I recently realized that if I’m too busy to take something on, I shouldn’t say “I don’t have the time”. In fact, I often do have the time. It’s not that hard to squeeze in some extra time for someone.
What I don’t have – and what I can’t squeeze in – is more attention. Attention is a far more limited resource than time. So what I should say is “I don’t have the attention”. I may have 8 hours a day for work, but I probably have 4 hours a day for attention.
This summer a guy wrote me out of the blue asking if he could intern for me this summer. His email was great – clear, thoughtful, kind, inviting, confident but not pushy, and not too long (but long enough to say what he had to say without leaving anything out). He was studying at Harvard Business School and was going to be back in Chicago this summer.
He asked if he could swing by and say hi. His email made it easy for me to say yes. So he did, and we had a great session. We spent maybe an hour or so together. I learned about his background, what kind of stuff he was interested in, what he wanted to learn, what he could teach us, etc. Then we riffed on a few ideas. It was natural, flowing, effortless. Really promising.
Then I told him I’d think a few things over and get back to him soon. He checked in a few weeks later, and I said I’d get back to him soon again. And I didn’t.
A month or so after that I wrote him and told him I was really sorry. I’d mislead him – and myself – thinking I had enough time to take on a intern that summer. I wanted to, I really liked him, I thought he’d be great, but I just didn’t have as much time as I thought I had to even consider it more and line up work and spend time with him, etc.
But really, as I thought about it, I realized I had the time. Every day is the same 24 hour cycle. Every workday around 8 hours. Surely I could have found even 20 minutes a day to work with him. But it wasn’t that. It wasn’t that I couldn’t find the time. I couldn’t find the attention.
My mind fills up with a few key projects and that’s it. I’m absorbed by those. That’s where my attention is. Had I made 20 minutes here and there for him, I’m be physically present in that moment, but mentally I’d be elsewhere. And that’s not fair to either of us.
Time and attention aren’t the same thing. They aren’t even related.
We’ve since talked a few more times, and we caught up again last week. I think I’ll have more attention next year. We’re going to keep in touch, check in from time to time as he finished up school, and then try again.
Tom O'Dea
on 19 Aug 15When people ask if you can do something, try not to say, “I can’t, I’m too busy.” That’s a lie. If something is important enough, you’d find the time. Instead say, “I can’t, it’s not a priority right now.”
Easier said than done when it’s a friend asking to hang out and you have to tell them they aren’t a priority!
Thorsten
on 19 Aug 15JASON! You are killing me.. you don´t even have an email subscribe form on your blog?? Who the hell is doing RSS feeds alone anymore??? Most people (me included) never figured out how that is supposed to work? K.I.S.S…
Got Email Subscribe Form?
Where?
Rob L.
on 20 Aug 15Wow, cool. It’s really about attention, and it’s bullshit to pretend otherwise. It disrespects people to blame it on time.
In practice I might feel weird saying “I don’t have the attention.”
It’s too close to “I actually DO have time, and yet I STILL don’t want to do it, mainly because even if I did it, I’d be thinking about more important things,” which could seem a little harsh. I guess it depends how you say it.
Akanksha
on 20 Aug 15Time is tricky: We think we have time. But the truth is that nobody has time, time has everybody. So time is not just money, time is the money that can never ever be earned back, saved, borrowed or stolen. That is why we set priorities.
Attention is tricky: Sometimes you work for hours without losing attention even for a second while sometimes you lose it every few minutes. So attention, by default, is directly related to interest and not priority.
I think all we can do is find a way to use our minds to make the priorities interesting ( I mean the ones which are not already interesting ) or to put all the attention to the task at hand. That is going to require a lot of practice.
Jason Fried
on 20 Aug 15@Thorsten I totally agree we should have an email signup to receive Signals vs. Noise posts via email.
eMBee
on 21 Aug 15if i don’t have the attention for something, do i really have the time for it? i mean if i spend time with you but am thinking about something else, am i really giving you my time?
so yes, it is about the attention, but it is the time you spend giving that attention. it is easy to find time for things that don’t require attention, but it is hard to find time for things that do require attention.
attention is the reason, but time is the outcome.
so in a roundabout way, saying “i don’t have the time” is not a lie. because it means: i don’t have the time to give this the proper attention.
greetings, eMBee.
Davidseo
on 24 Aug 15so yes, it is about the attention, but it is the time you spend giving that attention. it is easy to find time for things that don’t require attention, but it is hard to find time for things that do require attention. Xe honda city – Xe honda crv
Hamza
on 24 Aug 15I agree with @Thorsten too… Plus it’s really easy to integrate iframes and there is a lot of mail services that offer that for free ^^.
Good luck – @Hamza
Chuck
on 24 Aug 15My most effective and productive time on any subject is spent in the “zone.” Total focus provides insights and access to details we would otherwise miss. So like many successful people, the actual amount of time, or more correctly stated, available focus is limited by our expectations to do good work.
Keep up the good work Jason. This is a no guilt zone!
Dennis Flax
on 26 Aug 15I was just having a discussion with my wife about how time doesn’t equal experience and that they aren’t even related. This dovetails that discussion very nicely.
For me, incubation takes time and loading the incubator takes time… doing both well takes proper attention. Proper attention takes a whole battery of factors to support it. I dislike giving anything I decide to do slipshod attention. The time v. attention ratio is probably higher than anyone doing good work on a regular basis might even think that it is. But that’s just a theory.
Vlad
on 26 Aug 15Great article! That’s the trap I’m falling from time to time, too. Thinking that if there is enough time in the day, there will be always enough attention to go along with it. But rarely that is the case.
This discussion is closed.