“525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments in time,”  these are lyrics from one of my favorite musicals, Rent.

This year marks the 20th year that Rent has been inspiring audiences.

525,600 minutes are the number of minutes in a year.

You cannot talk about organization and productivity without talking about time.

Many people feel they don’t have enough and wish for more of it.

Underneath the desire for more time is this distinction: people want more time to do the things that are enjoyable and less time doing the things that aren’t.

If you have tried meditation, or have tried anything new or uncomfortable, you are likely to have experienced what can seem like an abundance of time.  Fifteen minutes with your eyes closed, deeply breathing, and trying to remain still, can feel like an hour.

Time is not discriminatory; everyone has 24 hours in a day.

Time cannot be stopped, sped up or controlled.

What we do have control over is our choices.

Time management might better be described as choice management.

And here’s the big secret: It is not the lack of time that keeps you from doing the things you want to do, it’s your relationship with time.

The first step in time (choice) management is to understand your relationship with time.

To begin to understand your relationship with time, first notice what language you use when you talk about time.

What are the words you use to describe your experience of time?

Some common phrases are:

I don’t have time.
I’m sooo busy.
This is a waste of my time.
Time flies.

Do you use any of these phrases?

For a long time, I told myself that I don’t have time to make it to a yoga or group fitness class in the morning before I start my workday. What I realized is this: it feels better to sleep longer and focus on other morning rituals instead of going to the gym. The truth is I do have the time and I stopped telling myself that I don’t.

Consider approaching the last three months of the year with an awareness about your relationship with time. Practice improving that relationship by using empowering words instead of limiting ones.

Instead of saying that you have to do whatever it is, try replacing “have to” with “get to.”  This word replacement implies an opportunity versus an obligation.

For me it’s a relief to know that I do have some control over my time because I control my choices. I can choose to examine my words and statements and determine if they are really true; sometimes they’re not.

I can choose the actions and the vocabulary that supports creating the time to do the things that are important to me. It’s simple, but not always easy.

“525,600 minutes; how do you measure a year?”  

Rent

How will you choose to experience the remaining 131,400 minutes of the year?
What limiting beliefs about time will you challenge?
What will you choose to create time for?
What do you have the opportunity to “get to” do?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.