Busy-ness can be an ingrained habit. Yet we can be jolted out of it when we experience radical change. It can help us get reconnected with what is really important. Then we begin to see a simpler yet appealing way forward.

This can make big changes very welcome. See how Barack Obama's rallying cry of change gained huge support in the US. The prospect of change can be very attractive.

For many people, the financial turmoil and the gloomy economic climate represent radical change. Although it can feel scary, change invites a review of what truly matters.

Imagine your life as a building which is growing from the foundations upward. It would take a strange architect to confuse the building with the scaffolding. We expect the lion's share of the creativity and energy to go into the building.

That's not to say that the scaffolding is unimportant; it's essential for the construction to go ahead. It may not be pretty but it's functional. It's what makes the construction possible, allowing materials and people access to the correct levels.

But the scaffolding is temporary - or at least it should be. Sometimes it remains too long on old buildings - supporting a crumbling façade or a leaning wall. (I remember one holiday to Italy when it became a standing joke that you could tell the most historic buildings by the amount of scaffolding!)

When you complete one stage of the building, the scaffolding can be rearranged to facilitate the next stage. When the time is right, there is radical change - the scaffolding is removed altogether and the building is revealed in its full splendour.

So how can we claim back the time we want?

Here's a simple way forward:

1. Take a piece of paper and draw two columns. Label one 'Building' and the other 'Scaffolding'

2. Get clear on the architect's plans - what exactly are you building? What do you want to see when the scaffolding is moved? Write it all down in the first column.

3. Now think about the scaffolding - all those activities, commitments, promises and obligations that are supposed to support your life but not take it over. Write these in the second column.

4. Look at each item in the Scaffolding column - score each one between 1 and 10 (where 1 means dispensable and 10 means absolutely essential). Make your judgment against the 'building' you want to finish. Be honest with yourself.

5. Finally review the scaffolding column. Be ready to make radical change because here is where you can regain your precious time. Look at the lower scoring items and decide how the scaffolding can be reduced or removed while allowing the essential building to continue

Moving the scaffolding takes courage; it can be scary. Yet leaving it where it is steals time; it also hides what is of greatest value.