If you only do something because you have time, you are wasting your time

By Gabriel Dinda

I have met a number of people who tell me that when “they get time” they will write. I have also met so many other people who insist that when “they get time; they will pray”. Every time I hear such a response, I conclude only one thing, they don’t value what they say as much as they want to appear. When someone says that they plan to do something when they get time, what they are really saying is that they don’t value it. No one knows this better than a spouse whose partner tells that they don’t communicate with them because they “don’t have time”. Sooner or later, you realize the truth of this line. And it has very little to do with time.

Most of the people who plan to do things when they get time don’t end up doing them. Because they never get time. Time is never “gotten”. It is only allocated. Time is always available, in fixed and abundant supply, restricted to 24 hours a day and to one’s lifetime. So the first lie is, that people “get” time. No, time is already there. All one needs to do is allocate it. And how does one allocate time? Using their priorities.
Priorities sound like a very big word, which it is not. Everyone prioritizes something, even if they don’t consciously know it. The trick with priority is that when you prioritize one thing, it in effect means that you haven’t prioritized the other. So if one tells you that they don’t have time, perhaps the natural question you should ask them is where they allocate their time to. Because there is a place for sure (because the time is there for sure).

When you find yourself tempted to only do something when you have time, you probably don’t value it. You will probably be better off not doing it. For that which you are convinced you must do, create time and do it. The problem is not with your time; it is just with your priorities.

So, what will you do when you get time?