Making Time
How do you find time to write these blogs?
I get asked this question a lot. The more often you get asked a question the better you become at answering it. The first few times I was asked I would respond with my reality, I write in any spare time I have. Evenings, weekends, lunch hours. Sometimes I think up an idea while I’m on a walk so I stop and while my dog gives me the side eye, I write myself an email with a halfway baked idea to explore later.
That’s all true, those are the times that I write, but that is not answering the question. The question is, how do I FIND time, but I don’t find the time. I make the time.
Let me back up to August 2018. I was sitting at the back of a conference room, surrounded by strangers. It was orientation the George Fox MBA program, the very beginning of a two year journey. I was nervous, everything was new. I had no idea if I was making the right decision for me and my family. My wife was pregnant with our daughter and I sat their sweating just thinking about the work to come, wondering where am I going to find the time to do this?
One brave sole, I assume he was brave as he was sitting at the front, stood up and asked exactly what I was thinking. Truth be told, in that moment everyone was thinking it. That is when Dr. Christopher Meade in his calm, matter of fact voice responded that you won’t. You aren’t going to find time, but you will make time. You prioritize what is important in your life and if getting your MBA is a priority then you will make the time for it.
Should I watch TV or should I go to the gym? You don’t realize it but you are asking yourself that question every time you turn on the tube. You have an alternative option, a different activity always available to you. Start recognizing the decisions you make with your time and you’ll realize how much you waste on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Netflix, what have you.
That’s easy to say, but hard to do. It’s hard to pull away from your routine to start something new. It’s daunting, especially that first time. The first class, the first run, the first blog post, but you will get better. My first post was less than 500 words but it took multiple days to write. I needed to figure out how to write a blog post, it was new, unfamiliar, and exciting.
Eventually I got faster, better (I’m still a work in progress, but I am better). I’ve been putting in the work.
Here’s how I stopped wasting my time and started making time.
When you are at work try this. Next time you have downtime, say 15 minutes before your next meeting starts, go to Inc.com, find an article, and read it. They have high quality content and I guarantee you’ll find a good article straight off their front page that’ll be worth your time. Before you go to your meeting, don’t close the browser page. Keep it open on your computer, phone, tablet, whatever. Move it to another screen or minimize it, but leave it open.
Now, on your next break, skim it again and write down something you found interesting. Anything. It doesn’t matter what it is just write it down. I suggest keeping a notepad or journal on you, but an email, text message, or word document works just as well.
Next, think about what you wrote and relate it to a situation in your life, personal or professional. Have a mental conversation with yourself. Reflect on why you wrote down that note, that interesting tidbit. Why was it interesting to you? And you guessed it, write all this down too.
Now keep doing it. At least one article a week. You’ll notice you are getting better at it. You can read the article faster, write faster. You’ll find yourself relating the article to your life as you are reading it.
You’ll start getting new ideas, seeing problems with a new, unique perspective. You’ll change the conversations you have at lunch with coworkers. You’ll start to share what you are learning and help others solve their problems.
You’ll begin setting aside time to read, write, learn, and share and you’ll be rewarded for it. You will start enabling others to expand their horizons and grow by your advice. You’ll be recognized as an expert, the go to person to talk to when a coworker needs advice.
And you’ll be hungry for more.
That’s where I am today. I started small, reading an article here and there. Started my MBA to fast track my progress because I wanted more. I shared what I learned to anyone who needed help or who would listen. I continued my learning habit after graduating. And my corporate career has blossomed.
Your time is like money sitting in a bank. You can try to protect it and watch it trickle away slowly or you can use it and make time work for you, the choice is yours.