As we watch another year slip through our fingers like grains in an hourglass, it’s worth pondering why some business owners seem to accomplish so much while others remain trapped in the hamster wheel of routine. This weekend, spare a thought for the designers, writers, marketers, and retailers who’ll be putting in extra hours to “clear the decks” before they “deck the halls” over Christmas.

Their dedication reveals an uncomfortable truth: you will never find time – you must forge it.

The Seductive Lie of “Deserved” Downtime

Let me share something personal. I’ve been working on a new comedy character for months now, but he remains stuck in development limbo because I’ve fallen for that most alluring of lies: “I deserve some down time in the evenings.” Sound familiar?

We’ve all been there. After a demanding day, the couch beckons with its siren song of Netflix and numbness. Our brain, that clever persuader, whispers that we deserve this rest, this passive consumption of content. And yes, sometimes we do.

But here’s the paradox that David Robson illuminates in “The Expectation Effect”: our expectations about energy and fatigue often become self-fulfilling prophecies. When we assume evening hours are for collapse and recovery, we manifest that reality. Yet engagement in meaningful activities after work can actually energise rather than deplete us.

Real-World Wisdom from the Coalface

Let me share a couple of stories that bring this home:

First, we’ve just launched (for our clients and subscribers) “The Importance of Being Published” – a clever little plugin (with a hat tip to Oscar Wilde) that monitors your site to ensure you’re publishing content at the right frequency for your needs. Creating it meant turning a semi-deaf ear to countless urgent demands and distractions. Was it draining? Absolutely. Was it worth it? The moment it went live, the satisfaction was immense.

Second, we’re currently working with wonderful clients who’ve had their new website sitting ‘90% complete’ since August. It’s just awaiting their final review and addition of some extra content. Sound familiar? The urgent keeps pushing aside the important. Yet, having just guided our own team through a website overhaul, I can tell you that while the process is indeed draining, the moment it goes live – and the opportunities that follow – make it all worthwhile.

The Eisenhower-Covey Conundrum

This brings us to the wisdom crystallised in the Eisenhower Matrix and popularised by Stephen Covey: those tasks that are Important but Not Urgent often hold the key to transcending our current circumstances. They’re the business strategy sessions we never schedule, the skill development we perpetually postpone, the relationship-building we always intend to prioritise.

These activities rarely scream for attention like their Urgent counterparts. Instead, they whisper of potential, of growth, of transformation. They require something far more demanding than time – they require initiative.

Breaking Through the Barrier

Here’s where theory meets practice. Let me share how we’re actually making this work:

The Power of Micro-Commitments When developing our “Importance of Being Published” plugin, I broke it down into 15-minute blocks. Not because that’s all the time I had, but because that’s all my brain would agree to at first. The key was setting a ridiculously achieveable daily target.
Energy Mapping I’ve mapped my energy patterns rather than my time. For instance, I know my creative energy for the comedy character peaks on weekend afternoons, and when I am walking around Thorndon Park or other nature areas. Likewise, I know my brain usually is hungry to solve problems first thing in the morning so I start some pre-external-contact time well before office hours to chalk up a few wins. This isn’t about time management; it’s about energy management.
The Completion High Remember that website project I mentioned? We now much more attuned to noticing the “after” state of projects. Those moments of triumph when something goes live become fuel for the next project and for blog posts to inspire others and ourselves. It’s not just feel-good nonsense; it’s deliberately building evidence to combat future resistance.

Practical Implementation Framework

Now, I’m about to share a collection of different tactics talked about in productivity literature. Here’s the thing – attempting to implement all of these would be counterproductive. Instead, scan through them and identify one or two that resonate most strongly with your situation. Starting small but starting strong is the key here.

Audit Your Excuses
- Document every time you say “I don’t have time” for a week
- What’s the real fear behind each instance?
- What’s the smallest possible action you could take?
Create Your Energy Map
- Track your energy levels hourly for three days
- Note when you feel most creative, analytical, and social
- Identify your recovery patterns
- Match important tasks to your energy peaks
Build Your Evidence Bank
- Document every “impossible” task you’ve completed
- Note the specific strategies that worked
- Record how you felt immediately after completion
- Use these as ammunition against future resistance
Design Your Micro-Commitments
- Break important projects into 30-minute segments
- Create a visual progress tracker
- Celebrate small completions
- Stack similar tasks to maintain momentum

The Status Quo: A Comfortable Catastrophe

Perhaps the most dangerous trap isn’t failing to recognise the importance of these non-urgent tasks. It’s finding complete peace with the status quo while the world evolves around us. This contentment with mediocrity is the silent killer of potential, the anaesthetic that numbs us to possibility.

The Emergency Protocol

Sometimes, despite our best intentions, we find ourselves in a genuine time crunch. Here’s your emergency protocol:

The Nuclear Option: Block out two hours in your calendar, right now, for next week. Mark it as external meeting. Guard it like it’s a client meeting because it is – you’re meeting with your future self.
The Energy Boost: Instead of a coffee break, take a “future project” break. Set a timer for 10 minutes and work on one small element of your important task. You’ll be amazed how much clarity 10 focused minutes can bring.
The Accountability Hack: Tell someone – right now – what you’re going to complete by when. Better yet, schedule a presentation about it. Nothing motivates like a deadline and an audience.

A Gentle Tap on the Forehead

Consider this post a friendly tap on the forehead. “Hello, can you hear me?” It’s time to snap out of draining routines, focus on the prize, and push through.

Remember those designers, writers, and marketers clearing their decks before decking their halls? They’re not superhuman. They’ve just learned to forge time rather than find it. And so can you.

As an aside, I made time to play with OpenAI’s new text-to-video tool, Sora, while writing this article. To kill two birds, I asked it to create a gif (a small looping video) of “small business people trying to make clocks in an absurd manner, to make my point that you cannot make time, per se. It’s not really a great video”In a dimly lit office late at night, a man and woman sit at a cluttered table strewn with paper, markers, glue, and scissors. They are intensely focused on crafting clockfaces. The walls are lined with previous creations, each clockface bizarrely warped and creatively distorted. The room is filled with the quiet rustle of paper and occasional whispers, as they exchange ideas and critique each other’s work. The atmosphere is both creative and slightly surreal, with shadows playing across the room. The man leans over, carefully drawing numbers on his clockface, his brow furrowed in concentration.”

Given the season, I thought I’d let it make a more conventional video, of a kitten (with an extra leg) playing with presents under a tree.

In close, the question isn’t whether you have time. The question is: what will you choose to do with the time you have?

Another year will pass regardless of your choice. The only question is whether you’ll be closer to your goals when it does.

PS Here is the larger version of this story’s video.

You Will Never ‘Find’ Time (So Stop Looking For It)