When time frames shorten, the brain changes how it processes what matters.
Leaders at the end of their careers, people at the end of their lives, and team members resigned to leave positions all change what battles they are willing to fight and what issues they are willing to take up.
When time horizons shrink, people reorganize their goals and prioritize emotional well-being over knowledge-seeking and more future-oriented accomplishments.
In other words, they become more selective about where they want to invest their time and energy. They gravitate toward experiences they want to have immediately rather than on issues that offer a longer-term payoff.
This doesn’t mean they no longer care. Just the opposite.
It means that they become ruthlessly clear about what deserves their time and attention.
This is why the soon-to-retire leader can sit through a highly charged meeting and seem completely unfazed while everyone else is spiraling. That leader has concluded that entering the fray is no longer worth their emotional bandwidth.
This kind of refocus, on what really matters, can occur any time an ending is close.
For instance, when a meeting nears an end, leaders and team members make conscious decisions about what issues are worth raising and what arguments they feel compelled to make. Not just because they are out of time, but because they are hyper-focused on priority and importance.
Shortened time horizons encourage radical prioritization. When time is severely limited, people refuse to spend energy on anything that doesn’t serve their goals on the near-term.
Leaders don’t have to wait until they are ready to retire to enjoy the benefits of no longer sweating the small stuff.
They can become more strategic about what battles are worth fighting and which ones they can ignore or allow others to contest simply by shifting their perceptions of time.
Leaders who feel they have all the time in the world will naturally prioritize knowledge, exploration, and decisions with future payoffs.
But what if they purposely primed the mind to believe that time was more finite?
The key to taking advantage of this shift in focus is to emphasize what time is left in whatever is happening at the present.
By counting the minutes left in the meeting, the hours left in the day, the days left in the month, and the months left in the role, leaders can heighten their attention to what matters more.
By asking the question, “If the time left was very short, what would I focus on now?” leaders can enjoy the benefits of radical prioritization.
Deliberately shortening the time horizon, even occasionally, allows leaders to favor emotionally meaningful goals and relationships.
While this exercise shouldn’t occur too frequently, as leaders are in the business of attaining long-range goals, the mental shift of closing the time window can help to clarify what really matters.
Closing the time frame can also reduce much of the stress and pressure leaders often face when time seems unlimited. The pull to contend over every goal and issue eases.
Remember, in the end, it’s all small stuff.
