The Truth about “Not Enough Time”

I’m going to be honest with you.

You’re lying to yourself about how much time you have.

We are all guilty of this.

At one point or another, we have said something like “I don’t have enough time” or “I wish there were more hours in the day”.

Sound familiar?

When I talk to people about my side business and balancing it with a full-time day job, I’ll often hear them say these things. They don’t believe they can run a business on top of their other responsibilities.

I get it. We all have commitments and some of you have a lot of them. It could be your day job, it could be your kids, or maybe you’re caring for an elderly parent.

These are still excuses. These are the lies you tell yourself because you’re not pursuing your entrepreneurial ambitions.

What do you, the President of the United States, Jeff Bezos, and the Pope all have in common?

You all have the same 24 hours in the day.

This is the cold hard truth.

Maybe you have children. Are there entrepreneurs that don’t have more kids than you? Are there no entrepreneurs that struggle with caring for special needs children while still running their business? I doubt it.

A close friend of mine has three kids. The kids have had some medical struggles over the years. My friend works a full-time job and is damn good at it. He has been nationally recognized by his company and received a variety of awards.

He still finds time to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams.

So what can you do about this?

First, understand that you might not be using your time efficiently. The average American watches 3 hours of television a day. If that describes you, then I just found at least 1 hour in your day that could be spent on your side business.

Don’t watch TV? How about social media? Do you endlessly scroll through Facebook or Instagram for non-business purposes? Are you playing games on your cell phone?

Here’s an exercise. For one day… just one single day… track all the time you spend on non-productive pursuits. Carry a small pad or jot it down in your cell phone. Maybe set an hourly reminder on your phone to keep you on track with this.

Look at the results of your one day experiment. What time wasters did you identify?

Listen, I’m not telling you that you can’t watch TV. I have television shows I like to watch every week. That time spent often doubles as quality time with my girlfriend. It’s a time of relaxation and “unplugging” from the grind. I don’t consider that time wasted.

If I got nothing done on my side business however, then that would be a different story. How could anyone, with a straight face, say they don’t have time for their business when they found 10 hours in a week to sit in front of the television?

Let’s look at another scenario. You work a full-time job or you take care of the kids all day long. The end of the day comes when you have a couple hours that could be used to work on your business. The problem: You’re too tired.

This happens. I have those days too. I think you should listen to your body, but once in a while you have to push through that. Say to yourself, “I’m going to work for 15 minutes and stop if I’m too tired.”

You might find that you really do have the energy. My buddy Peter who writes with me here loves the expression, “You’re not tired, you’re uninspired.”

If you don’t find that energy, ask yourself why that is and what you can do about it.

Are you exercising? Are you eating a good diet? Are you going to sleep at an appropriate time? Is that sleep high quality?

If the answer is no to any of those questions, you should work on changing those things. Our health, our relationships, and our businesses are all connected. Fine tuning all those things is what “balance” really is. It’s not sitting in front of the television for 3 hours every day because you feel you “earned it”.

I know a lot of you are not going to like hearing this. That’s OK.

Being self-critical and recognizing where we fall short is not easy. If you pointed out to me where I was wasting time or doing something stupid, I wouldn’t be happy about it either. Still, we have to recognize the truth.

Aside from using time more efficiently, there is another option. This is how the President, Jeff Bezos, and the Pope do what they do.

You buy time. Specifically, you buy time from other people.

Figure out how much money your time is worth. Look at your productive hours in a given day at both your full-time job and your side hustle. How much revenue do you generate? How much could you expect to generate on something that you’re just starting?

Let’s say that number is $50 an hour.

Any time you could get someone to do something for you for less than that number, it’s a win.

Can you get someone to mow your lawn for less than that? Can you get someone to shovel your driveway? What about sending your laundry out to a service? If it can be done for less than your hourly rate, why are you doing it?

This only works if you really use that extra time to grow your business and increase your hourly rate of earning.

Some of you are living paycheck to paycheck. I get it. Start with using your time more efficiently and grinding to get some financial breathing room. Do it with the goal of finding the resources to buy more time. Don’t just buy more stuff with it.

If you read this and thought “this guy doesn’t know me or my life”, you’re right. I don’t.

I do know a lot of entrepreneurs. Most of them started their businesses while still working a full-time job. I have friends with kids, sick parents, and their own health challenges.

The common theme among all of them is that they had the passion to keep driving forward. They find a way to accomplish their goals despite time constraints.

If that doesn’t describe you right now, then maybe you need to set better goals for yourself.

Whatever your circumstances, stop saying you don’t have the time. Find a way to either make the time or buy the time. That’s how success is achieved.