?I don?t have time?

Photo credit: Titan

In an office I worked previously, many years ago, there was a colleague, who was once told to do a particular task by his boss.

Here's how their conversation went:

Colleague: I am sorry, I won't be able to do it.

Boss: Why?

Colleague: Because I don't have time.

Boss: You can't say you don't have time. …

Colleague: I am not kidding. I simply don't have time for what you are asking me to do.

Boss: Then who will do it?

Colleague: I am sure you will find someone else who will have the time to do it.

Boss: Tell me … do you have time to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner? Do you find time to watch a movie? Do you find time to have a shower? Do you get time to chat with your friends?

If you say you don't have time, how do you expect someone else to have time, since all of us have the same amount of 24 hours a day.

Don't tell me you don't have time. Tell me, the task I gave you is not a priority for you. If it is a priority for you, you will surely find time to do it.

Colleague: I get what you mean. But what I am trying to tell you is precisely that. I have more important commitments; so I won't be able to do what you are asking me to do.

Boss: I know! I was just kidding!

The topic of their conversation shifted to something else; and someone else ended up doing that task.

When we say: "I don't have time," that can sound a bit insensitive and curt. It could also indicate a disinterest in the task we have to do. The boss is right in saying if there is some inclination to do it, we would surely find some time.

If there is genuinely no time, it is better to phrase it this way: "I am too tied up with other equally important work, so I won't be able to do it within the specified time."

After this, I always check myself before blurting out, "I have no time." (Unless of course I am telling someone very close to or in an informal context.)

The most recent occasion was when a friend asked me: "You were so feverishly blogging - one post a day - in April, what happened now?"

I told him, 'I don't have time." (Since he was a close friend of mine.)

His immediate retort: There is no challenge now. That would be more accurate!

(He was referring to the A to Z Challenge, in April, just in case you are wondering what he meant by 'challenge'.)