Why You're Running Out of Time Part 1 of 2

Credit: Rottentomatoes.com

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller

Why You're Running Out of Time Part 1 of 2

Credit: IMDb.com

​True words Ferris, true words!

Time - It's the Great Equalizer

Everyone has the same 1440 minutes each day, and it's the most precious resource of all because there's no way to create more of it.

And it seems that with every day that passes, we have less and less of it – but how is that possible?

I had a teacher in high school explain it like this:

When you're born, that first day outside of the womb is going to feel like the longest day of your life, and it is – not because you were thrown out of your warm and cozy cloud into the bright and loud world and got smacked on your ass, but because as far as time is concerned, those first 24 hours is what encompasses your entire lifetime.
However, by the end of the very next day, those 24 hours are now only half of your known lifetime. At the end of the third day, they now only take up 1/3 of the time that you know and have lived. 24 hours is now a much smaller part of your lifetime.

For those of you who don't remember those first few days of life (no worries, I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday), let me sum it up - the point he made is that the longer you live, the faster each day feels – because the time-span of a day is constantly becoming a smaller and smaller portion of what you already know and have experienced.

Your Average Day

Why You're Running Out of Time Part 1 of 2

Every small business owner knows this feeling, right?

I bet you're pretty ambitious – to borrow another line from Mr. Bueller…

​"The question isn't 'what are we going to do,' the question is 'what aren't we going to do'?"

And I bet you say that on the weekends, too!

(It can make you feel kind of like one of those performers with all the plates spinning on sticks at the same time.)

Given your overly-ambitious list of to-dos’ each day, it can be tough to even get half of them done. See, when you combine it with the many people and things trying to grab your attention from the moment you wake up (or even before – ever wake up to a text message or twelve?) to the moment you go to bed, you often feel like you're struggling to even knock off the easy tasks.

What's the Issue?

Lack of focused attention, as well as forced multitasking.

A study done at UC Irvine about this task switching says that it takes about 23 minutes for your brain to get back to the task you were working on.

That number seems a bit extreme to me, as I don't think it takes me 23 minutes to go from writing a blog post, to someone interrupting me to ask what I want for lunch, and then diving back into the post. However, I do think it takes me somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes before I find my groove again.

Rabbit Holes

But even with those numbers, if I do a little math and think of all the times in just one day that I get a text or call, my email pops up an alert, I have to attend a meeting, or even my own body interrupting me telling me I'm thirsty or have to go pee, these are all interruptions that add up quickly!

Not to mention the rabbit holes those interruptions can lead to, like this one I recently experienced…

Why You're Running Out of Time Part 1 of 2

Time added to writing this post due to looking at one email alert: 35 minutes!

Oh, how time flies! Looks like I'll need to break this one up into two parts in order to get in by our deadline!

Keep a lookout for Part 2, as that's where I’m going to tell you what you can do about it. 🙂

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Dan Littman

Director of Client Experience and All Techy Things

Problem-solving and brainstorming ideas to create valuable experiences are what fuels my fire!
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