If you never take time, you can never have time.

One of my favourite lines in all of cinematic history was uttered by the Merovingian in the Matrix Reloaded. If you never take time, you can never have time. I think it is really profound.

Today’s post is going to be brief. I don’t plan on waffling through this one.

We spend our lives lamenting the fact that we never have the time for anything. Lamenting all the things we do not have time to do.

The point is simple, if you never take time, you can never have time.

Photo by Oladimeji Ajegbile on Unsplash

Here is the rule. Everyone has 24 hours in a day. Assume everyone sleeps 8 hours of those 24. That’s 16 hours left. There are other constraints, I know, but sleep is the only one that renders you unconscious. Most other things allow some leeway.

Even when you remove all of the different things that you have to give time to, you will still be left with some.

The question is, how will you use it?

There are two decisions to make here:

1. In the mess of the micro, when you cannot change a lot of the fixed uses of time, what will you prioritise? What will you take time for?
2. In the macro, where you have much more capacity to change things, but never without cost. What will you sacrifice? The time you have will be given to something. What will it be?

Photo by Matt Walsh on Unsplash

In short — what matters most? If you want time for that then remember this. If you never take time, you can never have time.