The Other Way of Defending Your Time

The first one is the obvious: protecting the slots in your calendar. Every obligation you reject creates space for an activity you choose with intention. You should do as much of this as you can, but, in the real world, it has its limits. You have to show up to your job for eight hours a day to get paid. You have to vacuum the floor when it’s dirty. And you have to feed yourself, your partner, and your kids when everyone is hungry.

Sometimes, there’s not a lot of space in the calendar we manage to defend. Then, we feel bad. As if we failed to protect our time. I have weeks like that. We all do.

But there is another way to defend our time: being intentional when we spend it, no matter how. If you’re actually present at work, chances are, you can make enough progress to end the day a bit early. If you put true effort into tonight’s dinner, even if it’s just spaghetti with tomato sauce, everyone, including you, will enjoy it a lot more.

Most of all, however, this means not wasting the little blocks we do manage to salvage from our busy weeks. We can’t do that by carrying the same, frustrated, frantic attitude into our most precious activities. Ironically, in order to make 15 minutes of writing not just work but worth it, first, we must slow down.

15 minutes is enough to write a daily blog. Do I take more time when I can? Of course! But when I can’t, the 15 minutes will suffice—unless I start worrying about only having 15 minutes as soon as I press play on the timer. I must slow down. Breathe in. Pretend I have an eternity. And start.

Fight to expand the white space in your calendar—but in the meantime, fight just as hard to be present for all the wanted and unwanted segments that are already on it.