The Small Business No Time Paradox

Last week's Small Business Information Newsletter on preparing your small business for disaster, prompted several business owners to say they felt the topic was important but "I don't have the time." I often get this reaction when mentioning important tasks such as market planning, backing up critical data or spending time to monitor vital industry and business trends.

John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing recently blogged on his encounters with business owners saying "I don't have time for marketing." The lack of time isn't isolated to a tiny segment of the small business market but a much wider group. A Staples National Small Business Survey found over two-thirds of business owners report a constant challenge to having little time time to get things done.

Jantsch blogs solid advice to use a wall calendar and plan ahead for your activities. I concur and as many of my subscriber know, I often theme the newsletter around events such as "Computer Back Up Day" or "Customer Loyalty Month." Yet, John's blog and my readers recent comments made me ponder... Is it really a lack of planning and a requirement for better time management?

My curiosity led to the work of Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd, authors of The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life. Over decades of research, Zimbardo and Boyd have discovered it's our attitude and perception of time that impacts how we feel and act toward time. By changing our perception of time we can move beyond daily limits and expand constructs of our time boundaries. No time may really be all in our heads.