same amount of time you and I get . Which also means some people are staggeringly great at handling time . And me , well , there was room for improvement . A lot of room .
Rather than wallow in self-pity forever , I started rethinking what happened earlier that day .
I actually did have the time to help Rich . I just didn ’ t take it . I had the time to write my talk . And research it .
I definitely could have emptied my inbox and tackled a few other things on my to-do list .
I had all the time anyone else did .
Instead , I was so consumed by the requests coming at me , so distracted online by the endless clicks that come from the infinite sea of information that ’ s available to anyone , and so rattled by regular interruption that I squandered the day . My time scattered in a million directions . I was so unfocused . I kept falling into the trap we all fall into : spending the most time on what matters least , and the least time on what matters most . I never intended to do that ; it ’ s just that ’ s almost always what happens .
And my excuse ? I just don ’ t have the time for that . Well , that started sounding lamer and lamer all the time . It simply wasn ’ t true .
I had the time . I just didn ’ t take it .
I was time rich . But I felt like I was broke .
More than Just a Time Management Strategy
You might think that what follows is just time management advice . It isn ’ t . In some ways , prior to embracing the Thrive Cycle , I had already become a student of time management . I ’ d read books and articles , attended seminars , downloaded apps , and studied productivity . But the reality I kept bumping up against was the same problem you face : the opportunities available to a capable person always exceed the available time for them . Get around driven people , and you quickly realize many people also have more ambition than they have capacity . Maybe that describes you .
Traditional time management makes you more efficient , but it doesn ’ t make you more effective over the long run . Efficiency fails because there ’ s a fundamental limit , a wall you hit , in time management when all you ’ re trying to do is to become more efficient . The limit is this : you ’ re managing a fixed commodity . Which is why time management usually leaves you feeling drained , not energized . You ’ re managing a growing list of demands with a fixed asset .
Time doesn ’ t grow . It won ’ t expand , which is why time management ultimately brings you diminishing returns . People think money is a limited commodity . Well , yes . But not more limited than time . You can always make more money . You can never make more time .
To make matters more frustrating , once you become highly efficient , time management becomes frustrating and even demotivating because you have to settle for small — sometimes microscopic — improvements . Meanwhile , the opportunities you have , or responsibilities you carry , continue to expand . Then what do you do ?
Changing how you focus time begins with changing how you think about time .
47