“It’s not a matter of getting more time, it’s a matter of making more time”
In this time of crazy mad rushing around to get everything done, it’s easy to think that we haven’t got enough time.
A couple of my favourite books about making more of our time are ‘Rest’ by Alex Pang, and Essentialism, by Greg McKeown. The phrase “It’s not a matter of getting more time, it’s a matter of making more time” struck a bell with me. It’s easy to spend too much time drifting, being distracted with unnecessary tasks, and losing focus. This is especially hard if we’re not clear what our focus is. If we can develop a focus, a goal, a dream, then we can plan towards that goal.
The plan can be big (a 5yr plan, for example), and then broken down into smaller pieces (a monthly, weekly and daily plan). This way, goals become achievable, rather than some unreachable dream that’s never going to happen.
As is the case so often in life, this links into what I know and love so dearly with the horses. In my behavioural work I’ve always talked about knowing what it is you want to achieve. You then break that down into smaller pieces. It might be that you want to compete at a one day event, and you’ve got to break that down into smaller pieces like competing at a dressage competition, going cross country schooling, doing some grid work exercises to improve your show jumping skills. Or it might be that you want your horse to stand still in his own space, and you need to break that down into having him stand still with you by his head, knowing exactly what your own body is doing, right down to the detail of which direction are your eyes looking and which direction are your toes pointing, and learning to correct him as he starts to move the first foot out of place rather than waiting until he’s moved three feet.
As the saying goes, many roads lead to Rome. Your individual path may not be the same as that of your next door neighbour, and you may change your mind about which path you’d like to take along the way. That’s OK. I’m reminded of climbing down the rocks onto the beach, where my son and I took very different paths from the same starting point but ended up in the same place. But if you don’t know what your goal is and you don’t have a plan A to get you there, then you’re less likely to get to where you’d like to be.
That’s how I think we can ‘make time’. By removing the distractions and the misdirections through having a clear goal and an effective plan.
What’s your thoughts?
What do you want to make time for today, this week, this month, or this year?
