Do you have a pile in your home that represents something you never have time for, but wish you did? I’m talking about unread magazines, unwatched videos, unopened books, unstarted projects, gear for unpursued activities.
When I ask my clients about those piles, I often hear, “I’m retiring in a few years,and I will read them/watch them/do them when I retire.”
I find this a little puzzling. Yes, we all look forward to a time when we will have fewer restrictions on our lives, and greater discretionary time to do the things we love. But if we love doing these things, why aren’t we doing them now?
We all have 168 hours to fill every week. If you take away the time spent doing the things we have to do, that should still leave you a few hours each week to do things you want to do. (If it doesn’t, contact me for some time management help!)
Wouldn’t it make your life more enjoyable if you worked in some time now to do these things that you are postponing until retirement? The phrase “I don’t have time” really means “I’m not putting enough of a priority on that activity right now.” You are filling each of your 168 hours with something — even if it’s mindless activities like endless internet surfing or excessive TV watching. If you turn your mindless time into mindful time, you should be able to do some of those delayed activities.
I suspect that in many cases, these piles are simply postponed decisions. You aren’t ready to admit that you will never make time for those things — not even in retirement. Be honest with yourself: if these activities were really important to you, you would be doing them now.
Are you ready to get rid of that pile?
