Don't say "I have no time"

At a certain point, I asked myself: how much time do I spend reacting to what happens to me and how much in proactively making things happen to the world? That’s when my memory went back to my school time when I imagined that the dignity of human beings and their impact had a lot to do with each other and it was time to go back to what was fundamentally true to me and try to change how things for the better for those who will come after me.

“I don’t have time.”

“I love it. I'm with you, but I already have too much on my plate… I can't really take anything else on board.”

I'm not entirely sure why, but people prefer saying “I have no time” instead of saying “ I have other priorities” which is the less polite but much more true reality.

We choose not to have time.

I really have nothing against having other priorities. If I think of myself pre-2015 I can see very well which priorities were on top of my mind: living in Paris - Saint German de Pres, with a nice well-paid job of which I perfectly knew everything and therefore could handle with a finger, quite an international environment, top shopping, travels and restaurants. The priority was to keep going, do well at what I was doing and keep my well-being tight. The context changed as I grew in responsibilities and started spending a lot of time negotiating compromises, dodging poisoned arrows and selling to the outside a different face to that on the inside: a time-consuming dichotomy that was empty of sense. That’s where, while observing the effort vs results balance, I saw that the impact item was missing from the equation and went back with my mind to school time and my first image of what a human being's dignity is: be an integral part of a process of continuous improvement for myself and for others.

We need to be true to ourselves, and say that NOW we have other priorities. Being honest with ourselves opens the doors to the next step: looking at the balance sheet and considering if what we get from how we spend our time is effectively what we want. It may come later, it will inexorably come because there is no human-fabricated benefit that can replace the sense of fulfilment we have when we use ourselves to produce a change, a change that impacts the future of many.

Philanthropist? No, you don’t need to be a philanthropist to spend some time for the good, in my case I would say the opposite. It's a matter of self-determination: give a sense to the footprint I leave behind.

If I had kids, I would probably think of the future I would like them to experience. Would you say “I have no time” and avoid contributing to enhancing your children’s life? Would you say “I have no time” when it comes to contributing to change what doesn’t work today? Changing what is non-sense for ourselves, our dignity and for those we love? Here's the thing: we all have something to give. We just need to decide what, how and when. I have experienced, and continue to experience a labour market that is increasingly in need of trusted people, yet can't really distinguish and even less recognize who-knows-what. All of which compound and have exponential costs for companies, stress for people and instability in an increasingly unfair society. I am a strong believer in human capability, but I am aware that this simply needs to change from the root: we don't need another layer of verifiers, inquisitors, or controllers. We need everyone to take responsibility for their own assets and skills. We need a way for everyone to learn even the very latest skills in real-time, we need interdisciplinary pools where knowledge is discussed and made available in a dynamic way so that what we call "truth" is the accepted truth today and we know that is a dynamic value, we need to give people the sense of who they are and their potential.

My opportunity to give back and have an impact came with the consciousness that technology could help in facilitating a future of trusted people and trusted knowledge for everyone to grow and thrive. I journeyed through the ever-changing tech space learning as I went. I picked just what was needed to make the vision happen. Patience to wait for the right time to bring this to the market was probably the most important element. The results that I offer are called MyTiiQu and Qpidia, nothing would have happened without a considerable number of contributors and supporters.

Now is the time you can jump in. You can contribute to Qpidia – a Q&A encyclopedia, your piece of knowledge, and democratize access to that knowledge. You can be part of crowds of experts who come together on the MyTiiQu application to validate questions and answers. Both you and, eventually, your children could be among those who benefit from benchmarking skills on the go to allow for growth in competency and certification of their value into irrefutable proofs of competency without any central authority and in a fair, unbiased way.

Can you really say “ I have no time”?

In the coming days and weeks, I will likely contact you on your LinkedIn, University email or other business profile and offer you the chance to participate. If I don’t, it’s just because I am on the way. Please keep in touch with me at laura.dg@tiiqu.com or join the movement by signing up as a contributor of knowledge here.

Qpidia is a non-profit charitable organization [Ongoing registration with the Charity Commission in England and Wales]

TiiQu is converting from Limited Co to a Community interest company

Contributors, funders, and volunteers are welcome. You can do your bit supporting TiiQu and Qpidia here

Keep in touch at qpidia@qpidia.com or with the founder laura.dg@tiiqu.com