‘Men must live and create. Live to the point of tears.’ ~Albert Camus

Post written by Leo Babauta.

It’s amazing how many people I talk to who tell me they want to create a new blog, write a book, start a new business, change careers, make something new.

But they keep putting it off.

Does that sound familiar? You’ve been wanting to do something different, but you don’t have the time (or maybe the energy) right now? A million things on your to-do list, a schedule packed full, meetings that keep coming up. You’ll get to your Big Thing, but later. There’s all the time in the world to do it later, right?

That time will never come. Not if you don’t create that time yourself.

Seize the bull by the horns, grasp it tenaciously, never let it go. Time has a habit of trampling over us, so softly we don’t even notice but so powerfully we become crushed over the course of weeks and years.

I had two jobs, six kids and marathon training going on when I created Zen Habits. There was no time, but I put up a single blog post. The next day I did two posts, even though I had no time. That month I did about 30 posts (not all are still online), despite there being no time.

I had no time, so I created it. Time is often said to be our most limited resource, but it’s not true. We can create time. It takes the sheer force of will to do it, but it can be created.

Time doesn’t fall into your lap. It isn’t handed to you by a kindly old gentleman. You must create it, taking from the world the raw materials you need and shaping it with your bare dirty blistered hands, pushing the clay into form from its shapeless muddy glob.

I had no time to create Zen Habits, and yet today it stands, alive and breathing with pattering heart. I created the time, taking some from television watching, some from meetings, some from saying no to the endless requests on my time by co-workers and wellmeaning friends, some from other important projects that I put off. I put off important things to create time for The Most Important Thing. I said no to others I cared about to say yes to the thing I needed to make.

Say no to everything else. Put off what can be held at bay for the time being. And create time for what is necessary.

Make something. Bring new creative life into the world, change the lives of others, and in doing so, change yours.

You have the power to create time, and the will to create. Don’t squander it, my friend.