I was talking to a client last week and he said, “I know the thing that would really make a difference to my outcomes, but I just don’t have enough time to do it well!”

We went through his calendar, his list of activities, and so on, and sure enough there was no space for anything else… So I looked him in the eye and asked, “Do you really think this new thing would make the difference you need?”

“Absolutely!” was his response.

“So, what are you willing you do to make it happen?” I asked.

“Whatever it takes.”

So we started looking at all the things that were taking up his time, attention, and energy. We started with his calendar because if you have meetings and travel back-to-back then you don’t have time to do the deep thinking, writing, and other strategic activities that really move the needle on results.

It wasn’t until after we had cleared his calendar and dropped some activities that weren’t important that we talked about how much time this project would need. That was deliberate. If you tell yourself that you need 4 more hours then you may find those 4 hours, but you won’t uncover all the extra debris in your life.

At the end of the exercise, he realized that not only could he lay the foundations for that project in 4-5 weeks, he had capacity to create some other important opportunities as well, so we brainstormed some follow-on projects. He Voxered me the following day to tell me how encouraged and motivated he now felt.

… All from a simple awareness that something needed to change.