You’re in Charge of Your Time

You’re in Charge of Your Time

By Steve Pavlina

It’s easy to pretend(prəˈtend) that you’re not in control of your time with expressions like these:

I don’t have time.
I have to .
I’m all booked up.
My schedule is packed.
I haven’t had a day off since .
I’m always doing things for other people.
My boss/spouse(spous)/kids need me to ____.
I never have any time to myself.
I have a lot of work to do.

How you spend your time is your choice. You can choose to obey(əˈbā) other people’s expectations. You can choose to obligate(ˈäbləɡāt) yourself. You can pretend that you don’t have a choice, but of course you still do have a choice.

You choose to go to work or not. You choose to obey other people’s expectations or not. You choose to make promises(ˈpräməs) or not. You choose to get married or have kids or not, and you choose how to manage expectations with your family and friends.

Your calendar items represent your choices. Calendars are full of blank and empty days by default. You consented(kənˈsent) to the contents of your calendar, and you can withdraw that consent whenever you want.

Sometimes it’s good to remind yourself that all of the obligations and expectations regarding how you spend your time were due to choices you’ve made. You’re free to make different choices whenever you want to change the course of your life. You can unmake any time-based decision you’ve made previously(ˈprēvēəslē).

People can and do change their minds. When they don’t like how the days are streaming by, they unmake old decisions and make fresh(freSH) ones. Why not you?

…
https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/09/youre-in-charge-of-your-time/