5 Time Myths That Limit Your Impact
Our relationship with time often feels like a high-stakes game, where the rules are complex and unforgiving.
At Time Boss, we believe that mastering this game starts with a profound, yet simple truth: You are 100% responsible.
You see, you have lived into your relationship with time over decades, for one very simple reason: it’s helped you survive or thrive. You’re literally doing the best you can with what you’ve been given.
In this article, we want to bring awareness to beliefs you picked up along the way that you may not be aware of, but are dictating both the results you’re getting and your experience of life.
Once you’re aware of these beliefs, we want to suggest alternative beliefs that will be more useful for you to get the results you want and the experience of life you want.
Our Beliefs Drive Our Actions
Our daily actions, from the mundane to the monumental, are not just items on a to-do list, they are the physical manifestations of our beliefs about time.
Consider a typical day: the rush to check emails, the quick calls to clients, the firefighting in accounting, etc. Each action, seemingly dictated by necessity, is actually a choice driven by underlying beliefs.
This cascade from belief to actions is where the magic (and the chaos) happens. Anxiety about missing an important email leads you to compulsively check your inbox because, deep down, you believe that “if I miss this email, something bad will happen.” It’s a story we tell ourselves, rooted in various beliefs about time.
Unfortunately, some of those beliefs are actually myths that we need to debunk, and replace with actual truths about time.
Time Myth #1: There’s Not Enough Time
Time Truth: “There’s not enough time” for the impossible to achieve expectations you’ve created, but there is 100% enough time if you right-size your capacity, then ruthlessly prioritize the most important things. You have to own that your time is finite, and necessarily incredibly valuable. You need to thoughtfully invest that valuable time, and set aside the things that simply won’t fit. You may simply need a framework like Time Boss to help you make this automatic.
Time Myth #2: This Is Just the Way I’m Wired
Time Truth: This is just the way you’ve wired your habits, up until now. Everyone can change, you simply have to do the work and rewire your habits. It requires disciplined focus, and often accountability to push past the friction, but change is possible. Here’s what Mark Johnson, a Time Boss cohort member, had to say about it:
“Prior to Time Boss, I had given up hope with my personal time management. I had just resigned myself to a future lifetime of struggle. After implementing the model, I have experienced a huge amount of progress while maintaining a sense of peace.”
Time Myth #3: If I Just Had a Different (Boss/Partner/Client)
Time Truth: You are 100% responsible for the things you tolerate. External change begins internally. Advocating for yourself and negotiating for what you need isn’t a zero sum game that requires your boss/partner/client to lose so you can win. It requires you getting on the same side of the table as your counterpart, and casting a vision for how your mutual approach to time needs to be different for you both to win! I suggest using the Compassion / Common Goals / Context framework to do so.
Time Myth #4: I Can’t Prioritize; Everything Is Urgent and Important
Time Truth: Even if you have 20 A1 priority tasks, at 8am tomorrow, you’re going to do one of those things, and whatever that is will be your actual priority. And whatever you do next will be your next actual priority. Given that, you can understand your priorities in advance, and can plan your schedule accordingly. The key is to then consider what priorities break if they don’t get accomplished in time, and make a plan to support those priorities, such as delegating the priority, or downsizing another priority to make room. You may simply need a Weekly Planning Meeting (like we teach in Time Boss) to help you align your calendar to your priorities.
Time Myth #5: I Just Need to Get Past This (Week/Month/Year/Project)
Time Truth: Temporary fixes don’t address chronic issues with your habits. The habits that have ensnared you in a cycle of stress and overwhelm are the very ones that need transformation, not circumvention. The only long term solution is to change your habits related to time. If you’re not sure what habits are needed, we’d welcome you to check out the Time Boss Framework, built on two simple repeatable habits to help you get the results you want and an experience of life you actually want.
Helpful Beliefs About Time Come Together in Time Boss
Time Boss is a simple, repeatable framework built from helpful beliefs about time. The good news is you don’t even have to change your beliefs to get started.
Not sure where to start? We recommend the Unlock Your Week public workshop coming up on August 25th. You’ll learn the entire Time Boss Framework in a morning, and walk away with tools and habits set up and ready to help you start finding your Highest Sustainable Pace™.