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The 1% Practice

There was never enough time

Published 4 months ago • 3 min read

The 1% Practice

Small shifts. Lasting change.

July 19, 2026

Hey Reader,

A couple of weeks ago time anxiety started making a nest in the back of my head. I started the quarter with exciting quests in mind. Which also means high expectations of myself.

When was the last time you felt like that? The fear of not finishing everything you want to accomplish. If you were to tell me that's what normal looks like to you… well, I've been that kind of normal, and it's expensive. No living creature was made to live in constant stress. It's all a dance, like the waves in the sea. If the water is still for too long, it rots.

During the last week beating time anxiety was on my mind. Then I remembered: It's not about beating it 😁

⌛ Time anxiety is real, and accepting it sets you free

​Read the essay on the web ↗​

Have you ever gone to sleep feeling like you didn’t do enough? And worst of all, you wake up terrified of the day ahead because you fear repeating the same failure.

It doesn’t matter if you’re just getting started in your career or if you’ve already been there for over a decade. The feeling of time slipping through your hands like sand will hit you in any season of life.

We don’t control what happens to us—we can only hope to react in the best possible way. But when too many things are happening at the same time, it can feel overwhelming and paralyzing.

How to stop time anxiety

I’m in a season of life where there are many new moving parts, and as always, I have high expectations of myself. So in the last couple of weeks, time anxiety silently settled in the back of my mind. After a few days of it not leaving, I had to remember how I’d gotten rid of it last time.

The answer suddenly hit me because just a month ago I was talking to a friend about this concept: the liberation of defeat.

Sometimes life can act as our Zen teacher. It will not lighten the burden of the student, but it will make it so heavy that they will put it down.

In other words, if something is not flowing regardless of your best efforts, then maybe you need to let go. Once you know what you don’t want, you can Start saying No.

But saying no isn’t enough. Accepting that you’ll never be on top of everything is the other half of it. Let go of the idea of “I’ll be ok when…” or “Things will flow when…”

Defeat is liberating because you no longer have to fight back. Now, instead, you can fight forward. This acceptance becomes your source of strength:

You suspected there wasn’t enough time for everything and you were right. This knowledge can be your advantage, your secret strength. If you keep it close to your heart, honoring its truth, it can bring you peace in the midst of overwhelm. It can help you remember that it’s okay to not do it all, because in fact, such a goal is impossible. And trying to do everything is what is stressing you out.
— Chris Guillebeau, Time Anxiety

Making the most of our time isn’t about checking off more tasks, but about experiencing our lives so we can be more present, more alive, and more engaged with the ones we love.

Remember that on your deathbed you won’t regret not doing more. You’ll regret not being more.

And remember that time will test you.

🎯 The 1% Practice of the Week

If you are struggling with time anxiety, I’ve got one of my favorite mantras for you. I stole it from Victoria Moran:

In this moment, there is plenty of time.
In this moment, I am precisely as I want to be.
In this moment, there is infinite possibility.

Find a way to remember this at different moments of your day.

Some resources I want to leave you with:

Thanks for reading!

—Jorge Calle

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The 1% Practice

by Jorge Calle

This newsletter is for people who've spent years getting good at everything except the work that's actually theirs. One idea and one simple practice, to help you live more intentionally. Using technology as a multiplier instead of a distraction.

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