What is your relationship with time?

Reflecting on my time in 2021 and time collapsing

2021 has flown by. Do we say this every year!? I do.

I graduated from university, 20 years ago. I lived in Spain, 15 years ago. I got married 5 years ago. I remember everything as if it happened yesterday. Totally nuts, right?

Time seems to run even faster when you have kids. Now more than ever, I feel like I don’t have enough time. For anything. And it frustrates me, just as much as it scares me.

I will be 42 next year. My daughter will be 4. My son will be 2. I can’t believe it!

As you can see, I think about time a lot these days. There is so much I want to do. Where can I find the time? How can I stop it from passing me by?

A pensive yours truly...

On time collapsing

As I grapple with the perpetual scarcity of time, I have stumbled upon the concept of time collapsing.

I read about it first by coming across Ed O’Keefe. Father of 7 (!), investor, marketer and author of Time Collapsing-The New Art of Speed, Money, Power & Meaning.  Ed has sold over $50,000,000 in marketing systems and seminars, and over $60,000,000 in health supplements, without having any experience. All by the age of 41.

(Just a small side note here: I talk often about successful people and how much money they are making. I just want to clarify: It’s not just about making a certain amount of money, it’s about the freedom that the money gives you to design the life you want. If you can make the money you want to, in less time, that leaves more time for you to focus your energy on making the impact you want to. I am unapologetic about wanting to make a good amount money, and this is the reason why.)

I recently did a 4-day course with Jenn Kennedy on Time Collapsing, a course that just appeared in front of me, as if I manifested it as I was thinking about it. Jenn is a teacher turned coach who makes 6-figure months by mastering how to bend time. It’s fascinating.

I won’t pretend that I understand it completely just yet. But this is what I understand of it so far:

• Time collapsing is being able to do more in less time, by letting go of our beliefs linked to time.

• Time is a construct we have created; we can bend it as we desire.

• The goal is to do less but with greater impact. To apply our energy, time and resources in the area of your life that will leverage the highest return on the time that you invest into it.

• Time collapsing is about rewiring your brain to rediscover the concept of time by letting go of any conventional beliefs linked to time, like:

  o   Time and money are connected. (Says who?)

  o   I have to work for a long time to earn x amount of money.

  o   I only have x years of experience; I cannot make that amount of money.

  o   I am 41, my salary should be xxxx, this will validate my success as a professional.

• You are an energetic match for the amount of money you are currently making; your salary, for example, that is your current minimum energetic match. Who’s to say you can only make that money on a monthly basis? If you are an energetic match for it, why can’t you make that amount in 2 weeks? Or in 2 days?

• Traditionally, the time we spend has been intrinsically linked to the money we earn. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can manifest our own reality of time. Time takes on the meaning we give it.

• To enable this, we need to shift our thinking from “what do I have to do to achieve my goals” to “who do I have to become to achieve my goals.” I actually wrote about this when I learned about the Be-Do-Have model. You can read about how this can be a more potent model than the conventional ‘Have-Do-Be’ model, here.

This is obviously the tip of the ice-berg when it comes to time collapsing. There is a lot of inner work that needs to be done to integrate new beliefs into our system.

On wasting time

The harsh reality is that we waste a lot of time, with whatever excuse it may be.

“I need to watch an hour of television to relax at the end of the day,” for example.  

My screen time is at 4 hours a day on the weekend. How!? When!? Instagram!? I don’t even realize it!

Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca’s letter on the shortness of life comes to mind here. A quote:

“It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested.”

There is a lot to learn from Seneca, you can download a lot of his wisdom here for free, big thanks to Tim Ferris for compiling it all!

On mismanaging time by wanting to do too many things

I often feel invincible; like I can do everything, when the reality is, I cannot. At least not in the same time frame.

I want to have a job that pays well, be a present mum of 2 toddlers, be there for my husband and immediate family, write and grow a newsletter (this one!), write for Triple Pundit, do courses, train for a half-marathon, go to gymnastics, do yoga, read books, go to contemporary dance, go to the theatre, have a social life…the list goes on.

So what should I do? Seeking solutions as the year comes to an end

Time is the most valuable resource we have, that we cannot buy more of. And we don’t know when it’s going to run out.  This year I have realized this more than ever.

Prioritizing what’s important and being disciplined about it could be a big leap towards achieving what you want, in less amount of time. Is that part of time collapsing?

As I prepare to walk into 2022, I am throwing out all my excuses of not having enough time.

We will be at the beach next week, soaking in the sun and the beautiful weather in Dubai on a much needed break. It is the best time of year to reflect and recharge.

I will work on identifying what my non-negotiable priorities are for 2022 and the rest will go into the ‘nice to do’ box.  Perhaps that’s a good place to start. Sounds pretty simple; I’m not sure it is.

Anyone else feel the same about time? Please tell me I’m not the only one obsessed with time?