Who Do You Make Time For — and Why?
Availability is one of the most powerful currencies we possess.
The question is simple, but uncomfortable:
Who do you make time available for — and why?
It is incredibly easy to make time available for work.
For our boss.
For our colleagues.
For our clients.
We give them our sharpest thinking, our best energy, our fastest responses. We answer calls during dinner. We reply to emails while sitting next to our children. We allow meetings to stretch into the evening. We sacrifice rest and recovery.
Why?
Because work contributes to our bank balance.
And the bank balance feels urgent.
So we give work the best of us.
And what is left over — if anything — goes to family and friends.
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When “Quality Time” Isn’t Quality
We often tell ourselves we are giving our families “quality time.”
But is it really?
If we are frustrated.
If we are mentally elsewhere.
If we are drained and exhausted.
Then what we call “quality time” is often just physical presence without emotional availability.
We sit in the same room, but our minds are still in the inbox.
That’s not presence. That’s proximity.
The Myth of “Me Time”
Then there’s “me time.”
In theory, this is sacred time. Time to rest, recover, and recharge so we can be fully available and add value to the people and organisations in our world.
But what does it often become?
Too much time on our phones.
Scrolling social media.
Binge-watching shows.
Consuming endless news.
Indulging in alcohol or other draining habits.
We call it relaxation.
But often, it’s just distraction.
Instead of recharging, we numb ourselves.
What if we turned this around?
What if we created a proper ME session — one that truly restores us?
Time that strengthens our mind.
Rebuilds our body.
Centers our spirit.
Clarifies our priorities.
Time that leaves us better — not emptier.
What If We Flipped the Script?
What if:
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We gave family and friends our best energy — not our leftovers?
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We made intentional time available for them?
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We were physically and emotionally present?
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When someone had an urgent situation, we paused and truly showed up?
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We set boundaries around work?
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We turned off the phone?
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We limited how much access work has to our lives?
How would our lives change?
How would our relationships deepen?
How would our peace increase?
When Boundaries Blur
This topic has stirred something in me again.
There was a time in my life when I had no boundaries. I answered calls and emails constantly — even when I should have been present with family. I didn’t always make the time to visit or call the important people in my life.
Then there was a season when I got it right.
I would turn off my phone before walking into the house. Emails were for office hours only. When I was home, I was home.
But now, working from home, the lines are blurred again.
The office is the house.
The house is the office.
The boundaries are thinner.
And if we are not intentional, work will take everything we are willing to give.
The Rat Race and the Real Race
We make ourselves endlessly available for the rat race.
For the hamster wheel.
For the grind.
But are we equally available for what is truly valuable — the things and the people money can’t buy?
Recently, we had to avail ourselves to support a friend who experienced a death in the family. In moments like that, life stops. Priorities become crystal clear.
But here’s the question:
Do we only stop for crisis?
Do we take time to celebrate when something wonderful happens?
Do we pause when someone is going through something difficult?
Do we simply check in — just because?
Sometimes availability looks like:
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Picking up the phone and asking, “How are you really doing?”
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Sending a short text.
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Dropping a voice note.
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Making a visit.
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Sitting in silence with someone.
It doesn’t have to be dramatic. It just has to be intentional.
A Misalignment of Priorities?
Perhaps the real issue is misalignment.
We say family matters most.
We say friendships are important.
We say relationships are everything.
But our calendars often tell a different story.
Availability reveals our priorities more honestly than our words ever could.
A Personal Commitment
Once again, I need to put in the effort to get this right.
I have a couple of brothers I aim to check in with a few times each month. Not because something is wrong. Not because it’s convenient.
But because they matter.
Dear Mavericks, this is important.
We are human.
And this is the human thing to do.
To show up.
To check in.
To celebrate.
To mourn.
To sit.
To listen.
Work will always demand more.
But relationships require intentional availability.
And in the end, when the emails stop and the deadlines fade, it will not be our productivity that defines the richness of our lives — it will be the people who knew we were truly there.
Call your brother. Text your friend. Sit with your child. Have the conversation. Be there — fully there. Because being human is not about constant productivity. It’s about presence. And presence is love made visible.
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