lists of “what keeps us from focusing on something of meaning to us.” 

The speaker then shared something that I will not forget. 

“Look at your calendar – your calendar tells the truth of your priorities – what you schedule is what you believe is important.” 

I looked at my calendar, and it contained many appointments, but there was no scheduled time on my calendar to do what was most important to me, write. 

The speaker added, “If your calendar does not reflect your priorities, then schedule what is most important to you first (from family to writing in my case) for the next four months and build the rest of your schedule around it.”

It was a great reminder that I have control of how I view my time and use it. 

While I have many “must do” things on my calendar, work included. I found that freeing myself to put what I valued most on my calendar gave me a sense of control. I have stuck to my new schedule for the past two months and find that I no longer feel that I set aside what fills my bucket, thus increasing my resiliency in my professional practice.

Does your calendar reflect what is most important to you?