One Free Hour

One free hour. That’s the gift of time I have in front of me right now. This afternoon I made myself available to help out a friend, and it turns out they had it covered. So I have a small gift of free time that I didn’t expect. And I’m using it to catch up on a commitment that I’ve made to myself. One that I’ve been running behind on often, but one that I always make time to do.

Earlier today I had someone cancel a meeting on my calendar. It opened up 30 minutes in my day that had previously been spoken for. When their email came through cancelling, I breathed a sigh of relief. I almost dove straight back into my never ending list of projects. But I took my dog for a mile walk first instead.

The last few weeks have been busy. Good. But busy. I’ve been running from one commitment to another with little time in-between. Honestly, I’m usually at least a little tired these days. I’m ending most days mentally and physically close to empty. But, and this is the important part to me; I’m proud of the things I’m doing.

There are times when this is how life goes. And I’m okay with that. I’m waking up each day excited to take on what’s in front of me. Sometimes I get overwhelmed and don’t know where I should start. But I learned a long time ago that it’s better to just pick a place and begin than to be paralyzed trying to choose a best first task. A little progress usually leads to more, even if you need to switch to something that ends up being higher on your list.

Time is such a strange thing. An hour can feel like forever or a blink. But this afternoon, this hour, feels like just enough. It’s a wonderful gap during a hectic week. This hour is time that allows me the opportunity to do all the things I want with my evening. It’s long enough to feel like a luxury. And short enough to require a little focus.

There is a technology that a few people have mentioned to me recently. It’s an app or an email plug-in, something like that. Whatever exactly it is, it puts a link in your email signature where people can view your calendar and schedule meetings with you. These helpful people have suggested it after being copied on emails where I’m going back and forth to set a meeting. They’ve said that it’s been a huge time saver for them with scheduling meetings.

At these suggestions, I’ve said thank you. I’ve also said that maybe it’s something I’ll consider eventually, but right now I’m not ready to give people that kind of access to my time. Right now I’d still rather have the few extra emails it takes to schedule some of my meetings. My direct colleagues have access to my calendar. Those are the people I’m happy to flex my day for.

A smart calendar would allow me to set my available days and hours for meetings. I’d still have a lot of say in choosing when people could have access to my time. But I’d loose my autonomy in deciding when I’d like to have that particular meeting someone is requesting. And I think I’d end up ultimately taking a lot more meetings that could have been an email.

There are a lot ways that I’m stubborn. Maybe none more than when it comes to how I allow access to my time. In a lot of ways, that creates friction in my life. Some good friction, some more nuanced. I can be a tough person to schedule time with. But that’s because I want to be the best version of myself when I show up, wherever I’m headed. Even if that version shows up wearing sweaty running clothes when I’m already a little late meeting you for dinner.