How to take ownership of your time | Nasir Kharma | TEDxMaviliSquare
N/A. Nasir Kharma argues that productivity hinges on three self-directed habits: taking ownership of time, keeping personal promises, and visualizing accomplishments, all stemming from a core belief that one always has enough time if time wastage is curtailed. He grounds this in his own success balancing medical school, fitness, and side hustles, demonstrating that internal accountability is more powerful than external motivation. The speaker challenges the pervasive feeling of not having time by quantifying the loss from mindless activities like social media scrolling.
## Speakers & Context
- **Nasir Kharma:** 4th year medical student at King’s College London.
- High degree of productivity, evidenced by juggling:
- Full-time medical studies, including hospital visits.
- Exercise (going to the gym 2-3 times/week, running, playing basketball).
- Side hustles (earning extra income weekly with a friend).
- Content creation (successful YouTube channel with over 650,000 subscribers).
## Theses & Positions
- The central argument is that achieving a highly active lifestyle requires implementing specific, self-driven habits to manage time effectively.
- *“I believe everybody has enough time to do what they want in their day.”*
- The key to time management is *realizing* where time is spent and taking *ownership and control* of it.
- External motivation is inferior to internal motivation; one must be their own "hype man" to ensure accountability.
- Building routines generates internal momentum, making it difficult to *break* a habit rather than start it.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Identifying Time Waste:** Pinpointing time spent on activities that yield little or no value, exemplified by *mindlessly scrolling through social media*.
- **Repurposing Time:** Recognizing that time found through eliminating waste can be "repurposed, mode[d], shift[ed]" into passions, skills, or projects.
- **Internal Accountability:** Forcing oneself to adhere to self-made deadlines and commitments (e.g., "If I tell myself that tomorrow I’m going to study at 9 a.m., then at 8:55, I will be on the desk").
- **Habit Formation:** Creating visible, trackable systems to reinforce positive actions, leading to the development of a routine that feels natural.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **"Time Ownership":** The personal realization that one controls their time, rejecting the phrases *"I don’t have time"* or *"I wish I had more time."*
- **Time Waste:** Activities that bring little or no value to life, specifically identified as mindless consumption.
- **Internal Motivation:** The drive for action that comes from self-commitment, as opposed to relying on external factors or people.
- **Routine:** The power derived from repeating an action, which establishes an internal push to continue the behavior.
## Numbers & Data
- YouTube subscribers count: **over 650,000**.
- Time spent wasting time (estimated loss): **around an hour** per day.
- Time wasted from mindless scrolling (single event): **5–10 minutes extra**.
- Potential recovered time from multiple daily scrolling instances: **2 or 3 hours** per week.
## Examples & Cases
- **Social Media Scrolling:** Spending minutes mindlessly scrolling through phones, which, when accumulated daily, equals substantial lost time.
- **Fitness Regimen:** Maintaining a demanding schedule involving medical studies, gym visits (2-3 times/week), running, and basketball.
- **Commitment Example:** Committing to a run in the evening *"despite the weather, despite whether I’m tired or not"* because the promise was made.
- **Habit Tracking:** Visually tracking progress of small wins (e.g., going to the gym 3 days, avoiding sugary foods 2 times, making a smart spending decision).
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **YouTube:** Platform used for content creation and demonstration of activity.
- **Notes App / Whiteboard:** Tools suggested for making accomplishments visible and trackable.
- **Habit Tracking Apps:** Categorical suggestion for digital tools to monitor progress.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- Social media usage is not *inherently bad*; the value is derived only when the usage is *mindless* and *excessive*.
- External motivations are insufficient; self-accountability must be the primary driver.
## Methodology
- The speaker uses personal anecdote (his schedule) as the framework to build an argument.
- The process for self-improvement is a three-step block structure: 1) Identify wasted time, 2) Form self-promises, 3) Visualize and track accomplishments.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- **Immediate Action:** Test the model by making a promise to oneself regarding a specific activity, specifying a date and time, writing it down, placing it visibly, and stating it aloud.
- **Long-term Goal:** To build such strong internal routines that the activity becomes easier to sustain than to abandon.
## Implications & Consequences
- Success in difficult endeavors (like medicine or fitness) is not solely about inherent talent but about consistent, self-enforced discipline.
- The *consequence* of successful habit formation is that one can eventually find it difficult to *break* the positive habit.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"Hey Nasir, where do you find the time to do these things?"* (The common question driving the talk).
- *"The 'you' that started going to the gym and is a happier and healthier person."* (Describing the desired future self).
- *"I really don’t like the phrases 'I don’t have time' or 'I wish I had more time,' as I believe everybody has enough time to do what they want in their day."* (Core premise).
- *"mindlessly scrolling through our phone, that’s when we’re wasting time."* (The critical distinction).
- *"I’m going to be my own hype man, if I’m not going to make sure I get things done, then who is looking out for me?"* (The source of internal drive).
- *"No one cares about you more than you, and nobody has more to gain or lose as a consequence of your actions than you."* (Reinforcing self-responsibility).
- *"If you tell yourself you’re going to do something, then stick to it, show up, deliver on your own promise."* (The actionable command).
- *"make your accomplishments easily visible and easily trackable."* (The mechanism for habit reinforcement).