Rewiring my mindset around time, work, and what it means to lead well
A Shift in How I See My Time
I had an interesting revelation recently about how I view my time and how we can unintentionally condition ourselves in how we think about it. Think Pavlov.
As a lot of small business owners know, owning a business is not an 8 to 5 gig most of the time. To get it off the ground or sustain it, you often must put in extra hours, or hours outside of the traditional workday.
Recently, I found myself really struggling with resisting work on my business during the weekend. This surprised me. I have never been a stranger to overtime. In fact, not long ago, I went through a season where I was working about 60 hours a week across all seven days. I was always on call, including text messages in the middle of the night.
So, I started asking myself why I was feeling so much resistance now, especially since this time was being spent on my own business.
The Moment It Clicked
After a conversation with a friend, something finally clicked.
I realized I was viewing my time through a lens of scarcity, not abundance. Through protection, not choice.
When I think back to that season of 60-hour weeks and constant availability, it makes sense. That pace burned me out quickly. Eventually, I came to my senses, realized it was not healthy, and made a change.
But something stuck with me after that period, even though my circumstances had changed.
Conditioning and the Pavlov Effect
This is where Pavlov comes in.
During that intense season, I became conditioned to see my time as something that was not my own. Something that could be taken. Something that needed to be protected.
Being constantly on call and overworked became associated with stress and a loss of control. So, my brain started to connect extra work time, especially evenings and weekends, with those same negative feelings.
Even now, when I choose to work on my own business during those hours, my brain still tries to label it the same way. Stress. Burnout. Loss of control.
How Scarcity Showed Up
Looking back, my circumstances and, honestly, my poor boundaries conditioned me to see time as scarce and something that could be taken away from me.
I felt like I had to guard what little personal time I had left. So even when I wanted to use my evenings or weekends for something meaningful, like building my own business, I felt resistance.
I was resistant, and if I am being honest, probably a bit grumpy about it.
That reaction was not really about the work itself. It was about the meaning I had attached to that time.
What Would Abundance Look Like?
In that lightbulb moment, I asked myself a simple question.
What would it look like to view my time through a lens of abundance and choice?
Time is still a non-renewable resource. That does not change. But what if I chose to see it differently?
What if instead of feeling like I needed to protect my time, I recognized that I have agency over it?
I have 24 hours in a day. I get to choose how I spend them. Maybe slightly less because I do enjoy sleep. And yes, there are always things I have to do. Not everything is optional.
But I can choose how I see that time. Instead of saying, I have to, I can say, I get to.
Reframing Work and Ownership?
This shift changes everything.
Using my time does not mean I am losing control. It means I am choosing how to use it.
I have a business. There are tasks that require my time and attention. But instead of seeing them as something TAKING my time, I can see them as something valuable that I GET TO invest my time in.
I am not giving my time away. I am using it to build something I care about.
The Practice of Reconditioning
This kind of shift does not happen overnight. Pavlov did not condition dogs overnight.
The way we think about time is often shaped over years of experience, pressure, and habit. Just as those patterns were formed gradually, they also require intention and consistency to reshape.
For me, this has become less about a short-term challenge and more about an ongoing leadership practice. Because how we view our time does not just affect us personally, it influences how we lead others.
If we operate from scarcity, constantly feeling like time is being taken from us, that mindset tends to show up in our leadership. We become reactive, protective, and sometimes disconnected from the bigger purpose behind our work.
But when we lead from a place of ownership and choice, something shifts. We model intentionality. We create space for better decisions. We align our time with what actually matters.
Start Today …
One simple place to start is with awareness.
Pay attention to the language you use, especially in moments of pressure or obligation. Notice how often “I have to” shows up in your thinking or conversations.
When you catch it, pause and ask yourself:
- Is this something being taken from me, or something I am choosing?
- What is the purpose behind how I’m spending this time?
- How would I show up differently if I saw this as an investment rather than a cost?
You do not need to force a complete mindset shift all at once. But small moments of awareness can begin to loosen old patterns.
And over time, those small shifts can reshape not just how you experience your time, but how you lead with it.
