Ten years ago, society decided that we all needed supercomputers in our pockets. They promised that it would make us more efficient and free up time for more important things, human things – connecting, socialising, leisure activities and creative work. So, the question is, what are we doing with all our free time, now?
I don’t know about other people, but I feel like I’m busier than ever. I’m always looking for the next app, tool or technique to make me more productive and efficient so I can spend time being… Hmm, more productive and efficient?
Something’s wrong here.
Why is it so hard for humans to prioritise human things – those ‘more important’ things that businesses tell us we’ll have time for if we use their app, their tool, or their product.
Last week, I installed yet another tool on my phone. And, it’s certainly made me organised and focussed. So, because of this, I should have more time, right? In fact, I do. But it’s not the app, tool or technique that’s going to make me use that time to do more creative or human work; it’s me. All I need to know is what’s truly important to me and then stop making excuses for not doing those things.
What’s important to you?
I think that this question is REALLY hard to answer. It requires us to know ourselves; our values, wants, needs, and what truly makes us happy. The problem with hard questions is that they’re hard. Humans don’t like doing hard stuff. So, instead of doing the hard work to find these things out, it’s easier to open Instagram or Facebook and scroll for a while. It’s easier to turn on Netflix and binge-watch a couple of episodes until it’s bedtime. And, then it’s bed-time, so, “I should probably go to bed, now”.
Even if we are strong-willed enough to answer what’s important to us, this alone won’t make it happen. We can make a list, sure, but then there’s the hard work of doing it. I don’t mean ‘making time’ for it, which is a phrase I used to use a lot when I needed to ‘make time for my creative work’, but prioritise is. Make EFFORT to do my creative work. But, as we know, humans tend to naturally avoid effort, and businesses are great and giving us ‘tools’ to help us avoid as much effort as possible.
I’m not too busy, I just don’t care enough?
As Debbie Millman once said, “Busy is a choice.” In the end, it comes down to how we prioritise things. I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to kick myself out of the habit of ‘being too busy for that’ is to re-phrase that excuse. Instead of saying, “I’m too busy…” I changed it too, “It’s not a priority…” or “It’s not important to me…”. Look what happens when you do this.
- “I’m too busy to call mum right now” vs “It’s not a priority to call mum right now”
- “I’m too busy to eat good food” vs “It’s not important to me to eat good food”
- “I’m too busy to write my story” vs “My story isn’t important enough to me to write it”
- “I’m too busy to go on a holiday” vs “Going on a holiday is not a priority for me”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be the person that doesn’t prioritise giving mum a call.
Making more time?
We don’t need to make more time for creative work. We’ve already got plenty of time. And, if the promise of the supercomputer in our pocket and all the productivity tools out there are true, we’re only going to get more of it.
But, no one is going to do the hard work of making sure that what’s important to you is prioritised in your life. You’re the only one that can do that. It’s hard. REALLY hard. We’re battling multi-million dollar organisations of thousands of people whose sole purpose is to have you scroll through their feed and spend all your time in their app so they can sell your time to advertisers.
The question really becomes – Are you too busy to control your own time or, is it just not important to you right now?