I had an interesting realization at work yesterday, one that applies to a lot of things.
At Ready At Dawn we’re all kept very, very busy and we’re all given a flattering amount of responsibility. We’re constructing an all-new game with a new team with a new engine on a new platform from the ground up. It’s extremely intense, challenging, and fun.
There’s a running joke about having enough time to do something. When someone comes to me asking me to do something for them, they ask me if I have enough time to do it. And that’s the joke. Technically, none of us have “time” to do anything because of the enormous implications of what we’re accomplishing. But if I always accepted tasks on the basis of what I did and didn’t have time for, nothing but the bare minimum would get done, and I’d have a hard time being proud of what I’ve done.
My glowing little insight was this:
It’s not a matter of having time, it’s making time. Making time to do something you know is right is what separates the good from the great.
Anytime something new comes to me, instead of stressing, I simply keep that in mind, and do it. Everything feels so much better now, and I can’t get the smile off my face.
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October 4th, 2005 at 6:48 pm
So true. Another way to look at the perspective is one of choice. By saying “I don’t have time,” it removes the perception of choice from the situation, and also removes responsibility. But we always have a choice, we are always free to choose our reactions to any situation; what you identify here is the ability of each of us to choose how we spend our time, and to be responsible in doing so.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:57 am
Brian brought up an interesting point, same one addressed in Neil Fiore’s book Overcoming Procrastination. We avoid things we “have to do” and do things we “want to do” — so if you don’t think about things as ‘have to’ and get in the habit of choice, the habit of “I want to” then you will. And you often find it takes less time than you imagined.
November 16th, 2005 at 3:21 pm
The human mind is such a funny thing, isn’t it? It’s amazing to me that the things I learn and the things I unlearn both seem to proceed at the same pace.