People Who Don't Know How To Manage Their Time Usually Say 5 Things In Desperation
LightField Studios / Shutterstock Many people have a hard time managing their time and it can be really frustrating, especially when you don't understand why you act this way.
Lacking effective time management skills can cause a lot of stress that makes people feel desperate. When they get that way, they’ll often use language to signal just how overwhelmed they are.
Phrases people say when they don't know how to manage their own time:
1. “I have too much to do and not enough time to do it.”
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People who are bad at time management have a hard time staying organized. They don’t prioritize tasks based on what needs to be done first. They’ll be working all day on tasks that don’t need to be done for a while and still have a lot of work left to do at the end of the day. They’ll tell people they have too much to do and not enough time to do it all.
It’s not that they actually have more work than other people. They just don’t know how to manage it. They’ll have to work longer because they didn’t organize themselves enough to get their tasks done efficiently.
2. “I wish there were more hours in the day.”
People who don’t know how to manage their time get distracted easily by the things they want to do. They let themselves think about a bunch of different activities that they’d rather be doing instead of work.
This habit will make them want to work even less than before because they have multiple ideas of better ways to spend their time. They’ll tell their friends they wish there were more hours in the day because they don't have enough time to get everything done.
They don’t know how to manage themselves to get a good work-life balance. They don’t know how to do things efficiently, and so they’ll need more time to do their work than people with good time management. Even if they sacrifice their personal time, they still won’t have enough waking hours to get everything done.
3. “Yeah, I can come.”
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People who don’t know how to manage their time often end up overbooking themselves. They’ll make too many plans than they actually have time for. They’ll constantly tell their friends they can attend whenever they’re invited somewhere.
They might have an appointment or other plans, but they won’t think about it. They just don't have firm enough boundaries with their personal time. They also say yes to every invitation they get so they can have a distraction.
They don’t want to think about all the things they have to do. Hanging out with friends helps them take their minds off it because they aren’t around anything that could remind them of work. These people manage their time based on what they want to do rather than what’s actually a smart idea.
4. “I just wish I had more time for myself”
People who don’t manage their time well don’t always realize they're bad at sticking to a schedule. They’ll spend the time they should be spending on work on social media or watching TV and then get stuck with a ton of tasks they have to do all at once.
They’ll have to cram a ton of work that should've been spread over days into a few hours. When they finally get to the time when they need to actually get stuff done, they won’t have any space for personal time. They’ll tell their friends they wish they had more time for themselves. They’re probably watching their friends enjoy their personal time and desperately wishing they could, too. But the truth is they already got their personal time. They just shouldn’t have taken it.
5. “I think I’m just going to take a nap”
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People who don’t know how to manage their time often end up overwhelmed by tasks. They’ll spend too long on something that could’ve been finished quickly, and by the time they get to a task that actually takes a while, they’ll already be behind.
They’ll have things pile up and then get overwhelmed with everything they have to do. When this happens, they’ll say they think they need to take a nap. They’re desperate for sleep because their bodies are worn down.
Stress causes people to feel exhausted. By not managing their time well, they get overwhelmed with tasks and stress themselves out until they’re too tired to keep going. They’ll probably let themselves nap for hours, though, and get even farther behind.
Lily Bell is a writer studying English and Publications who covers relationships, mental health, and personal narratives surrounding the human experience.
