The next time you hear yourself saying “I don’t have time!” pay close attention. We all have the same 24 hours each day. You have the time. It would be more accurate to say that you are choosing to use your time to do something else.

Granted, that choice may have been made for you. It might be a deadline. Perhaps an emergency has raised its ugly head and thrown your best-laid plans into the circular file. In other cases, it’s the juggling of day to day activities. For certain, you’ll never be able to do everything you could do. Your success (and your sanity) will lie in the ability to do everything you must do, and then doing what you should do. Your challenge isn’t unmanageable time. It’s managing your priorities and somehow aligning your actions to meet them.

Stop, Drop and Roll

When the day catches fire, you have to stop and put it out. Failure to do so will only feed the flames and you’ll be toast soon enough. You may say you don’t have time to grab the extinguisher, but that might not be your brain talking. You cannot ignore the emotional side of decision-making and time management. A wise man said many centuries ago, “The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate, who can know it?” Going with your gut has its place. But in times of stress, it’s a good idea to make sure the old noggin is fully engaged. How can you do it?

• Start the day in a quiet place, where you can think clearly and make good decisions. Create a prioritized task list (NOT a “to do” list).   You’ll have a clue as to what’s most important and have a legitimate shot at getting at least some of it done. It creates context and a basis for decisions during the day.

• Plan breaks. Jim Fannin recommends quarters, like a football game. Plan time to disengage mentally and emotionally, even if only for a few moments. Then analyze how things are going. You plan might have imploded by 10AM. Adjust as needed. Take a deep breath and dive in.

• If you need to make a few calls or send some emails to reschedule and manage expectations, do it. Fight the urge for procrastination or conflict avoidance. You might make someone upset, but how much angrier would they be if you don’t deliver and say nothing? It might work out better than you imagine!

Counterintuitive or Fearful?

It might seem counterintuitive to take a break when you already have too much to do. But you will find your focus and productivity will go way up. Daniel Pink’s latest book When – The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing   and Jim Fannin’s 90-Second Rule  are full of great techniques and exercises that can help.

To a large degree, you are managing your energy and attention, not your time. Those breaks become time investments.  When you get your focus and productivity boost, you will find that you will get back far more time than you spent. 

People under stress tend to make bad decisions. It’s not that they aren’t smart enough. Fear and anxiety goof up the decision making process. Don’t let your heart scare you into thinking you don’t have time. Deal with the emotional side first and then let your brain do its thing. Your heart will thank you later!