Scarcity: Turning Pressure into Progress

A “limited-time” offer just appeared on your screen.

Admit it, your heart skipped a beat. You hate to love it. But there’s a buzz in wanting what you know you can’t always have.

But hang on.

What if that FOMO you feel for the sale ending in 3…2…1… could turbo-charge your day-to-day focus.

Yeah, we’re going there.

More Time, More Problems

Here’s the deal: we think a boatload of time means a boatload of stuff done.

Wrong.

It’s like having a gym membership with no expiration. The more time you believe you have to use it, the less urgency to go. When time’s a luxury, we can lounge in delay.

Remember when you powered through tasks?

Like the night before flying out for a holiday. Or facing a looming deadline. That was you, surfing the scarcity wave. And you were absolutely crushing it.

Scarcity: Your New Secret Sauce

So, how can you make scarcity work for you?

Here’s a shocker Reader: the average human life spans just over 4,000 weeks. Time’s ticking, and it’s not waiting for your next coffee break. It’s the kind of scarcity that doesn’t paralyse — it mobilises.

Don’t waste time or energy.

Jeff Bezos schedules his high-IQ meetings in the mornings. He accepts the scarcity of peak mental energy. You too can structure your days to honour your highest-impact hours.

Ride the Scarcity Wave: The A.C.T. Playbook

Alright, let’s A.C.T. (Allocate your Capacity with Time):

1. Allocate

• Find the high-impact work that moves the needle in your day.
• Group them together with tags, labels, folders or symbols. Just some way that you can filter and find them easily.

2. Capacity

• How much time can you give to these needle-movers daily?
• Know your limits and don’t overestimate. Even rockstars need a breather.
• Most people can do a max of 4 hours of deep work per day.

3. Time

• Establish clear, time-bound sessions.
• Let your brain know: there is a countdown timer running.
• I operate in 60-minute deep work sessions, with no rollovers. Missed the morning session? Too bad, it’s gone. That scarcity? It demands attention.

Scarcity doesn’t restrict — it liberates

This week, try applying the A.C.T. method.

By imposing limits, you trick your brain into thinking resources are scarce. This pushes you to make the most of what you have.

So, let’s stop being victims of scarcity, impulsively clicking on “one-time offers.” Instead, turn pressure into progress and anxiety into urgency.

Apply scarcity to fuel your passions, work and daily lives.​