How many times you have caught yourself saying: “I want to do this, but I don’t have enough time!” Quite often!

Don’t you feel that there is just not enough time proportionate to the goals and tasks on your To-Do list and the resolutions on your New Year Resolution list. Girls! Slowdown… life is not a rat race.

 This very lament points to the limitations standing in the way of productivity and ultimately mental peace and prosperity! Hence, this WorthWorkin4 Wednesday installment deals with our anxieties related to time inadequacy and ways to address them:

The Fear of the Unexpected

We all fear something! But many a times, the nature of this fear, often enough, isn’t clear. It’s the fear of unexpected mostly! We don’t know what will happen next! How much time we are left with! What tomorrow brings! What do we stand to lose.

The Scarcity Mindset

As we age, we become more aware of how time is short and our life spans are getting shorter and shorter everyday. You are worried that you are going to miss out on things and opportunities. You worry more, work harder and yet you feel that you are still stuck.

High Demands and Larger-Than-Life Expectations

Undoubtedly, the fear and the pressure of not having enough time are very real due to our hectic and immensely demanding lifestyles, society’s demands and our own larger-than-life expectations.

The Scarcity of Time Mindset and Its Consequences

A limiting mindset takes on many forms: the fear of not being enough, not having enough, be it time or resources.

The scarcity of time is something real, but it unfortunately creates more notions in our heads than action. Here is how:

Being in a Hurry Always

This scarcity mindset manifests itself through the need to be always in a hurry; the need to move at a frantic pace;

Working  Haphazardly!
You think that if you don’t start things, they will not happen at all! So you start doing a bunch of things together. You try to fit in more and more, perhaps more than what you can realistically handle!

Pushing Yourself too Hard!

When you feel frantic, you feel that working hard amounts to working smart, which isn’t the case always! Consequently, at the end of the day, you may end up with nothing but sweat and fatigue, but no real, tangible results!

Accumulating Stress and Dissatisfaction

As a response to not having enough time and the constant pressure to do more and more, we keep pushing ourselves harder and further.

Yet we feel no real sense of gain and long-lasting satisfaction from our efforts and their outcomes. This very sense of dissatisfaction with our lives and existing achievements is what keeps us from enjoying the fruits of our labor and productivity and ultimately manifests itself as anxiety and depression.

How to Fix the Notion of Time and Make the Best Use of It  
Not having enough time is a notion that society instills in us. A society driven by capitalism and consumerist culture and our own hustle and grind lifestyle make us develop an antagonistic relationship with time. Here are some of the ways we can mend our relationship with time:

Let Go of Your Limiting Mindset

All of us have been given a set number of hours in a day, irrespective of our circumstances, energies and level of responsibilities. No matter how much you want and desire, you cannot increase the amount of time. But what you can do is to see time as your friend and to make optimal use of it according to your abilities.

Stop Being in a Hurry

The fear of being left behind in this rat race called life is makes us constantly hurry and worry. All this worry impacts our emotional and physical health. It impairs our ability to enjoy things in the present and fixate ourselves on some point in the future. It’s not worth it. Your life is not worth taking on so much worry, shit and pain!

Learn and Do Better Task Management

Better task management helps capitalize our existing time, resources and energies in the best way. Here are some ways to manage your tasks and time well:

• Set priorities and deadlines.
• Eliminate distractions and time wasting activities.
• Block out people who are notorious time wasters and energy drainers.
• Evolve a personal system of time management that is in line with your individual goals, circumstances and responsibilities.
• Take help from productivity tools.
• Organize things so that you don’t end up precious time looking for them all over them.
• Do timely maintenance of things. Fix, replace and upgrade things before they completely fall apart. This way your time won’t get wasted in costly replacements.

Renew Your Sense of Wonder and Joy

Remember, how as kids, we were oblivious to the notions of scarcity of time and resources, productivity and perfection. Back then we could enjoy life because we had no responsibilities and pressures to support ourselves and our families! But we had our sense of joy and wonder, which needs to stay intact

So no matter how busy things seem, we need to take time out to:

• Enjoy a beautiful day.
• Spend time with a friend.
• Savor the smile of a child.
• Relish a cup of hot tea taken in peace.
• Celebrate a goal achieved, a milestone met. Take a day off! Dine at your favorite restaurant.

Practice Mindfulness  
Every moment that life has something poignant and beautiful to offer. Be mindful and aware! Only when you slow down, you would be able to feel all these things, the small blessings! Appreciate the small things. Stopping to worry constantly about not having enough time, in turn, makes us aware and grateful for all the time you are left with.

To Sum Up

Most of us are facing the dilemma of having to do and achieve a lot but not having enough time. This scarcity mindset is responsible for creating stress, panic and depression. We need to fix our faulty notion of time through letting go of the scarcity mindset. Alongside, we need  to let go of the detrimental habits of hurrying and worrying and learn to manage our lives better. Lastly, renewing our sense of wonder and joy and living more mindfully can help us see time as a friend on our side and achieve our goals.