Motivation and Priorities: I Don't Have Time

"I really need to lose weight and get in shape. I should get some regular exercise in but I don't have time. I should cook more healthy meals, but I don't have time."

Time management and organization can be a real key

Does this sound like you? I get it. Finding time for self-care can be difficult with busy schedules, needing to work and bend to the demands of a job and/or an employer. Even if you're self-employed, the pressure to get things done can feel overwhelming. "I don't have time" is also a rationale that many people will empathize and sympathize with, and it's often the ticket to get a pass from others to
delay or put off self-care without seeming like you're not focused on self-care.

So, why don’t we do the things that we really (believe and say) we need to do to become healthier and happier in body, mind and spirit? We begin exploring this self-sabotaging by looking at the following three issues that impact what we do: Motivation, Priorities, Time Management and Organization.
 

Motivation is the driving force behind doing anything. That driving force can be strong enough to move us to action (e.g., dodging a ball thrown at us) or it can be weak and not compelling enough to make us do something (e.g., not making a dental appointment). Motivators can also be positive, such as anticipating the taste and feeling of eating ice cream; or negative, such as anticipating the feeling of being hit by a car if you don’t get across the street quickly enough. And motivation can come from within (internal motivation) or from outside ourselves (external). Feeling motivated can change over time as our emotions and perceptions change. In fact, our emotions and perceptions are large factors in motivations. When trying to develop, maintain, or enhance motivation, it helps to take an honest look at what is driving or inhibiting you from accomplishing your goal. 

Priorities, simply put, are the things that are important to us. The more important it is to us to reach a goal, the more motivated we are to actually do something about it. If someone asks us what our priorities are, usually most people have little difficulty talking about what’s important to them, and what goals they have. But in reality, our priorities show up more profoundly not in what we say, but in what we actually do. When we say “I don’t have time,” there are two possibilities: we actually do not have the time, or it really isn’t a priority. In either case, there is something we can do. If we are having difficulty finding time for things important to us, then we need to look at how we are managing time and organizing our life. On the other hand, if what we need to do is not a priority, we may need to look at developing and enhancing our motivation to accomplish the goal. 

Time Management & Organization can be a real key for some people to break through and begin accomplishing things they have been wanting and needing to accomplish. When “I don’t have time” really translates to “I don’t manage my time well enough to …” then the first task in accomplishing goals will be to develop and practice new time management and organization skills. The first thing to do is to do a “time audit.” Now, there are many formal ways to do this, including paying someone to help; but my suggestion is to just start being mindful where you are spending time, but unless you have a photographic memory, you will have to keep some type of log to know where you are spending your time. It may also be useful to begin to notice patterns in when you are most efficient throughout the day or week. The information you collect here will help with the next stage of making time management and organization changes. Next, look where you have time available, and what you may want to stop spending your time doing (e.g., activities that don’t promote reaching and fulfilling goals and activities that actually make goals more difficult for you to reach). Then, schedule time for working on your priorities, including self-care and other activities that will increase your ability to reach other important goal. For example, if your goal is to practice meditation, then put your meditation time on your schedule. If your goal is to read, then set aside time that you specifically dedicate to reading.

I think most of us have used the “I don’t have time” rationale for not working on self-care and other goals. Making changes can be difficult and working on new goals takes us into new areas that can be out of our comfort zone. But if the goal is really important, to your mental health, physical health, or spiritual health, then it really may not be that “I don’t have time” for self-care; the truth may be that “I don’t have time” to not do self-care activities!