Is Time Your Master or Servant?
Four simple words. The email contained four simple words – but what a profound statement:
“I don’t have time.”
There are two ways we don’t have time: 1. Time is our master. 2. Time is our servant. And they are very different scenarios.
Each of us is given the same amount of time in every day: 24 hours, or 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. Some people accomplish an incredible amount within that time, while others not so much.
So what’s the difference?
Of course there are many reasons why that is the case. However, a significant factor in our ability to be productive within the time given to us each day is found in our relationship to time. Is time your master, or is time your servant. Do you make time work for you, or do you do time’s bidding?
We have all heard the phrase, “The tyranny of the urgent.” This simply refers to someone who does time’s bidding. Someone who is reactive. Whatever is demanded of that person they attempt to fulfill. This person needs to realize one simple truth: you can’t do it all. If we attempt to do it all we will either do a poor job on everything, or burn ourselves out in the process because the pace we have set is unsustainable.
When time is your master you never seem to have enough of it because the demand always exceeds the supply. Time is the master of the accidental leader: the leader who is more accidental than intentional, more reactive than proactive. This leads to ongoing dissatisfaction and diminished productivity. This is simply poor leadership where nobody thrives.
When time is your servant you are intentional, not accidental. You are proactive, not reactive. You choose what you are going to invest your time in. You understand right from the get go that you can’t do it all, so you don’t try to. You set your priorities, set a sustainable pace, and then set out to intentionally accomplish your objectives.
Sure, things go sideways and attempt to pull you in different directions and you need to react, but you assess the significance of the situation and allocate your time and/or resources if necessary, or let it wait for your time.
The goal of a good leader is not busyness. Busyness is not a sign of importance, self-worth or good leadership. The question we need to ask people in casual conversation isn’t, “Are you busy?”, but “Are you intentional? Are you purposeful? Are you proactive? Is time your servant?”
Ok, I’m being facetious. But we need to understand that “busy” can be productive or unproductive depending on whether time is your master or your servant.
So back to the original statement: “I don’t have time.”
This can be the bold declaration of a focussed, intentional leader who realizes they can’t do it all, has assessed his/her priorities, allocated their time accordingly and, therefore, has to say “no” to opportunities.
Or, this can be the woeful cry of an accidental, reactive leader who is still trying to do it all, is pulled in a thousand different directions, is feverishly working at an unsustainable pace, and realizes if they say “yes” to one more thing it will be the proverbial straw on the camel’s back.
One has done what they can to master time, the other is serving it.
Who would you rather be? Who are you?
Being a master of time requires three critical decisions:
- Settle the issue you can’t do it all
- Set your priorities
- Allocate your time accordingly
Simple, but far from easy. We have to fight to master time – it does not submit easily.
Allocating your time accordingly may start with simply booking into your schedule what you want to make time for. That can be anything from team meetings to times of rest and recreation. If we don’t book priorities into our schedule, the current of life and leadership will sweep us along and we will be once again the servant of time.
If you don’t have time, is it because time is your master or because time is your servant? The choice is yours.
