Day17 - 'I don't have time' and other excuses

Today I finished the 4th chapter ('The Software Craftsmanship Attitude') of Sandro Mancuso's book 'The Software Craftsman'. This chapter is mostly about ways how we as developers can steadily learn and improve, e.g. reading books, websites, blogs or through practicing skills like Katas or pair programming. In the last few pages of that chapter, Mr. Mancuso deals with the topic time management and balance with respect to learning and improvement. I found that especially interesting as I've published one or another blog post of how I try to manage my time and myself better.

Well, learning and practiting takes quite a lot of time, that's for sure! Whether it's studying, reading a book or watching a webinar - everything takes time, and if you want to question things and understand them better, it takes even longer. But do we also have this time?

We often hear people saying "I don't have time", don't we?

Mr. Mancuso states:

Time should never be used as an excuse for not doing certain things.
Ever.
We all have time.
In fact, we all have exactly the same amount of time.
The difference is how we choose to spend our time.

I have to say, I'm kind of taken with that statement. In the near future I will try to pay more attention to how often someone uses "I don't have time" as an excuse. And most of all, how often I'm the person saying that.

I hope I am watchful enough for this.

Bye