Not Enough Time

Is it just me or does time seem to slip away so much faster as we get older? It seemed slower when I was a child. I have no idea where June went. Over and done with, in a minute!

Or is it because our lives are so full with stuff, constantly doing something, that we ‘lose’ our time?

I have been having this discussion with a variety of people recently. The discussions have revolved around what we used to make time for but now we just don’t seem to be able to.

Some of you may be aware I have been running a Leadership and Team Performance Program. The Program is finishing this month and has run over five months. The Participants had to commit to half a day a month for the past five months. When I speak about that with people who aren’t the Participants there is a common comment of that being a long time to commit to a Program. Unfortunately, we can’t learn about leadership and teams in a couple of hours.

Yet once upon a time that commitment would be nothing. I was working in an organisation a number of years ago who invested heavily in creating a working environment which was built around high performing individuals and teams. The first step was to take every employee out of the business for a week to a location where we stayed the entire time. Recently a client of mine relayed a very similar story, from long ago, where every leader in a business from across the globe did very much the same thing.

Sadly, this is virtually unheard of now. We just don’t have the time. Or we make the choice not to make the time.

Would it be fair to say, we spend most of our time doing rather than taking the time to prepare, or look at what needs to improve or just to focus? Are we far too reactive rather than proactive?

Are you taking the time or making the time? How is your investment, or lack thereof, in time, affecting you and your business?