The struggle is real.
And, it’s getting worse every day.
The struggle I’m talking about is … The battle with time.
Time Famine noun. Across a society, a lack of free or leisure time.
c2004 via Double-Tongued Dictionary
Like Land … They’re Not Making Any More Time
While this is not 100% true about land – volcanos in Hawaii are indeed creating more land all the time. It is true about time.
Everyone starts out with the same amount of time every day. It’s how we use it that matters. The challenge and the struggle today is that we are being pulled in so many different directions.
Is that our fault? Yes and No.
Is there something we can do about it? Yes
Time Famine is … a feeling of having too much to do and not enough time to do it.
As I wrote in Plan Your Days … or Else there is a need to understand and be realistic about how we use our 86,400 seconds every day.
Being Intentional
In a culture obsessed with time the fact is … Time Famine has very real consequences. Always being pressed for time impacts our creativity. Which is a direct result from our limited time (pun not intended) to really think objectively and creatively. Which, as a result, has caused time to become a luxury.
“Being able to switch between focus and daydreaming is an important skill that’s reduced by insufferable busyness.” via Big Think
Indulge yourself by “buying time” — there is way to do this. All those tasks that are not critical, but still need to be done … pay someone to do them for you. Yes, pay someone to run your errands, to do your grocery shopping, perhaps even to get your kids to soccer or dinner on the table.
Because Time is What People Desire Even More Than Wealth
Why are some people rushing through their days and lives, while others seem to have all the time in the world? The answer is time famine, which is a relatively new phenomenon that first popped up around 1999.
Seek Time Affluence
The opposite of time famine is time affluence. And, while it may be hard to comprehend or get the gumption up to fund and commit to an effort to increase your time affluence it may be the only thing that can end the death spiral of a time famine.
Don’t let FOMO or “Hurry Sickness” get the best of you.
When you can control the pace of your time famine you will stand out in your career and in your personal life. You’ll find you have more time (again, pun NOT intended) to do the things you want to do. To spend the time on things you want to commit to. And, you’ll complete more of those things on your bucket list.
Ultimately, you owe it to yourself to control the inevitable time famine that creeps into all of our lives. The benefits you get can only be defined by you, but the time you get back can be felt, shown and shared across a wide swath of friends, family, and colleagues.
