If not now, when?

We’ve all said it at one time or another: I’d love to _______, if I could just find the time.

With suddenly cleared calendars, most of us have a bit more time to do with as we like. (Maybe not a ton if you have kids at home but still some—you aren’t going to practices or school events or any other number of activities!) But I noticed something recently. I found I was squandering the very thing I’d always spoken of with such longing—extra time.

For this present moment, we are at home. For this present moment, we have choices. When sheltering in place becomes a memory, I don’t want to look back and lament the way I spent the unexpected freedom of schedule. Instead, I want to be satisfied that I did, indeed, find the time to do something I always said I wanted to do.

For me, this has meant a couple of things. First, a lot more reading! I’m actually making a dent in my To Be Read pile. Which is awesome! Couple that with reading some research books in preparation for writing and I’m feeling good. Fewer reading hours than I would prefer has often been my lament. But these days, if I’m not getting a few hours of reading in each day I only have myself to blame.

Another thing I’ve been wanting to do is up my crochet game. I’m pretty adept at blankets, washcloths and scarves, but I’ve wanted to be able to figure out some of the more complicated projects and simply haven’t had extra time to both learn and practice. But lately I have been doing just that. I can watch a YouTube video, practice, and tear it all out and start again if I need to. Partly this is happening because we’re watching more movies in the evenings, and I like to do something with my hands while I watch. But much of this is simply that in my pre-coronavirus day-to-day life, crochet got very little of my attention on a weekly basis. I was more focused on feeling like I’d finished something—had something to show for my effort—than I was learning to move to the next level.

What’s that something for you–those things you’ve always wanted to do when you found time? Here it is, so why don’t you check out YouTube and use this time at home to learn how. A mom I know learned to French braid her daughter’s hair. The son of one of my friends learned how to smoke meat, then made dinner for the family. There are so many options out there and so many ways to learn online.

Maybe you’ve always wanted to write a book—then take a class online or just sit down and write. Maybe there is a book you’ve always said you’d read “when there was time”—get a copy and read it. Try a new recipe. Dive into a challenging puzzle.

Have you wanted to create some new habits or routines? What a perfect opportunity, because you know your days will all essentially look the same for a while. And when you get back to a more normal schedule, your new habit or routine will have taken root and it will be harder to leave it behind. Have you wanted more time to read or study God’s Word or to pray? Guess what? You’ve got it now!

Are there people you seldom talk to because you or they are usually at work during the day and the nights and weekends are too busy with other things? Connect via email, text, phone or video chat. Are there activities you always wished you had time to do with your children? Use the time in your schedule when they would normally be doing extra-curricular activities.

The only thing stopping us from doing one of those things we said we would when we had time is ourselves. We can choose so many different ways to waste this boon of time. But it only takes a shift of sight, a shift of thinking, to remember that there are many more ways to fill our time with things that feed our hearts, minds and hands.

“I’d love to_________, if I could just find the time.”

If not now, when?

Share something you’ve always wanted to have time for that you are now doing in these days of sheltering in place.