5 Tips to Overcome Lack of Time and Start Being Productive
This post contains affiliate links.
Whether you want to start working out, start a business, or start the habit of reading books, there’s one common excuse we’ve all heard of—lack of time. And while it may be true that you have a lot on your plate, a lack of time may be an excuse for not doing what you ought to be doing. The question is, how do you overcome it?
To overcome a lack of time, you have to give them importance and prioritize them. That means, giving yourself a deadline for when you’re going to start doing a certain activity, prioritizing it by making it part of your schedule, and making yourself accountable for it.
In this article, we will talk deeper about how you can overcome a lack of time and will provide you with some examples you can follow. But first, let’s understand why you lack time.
Why You Lack Time
CEOs, movie stars, and all of us are given the same 24 hours to deal with life. Yet, it’s surprising that those who we deem to be pretty busy running a large organization or shooting a movie have the time to squeeze in a workout or read a book while some of us don’t even have the time to for a 20-minute jog. Why is that?
- You’re not giving it importance – when you’re not giving importance to something, it’s hard to have the time to do it because you’d rather do something else
- You don’t delegate tasks – sometimes the reason why you lack time is that you’re trying to do too much, even the things that you can delegate.
- You lack energy – time is not the only barrier to physical activity and other self-improvement activities, your energy also plays a role in your productivity. However, it’s easier to make the “I don’t have time” excuse than “I have no energy” which is why you hear it more often
Recommended read: How Do I Stop Procrastinating? (An In-Depth Guide)
5 Tips to Overcoming Lack of Time
Determine Your Priorities
If you hear people say they lack time, they most probably mean that something is not on their list of priorities. May it be exercise, cooking a healthy meal, spending time with their child, or reading a book.
If you want to do something, the key to having time to do it is to prioritize it.
Of course, there will be instances when you’ll truly lack time. Hence, you can never do everything you want to do without sacrificing something else (more on this later).
Schedule Your Priorities
Now that you’ve determined what is it that you prioritize, make them a part of your schedule. For example, if working out to lose weight is one of your priorities, then set aside 30 minutes to 1 hour a day for exercise.
Be specific about the time and the day you’re going to work out. Saying that you’ll work out for an hour a day without the exact time schedule will likely push that activity forward until you move it to tomorrow and tomorrow, and again next week.
Instead, say “I will exercise from 6 am to 7 am in the morning every Monday to Saturday”. You are more likely to commit to something that is a part of your schedule than if you simply set a time to do it.
It’s the same with any activity, really. “I will read a book from 7:00 to 7:30 am every day”, or “I will spend time with my kids every 5:00 to 7:00 pm every day”.
Recommended read: How to Wake Up Early and Be Productive
Give Yourself a Deadline
When we hear the word “deadline”, it is often accompanied by a negative feeling. School and work projects and the pressure that we feel when a deadline is approaching have completely blinded us from the importance of deadlines.
However, a deadline is a very powerful tool for time management and productivity.
The key to setting up a deadline when it comes to overcoming a lack of time is to set it tight. That means, giving yourself a deadline that is manageable but urgent.
For example, going back to the working out example, you can say “I will start working out every 6:00 to 7:00 am starting TOMORROW.”
The benefit of that is that you are more likely to still be motivated and committed to doing what you want to do if you do them right away.
If you put it off to next week or next month or, the most common, the first day of the year (as a new year’s resolution), your motivation and commitment have expired and you’re highly likely to not do it at all.
If you give yourself 30 days to clean your home, it will take 30 days. But if you give yourself 3 hours, it will take 3 hours. The same applies to your goals, ambitions, and plans.
Elon Musk, founder of Tesla
Delegate Tasks That Can be Delegated
Learning how to delegate tasks is a very important skill to master.
It’s common to feel anxious when you delegate tasks that you’re supposed to be doing, especially if that something is important to you. However, there will always be tasks that you can delegate to free some of your time.
Do you wash the plates every after dinner? Why don’t you delegate that to your eldest child so you can go ahead and read a book?
Do you wash your car every Saturday which is why you always miss that weekend morning playtime with your kids? Why don’t you hire someone to wash your car for you?
If you aren’t comfortable delegating big and important tasks, then be sure to free up as much time by delegating the smaller tasks. That way, you will have the time to do something you want to be doing.
You can do anything, but not everything.
David Allen, author of Getting Things Done
Hold Yourself Accountable
None of the tips we’ve talked about above will work if you do not hold yourself accountable for your actions and failures. Stop blaming external forces for everything that’s happening in your life.
For example, if you say you can’t read a book, workout for an hour a day, or spend time with your kids, don’t say it’s because you lack time. Time is an external force you cannot control. Hence, what you should be saying is that you weren’t able to do those because you did not make it a priority.
By saying it that way, you hold yourself accountable for your failures. So the next time the opportunity to do those things arises, you are more likely to take action because you understand that it is within your control to make it a priority.
If you want to learn accountability on a much deeper level, I highly recommend reading Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink. It is, for me, one of the best books to read or listen to when it comes to developing accountability.
You can actually get the audiobook version for free if you sign up for the Audible 30-day free trial for the first time. You can cancel anytime with no added cost. Plus, you get to keep the audiobook.
Final Thoughts
Time management will always be an important topic because it’s the one resource money can’t buy. However, there will always be a way to overcome the lack of time we commonly experience.
By following the tips we’ve talked about above, you will be able to do what you wanted and should be doing to better yourself.
Additionally, since you’re time is important, you want to make the most out of it. That is why I recommend Blinkist for time-efficient learning.
It professionally summarizes nonfiction books into 15-minute read or audio giving you only the key points of each book. This allows you to learn more while spending less time.
Up Next: 10 Amazing Benefits of a Productive Morning Routine
