How You Talk About Time Can Make or Break Your Goals

In today’s culture of busyness, it’s common to hear a colleague bemoan being  “time poor,” or come across articles analyzing whether as a society we have truly become “busier than ever.” 

But what if the very language used to describe our lack of time impacts our motivation to pursue our goals?

A new paper in the Journal of Marketing Research, coauthored by Professor Jordan Etkin of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, examines how the language we use to express time constraints affects our response to goal failure and our motivation to persist.

In “Didn’t Have Time or Didn’t Make Time? How Language Shapes Perceived Control over Time and Motivation,” Etkin and her co-researchers Luis Abreu of University of Kentucky and HEC Montreal’s Holly Howe ran nine experiments spanning fitness, budgeting, language learning and other everyday activities. They found that a tiny linguistic shift—framing goal failure as “I didn’t make time,” rather than “I didn’t have time” — increases perceived control and motivates people to try again.

“A small change in wording can help people feel more capable of shaping how they spend their time and, as a result, encourage them to try again,” Etkin said.

The power of framing

Etkin and her coauthors suspected that language itself shapes how people interpret failure. Not having time signals busyness and external constraints, while not making time implies that time was allocated elsewhere.

Early surveys showed that ‘time’ was the most common reason people gave for abandoning goals like exercising or budgeting. When asked to complete a sentence about why they failed, participants chose “didn’t have time” far more often than any other wording. Yet, when asked which phrasing was more accurate, many admitted that “didn’t make time” better reflected what had happened.

The researchers hypothesized that these two phrases frame the same failure in different ways: one portraying time as uncontrollable, the other as shaped by choice.

That difference, they predicted, would influence whether people felt motivated to try again.

“Language assigns responsibility,” Etkin said. “It can either drain motivation or sustain it.”

Testing the language of control

To test whether language shapes motivations, the researchers recruited 301 participants and asked them to reflect on a personal goal they had failed to pursue during the previous week. These were self-chosen, everyday goals, ranging from going to the gym, tracking expenses, practicing a language, or completing household tasks.

Participants first rated how motivated they felt to work on the goal in the coming week. Then they were randomly assigned to one of two groups.

One group read a brief explanation suggesting that people often miss goals because they “didn’t have time.” 

The second group saw an identical prompt, except they were told that people often miss their goals because they “didn’t make time.” 

Afterward, those in the “didn’t make time” group reported higher motivation and a stronger sense of control over their time. A week later, they were also more likely to report that they had taken concrete steps toward their goal.

“The experiment shows how a simple linguistic cue can shift people’s sense of agency,” Etkin said. 

How word choices impact consumers

In another set of experiments, the researchers examined how similar language embedded in apps and brand messages shapes how consumers evaluate products after a setback.

In one experiment, 600 participants imagined downloading a fitness app and signing up for a multi-day workout challenge. On the first day, they failed to complete the workout. Shortly afterward, the app sent a brief notification explaining why people sometimes fall behind.

For half of the participants, the message attributed the failure to not having time. For the others, it framed the same lapse as not making time. 

Participants then evaluated the app, including how effective it seemed and whether it felt worth continuing to use.

Those who saw the make-time message rated the app more favorably. The same missed-day message was seen as more effective when it framed failure as a choice rather than a constraint.

“Language doesn’t just motivate the consumers to try again, it motivates them to continue using products and services that support their goals,” Etkin said.

When framing alone is not enough

The experiments also revealed limits. Make-time framing was less effective for people who doubted their ability to follow through or believed outcomes were largely outside their control.

For these individuals, language alone could not fully restore motivation, the researchers noted, suggesting that framing works best when paired with tools or structures that make action feel manageable.

“Encouraging make-time framing is most useful when people are least inclined to adopt it themselves,” Etkin said. “But for people who don’t yet feel confident in their ability to follow through, small, early wins can help them believe their time choices actually make a difference.” 

How businesses can motivate consumers

Businesses who rely on self-motivated consumers know that pressures around time impact their bottom line. Gyms that see membership bumps after New Years may find those customers lapsed by spring; language learning apps may find disengagement after initial hot streaks.

Because many digital products can now track daily behavior, marketers should leverage this rich data to identify when goal failure occurs and design timely interventions, the researchers note.

For example, some of the experiments show that app notifications or reminder emails can guide users after lapses, encouraging them to see the setback as a choice that can be corrected. Additionally, companies could promote user-generated content that features make-time language, allowing consumers to see peers taking ownership of their time.

Importantly, the research shows that this framing can be introduced prospectively as well, such as when consumers unsubscribe or cancel a service. In such cases, when users are asked to explain why they canceled, offering options like “I didn’t make time,” alongside the more common “I didn’t have time,” can subtly encourage them to reconsider their decision. Even if they choose to leave, this reframing may increase the likelihood of future reengagement. By encouraging this framing, marketers can ensure that users view the app or service as more effective and are more likely to recommend it to others. 

“If companies help people reinterpret a missed moment, they’re changing whether consumers see the product as something that helps them achieve their goals,” Etkin said.