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There's no such thing as "not enough time"; we all get the same amount of time for everything. What there is, what people actually mean when they say "not enou

There's no such thing as "not enough time"; we all get the same amount of time for everything. What there is, what people actually mean when they say "not enough time", is "things I'd rather be doing". Consciously or unconsciously, you prioritise your list, perhaps by Maslow's hierarchy of needs or in other ways, then whatever consistently drops off the bottom at the end of the day ends up mentally filed in the "not enough time" bucket. In my case, I find exercise for the sake of exercise mind-numbingly tedious, so my "things I'd rather be doing" includes "playing cookie clicker again", "afternoon nap", "staring into space dumbly" etc. After filling my day with all those things, oddly enough I never seem to have time to go out for a jog. Looking at what made it into the bucket and what didn't is a fine source of guilt. (I keep thinking it's time for Propcycle to make a comeback now we have VR helmets...)

pavel_lishin 10y ago
> There's no such thing as "not enough time"; we all get the same amount of time for everything. Technically correct. > What there is, what people actually mean when they say "not enough time", is "things I'd rather be doing". True; I'd rather be taking my child to daycare, and picking her up, and spending time with her. I'd rather be commuting 45 minutes to a job I enjoy rather than moving next-door to it and suffering a 200%+ rent increase, or working next door to where I live as a much lower-income grocery store clerk. Other people might rather spend time managing a chronic medical condition. Or taking care of a family member. Or doing any number of things that is out of their control. We all get 24 hours in a day, but we don't all get an equal allotment of choice in how we spend it.
- mkohlmyr 10y ago
  Indeed, I'd phrase it as "other priorities" -- some priorities stem from circumstance, some from active desire.. Additionally I think classifying it as "I'd rather be doing" is somewhat unhelpful because there are many things people "want to be doing" in the long term that they find difficult to "actually do" in the immediate term in large part due to outside stimulus (and the availability thereof). The ability of people to focus and stick with tasks, whatever they might be, is anything but equal.
- EpicEng 10y ago
  It's true that some are busier than others, but the vast majority of us can find 20-30 minutes to exercise 3-5 days per week. Cant get to a gym? Work out at home. People simply chose to do something else instead.

pavel_lishin 10y ago

> There's no such thing as "not enough time"; we all get the same amount of time for everything. Technically correct. > What there is, what people actually mean when they say "not enough time", is "things I'd rather be doing". True; I'd rather be taking my child to daycare, and picking her up, and spending time with her. I'd rather be commuting 45 minutes to a job I enjoy rather than moving next-door to it and suffering a 200%+ rent increase, or working next door to where I live as a much lower-income grocery store clerk. Other people might rather spend time managing a chronic medical condition. Or taking care of a family member. Or doing any number of things that is out of their control. We all get 24 hours in a day, but we don't all get an equal allotment of choice in how we spend it.

mkohlmyr 10y ago
Indeed, I'd phrase it as "other priorities" -- some priorities stem from circumstance, some from active desire.. Additionally I think classifying it as "I'd rather be doing" is somewhat unhelpful because there are many things people "want to be doing" in the long term that they find difficult to "actually do" in the immediate term in large part due to outside stimulus (and the availability thereof). The ability of people to focus and stick with tasks, whatever they might be, is anything but equal.
EpicEng 10y ago
It's true that some are busier than others, but the vast majority of us can find 20-30 minutes to exercise 3-5 days per week. Cant get to a gym? Work out at home. People simply chose to do something else instead.