One Benefit of Being Short on Time

When are people most productive? Often it’s the day before they leave on vacation.

The constraints of an impending deadline or vacation can actually help us be more productive. Some things have to get done—it doesn’t matter whether we feel like it or not. And so we do them, regardless of our emotions. We’re forced to identify what’s priority. We may have dozens of things to do, but if we only have limited time before the deadline, we’re compelled to filter out the things that can wait so we can focus on the things that can’t.

Throughout our lives, sometimes we find ourselves in seasons where we’re strapped for time. We have an overwhelming number of things to do, but only so much time. And although I don’t recommend staying in this place for long, there is at least one positive spin we can put on the situation: this limitation of time can actually force us to identify what things in our lives are most important.

Knowing what’s most important is the first step in investing in what’s most important. When things aren’t crazy busy, we might not feel the need to decide what’s most important, and so we dilute our focus, giving it to less important things. But in the crucible of constraints, we’re forced to choose.

The challenge is to keep this same diligence when we don’t feel overwhelmed. Most of us can be productive the days leading up to an important deadline or vacation. But what would it look like if we kept the same mindset all year long? When we find ourselves with limited time, we can become very selective in what we do. How would our lives be different if we were to continue this laser-focused attention on the most important things, even when the felt need to do so fades?