5 lessons about time that immensely improved my life

And allowed me to work on multiple passions

One of my favorite quotes about time comes from Andy Warhol. It goes like, “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”

In all honesty, on the surface, it seems like a statement that doesn’t say much about time. But if you read again, it says it all. My takeaway from this statement is that we have the power to change our lives based on how we spend our time. Time in itself doesn’t change, it’s what we do with it that makes all the difference.

Just like this one, here are 5 lessons I’ve learned about time that have made my life a lot better:

We are always in control of how we spend our time

I have Ali Abdaal’s Youtube video to thank for this. “At any point, we’re doing what we want to do the most,” he says very aptly. And we are. If right now I am watching a Netflix special instead of working on my side hustle, it’s because deep down I want to be doing that.

So, instead of cribbing about “not having enough time,” a better question to ask ourselves in this situation is “why do I feel like watching a Netflix special instead of working on the side-hustle that will be more beneficial in the long run.”

A lot of the time, procrastination is based on fear – fear of change that will be caused if we take that particular action. And working on that fear is a good place to start if we want to claim back our time.

Good time management is closely linked to delayed gratification and patience

Most of the time we waste is because of the impulsive actions we take. We take these actions because of the instant hit of dopamine they provide.

Over time, this stimulation can cause us to become addicted to dopamine release and seek out such impulses again and again. This results in us chasing impulses instead of actually working on things that are important.

If we can get into the habit of letting go of these impulses for the long game, we inherently end up being good at managing our time.