Finding Time by Letting Go of Control

How often do you find yourself wondering, “where has all the time gone today?”(or “this week?”)  I wonder about that fairly often and my guess is that most people do, as well.   There is no question (in my mind, at least) that our ever-complex, technology driven world absorbs bundles of our time—ironically, often through the use of “time-saving”  devices such as texting, googling, using engaging apps, and the like.  Similarly, most timesaving strategies simply make room for us to do more things with our time, rather than relieving time related stress and pressure.

Consequently, we always feel woefully short of time.  Leslie Perlow of the Harvard School of Business has aptly coined the phrase “time famine” to describe this time quandary.

There is another (and easily overlooked) reason that many of us find ourselves short of time: We are too controlling.

Losing Control, Finding Time

Constantly trying to control or change others or things takes inordinate amounts of time.

Think about it for a moment.   All the time and effort you put into fruitless control efforts deprive you from doing many of the things you would like to do, but don’t have the time to do!

As I have repeatedly expressed in this blog and in Losing Control, Finding Serenity: How the Need to Control Hurts Us and How to Let It Go (an Amazon Best Seller now for 7 years in a row), people will truly change only when they are ready and willing to do so, and all our advising, pressuring, pleading, etc., is for naught.

Simply put, we are powerless over changing others—at least in any meaningful way.

So why not lose control, and find more time—a lot more!  In past posts I have shared some effective decontrol tools.  Some basic ones can be read in Intentions for Letting Go of Control in 2013.

Here’s for changing your time famine to a time surplus in 2014!

In the meantime, remember to

Let It Go–and Accept “What Is!”

Danny

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