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Dave Buck

The Myth of “I Don’t Have Time”

Published 9 days ago • 2 min read

The Time-Optimized Newsletter

Helping move time from finite to infinite (issue 213)

If you only read one sentence:

Most people don’t actually lack time, they lack clarity about what truly deserves their hours.

This Week's Feature

Time Inflation: Why Tasks Always Take Longer Than Planned

Let’s kill a big lie we all tell ourselves: “I don’t have time.”

No… you have the same 24 hours as everyone else. The truth is: it’s not a priority. And when you start saying it that way, everything changes.

Most people don’t have a time problem, they have a clarity problem.

Time isn’t the enemy. Lack of clarity is. You don’t need more hours. You need more honesty.

Read it. Translate your words. Reclaim your priorities.

This Week’s Action Step (2 minutes)

For the next two days, catch yourself whenever you say or think “I don’t have time.”

Pause and translate it into:

“That’s not a priority right now.”

If the sentence feels uncomfortable, it’s a signal that your calendar and your values may be out of alignment.

Featured Free Resource

Interruption Time Analysis (ITA)

Unpack the interruptions in life that will impact your productivity and quality of life.

Recent Articles

Time Inflation: Why Tasks Always Take Longer Than Planned

Time Inflation is real — and it’s robbing you blind.

We’ve all lived it:

👉 A “quick” email that turns into 30 minutes.

👉 A “short” meeting that drags past an hour.

👉 A coworker who says, “This will only take a second” — and suddenly you’ve lost half your focus.

That’s time inflation. Tasks expanding way beyond the original estimate.

And it’s why so many people feel busy all day but go home asking, “What did I even get done?”

It’s not theory. It’s strategies to help you stop letting “a couple minutes” steal your day.

Time Insight of the Week

“I don’t have time” is rarely about the clock. It’s about priorities.

When people translate that phrase into the more honest statement, “It’s not a priority,” their time decisions become clearer and more intentional.

Your schedule always reveals your real priorities.

Calendar Debt: Spending Tomorrow’s Hours Today

You’re in debt — and I’m not talking about money.

Take a look at your calendar right now. Be honest.

Back-to-back meetings. “Quick” calls. Open space you hope to use for actual work. Sound familiar?

That’s calendar debt — spending tomorrow’s hours today. Just like financial debt, it compounds.

You want to get out of time debt?

Read it. Fix it. Take your time back.

How You Announce Your Retirement Matters

👉 Nobody teaches people how to say the words “I’m retiring.”

Everyone obsesses over the numbers — the portfolio, the plan, the projections.

Yet, no spreadsheet or model captures: the moment a person announces retirement, their identity shifts.

That’s when it gets real.

Most don’t have a communication plan.

You’re not just managing wealth; you’re managing the story.

You’re helping tell it with purpose.

Retirement isn’t a financial transaction — it’s a re-introduction of self.

Help announce who you're becoming, not just what you're leaving.

Check out the article.

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Dave Buck

⌚Providing senior business professionals with a post-career lifestyle strategy of purpose, fulfillment, ease and joy. ⏳Start your journey by taking the Retirement Time Analysis (RTA) Lifestyle Quiz. https://infinitylifestyledesign.com/rta/

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