You Don't Need More Time

... you just need to decide.

Seth Godin posted this simple, yet extremely powerful bit of wisdom on his blog yesterday, and I felt compelled to share it.  I enjoy reading most of Seth's posts, which tend to be predominantly business/marketing focused.  This one, however, spoke directly to me on a much deeper level.

I constantly feel, and often say to those around me, that time is my enemy.  There never seems to be enough of it to get done the myriad things that need to get done.  Always in a state of being overwhelmed by the mountain of tasks and work in front of me, I am often unable to appreciate the accomplishments because I have to immediately turn my attention back to the never-ending supply of new stuff filling my plate.

Seth's directive raises one obvious question.  What do I need to decide?  Everyone who reads this and feels like Seth's post speaks to them will have a different interpretation and the answer will be different to each of them.  But for me, this question had two immediate and powerful answers that relate to two specific (and conflicting) parts of my personality.

First, I tend to be a procrastinator.  Even in the face of mounting responsibilities, I will often put off a task, particularly if it is unappealing or just plain not any fun.  Worse yet, in the interim time between now and when I actually get around to doing the thing that needs to get done, I might not be doing anything else of importance, either.  So, I must decide to do what needs to be done, right now.  Not later.  And regardless of whether or not I want to do it.  If it needs to be done, then I must decide to do it and take action.

Second, I tend to take on more than I can possibly do in a timely fashion.  I work a job that requires many hours in order to do the job well, I have loads of home improvement projects underway, and I'm an active leader in my son's Boy Scout troop.  And that doesn't include the time and energy required to be a decent husband, father, and friend.  The answer here was abundantly clear to me when I read Seth's post.  I must decide to only take on as much as I can realistically accomplish.  Right now, I have a backlog.  So, what that means is that I must decide to not take on anything new until I can work out from under some of it.  And then, I must continually decide to not add any more than I can realistically handle.

So, is time really my enemy after all?  No, I dare say that time is not my enemy.  Rather, I have been my own enemy by not recognizing the need (and the power) to choose.  I don't need more time.  I need to decide.