Giving Or Taking Time

Garth Beyer

People don’t like it when you take time away from them.

They do, however, love it when you give it to them.

It’s something to consider the next time you give someone a task. Do you do it in a way that they feel like time is stripped from their day? That they have more important things to do? That the things they could be doing matter more?

Alas, this isn’t about not delegating or assigning tasks, but rather 1. the way in which we do and 2. whether or not we gut check ourselves.

Breaking that down for a moment…

  1. People feel like they are given time (an opportunity to prove themselves or be part of something bigger than themselves) when we ask someone to do something and we share the meaningful reason behind why the task needs to get done. “Hey can you do X” feels like time is being taken away. “Hey can you do X so we can have a productive meeting tomorrow?” feels like time is given.
  2. Ego can often be the enemy, and even more often when we’re giving feedback, which is a cute way to say we’re asking others to do more work. In an effort to feel like we’ve contributed, we often give feedback for someone to do something that at the end of the day, won’t make a difference. Have you heard (or said yourself O_O) “I like it like X, can you make it that way?” <– That’s taking time, not giving it. The flip being, “I know the target is going to love it if you did X.” <– That feels like time is given.

All this to say: be careful. Relationships are built on trust and trust is built on respect for someones time. Time in the work day. Time with family. Time on this earth.

How you ask them to use it matters greatly.

Stay Positive & Time Is More Than Money

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Garth Beyer
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