You’re Always Going To Run Out Of Time ⏳

Hello dear reader,

There is one thing that my husband has said every week of our married life. At least once, if not a lot more than once. (No, it’s not I love you, although I reckon that would be a true statement too). It is almost a given that you will hear him say, “I just didn’t get done what I was hoping to today.”

I have lovingly suggested that this is less to do with his personal productivity (he’s a pretty productive person) and more about his erroneous expectations. Do you relate to this? Thinking you’ll get more done that you actually did? Sadly, dear friend, this mismatch of expectations may never fully go away. 

Have you ever heard of Hofstadter’s Law? Simply put, the law states:

"It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.”

Meaning - if you think it’s going to take you ten minutes to write an email, it will invariably take fifteen. And if you allow fifteen minutes for said email, it’ll probably take twenty. 

Isn’t this so true? We make the task fit the time. And then a little bit more. So we may as well slightly underestimate the time and push ourselves because we’ll invariably run over anyway. I first learnt about Hofstadter’s Law being an actual thing when reading one of my favourite non-fiction books, Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. I have got so much from reading this book, I’ve read it three times (I’ve probably told you this before), and now, dear reader I’m sharing it with you in podcast form. This week's (and next’s) episodes are conversations pulling on some of the key themes from the book. I’ll give you some stuff to ponder but also some really great practical tips to consider too (more of that next week).

In this week’s episode we focus in on the following:

 Time Fixation

Why are we so obsessed with it? Why do we feel the need to keep hacking it? How many clocks do you have in your house? The reality that we all need to come to terms with is, we never really have time. What does he mean by this? Well, you’ll need to listen to get the full explanation but essentially, we don’t ever actually control time. We may see it as something to control and master - but it’s never truly ours to do that with, really. 

I’ll also share my own need to try and control and claim time it as my own, and what it feels like when we don’t get to use it like we expected to. There’s an element about our controlling of time that connects with our desire to predict our future - we want it to turn out as we hope. But what do we do when it doesn’t? And is this a good way to live, anyway?

 Life Has Limits

Why do we think we can have and do it all? How do we recognise and even embrace our limits? In this episode I discuss how our culture often encourages us to pursue limitless growth, success, and happiness, and how this encourages the idea that we can achieve anything if we just try hard enough or adopt the right mindset. But does this really work, or is it why we are anxious, stressed and dissatisfied? Does this mean we have to settle, allowing mediocrity and passivity to creep in? I don’t think so. But I do think it means we have to choose. Learning to choose JOMO* over FOMO**. And that's not always easy. We’ll also learn about kairos v chronos - how do you view time?

So, I hope this episode gives you lots of food for thought. Some freedom from the productivity trap and the inevitable disappointment that comes from trying to control time. It’s a bit like my unruly hair, it’ll do as it pleases. 

Hope you enjoy, 

Hannah x

*JOMO - the joy of missing out

**FOMO - the fear of missing out )