In this episode we tell the truth about time. We throw out the old and dated conceptions of “time management” and look at how time really works. We explore the fundamental way you must flip your approach to time so that you can focus on what really matters in life. We look at how you can become an artist manipulating time at your will - stretching your best moments so that they last longer and ruthlessly removing the things that clutter your life. If you feel pressed for time - like there is never enough - and want to figure out how to create time for what really matters - listen to this episode with our guest Laura Vanderkam.
Laura Vanderkam is the author of several time management and productivity books. Her TED talk titled “How To Gain Control of Your Free Time” has been viewed over 5 million times and she is the co-host of the podcast Best of Both Worlds. Her work has appeared in publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Fortune.Does time management work? Is time management a concept with too much baggage associated with it to even be meaningful?It’s not about cramming so much stuff into your life - it’s about focusing on the most important things. Fundamentally flip your approach - removing as much as possible is much more important than cramming as much as possible into your dayPeople who were highly relaxed around their time had a tendency to plan “mini adventures” in their lives Putting more valuable stuff into our lives makes time more memorable. If you want to feel like you have more time you need to create more memories. Can we become “artists manipulating time” to stretch the best moments so that they last longer?Anticipation is powerful - starting savoring before it startsBe as present as possible, notice details, think about how you might describe it to someoneTell the story of what happened - every time you tell it you get pleasure from itCommemorate it with artifacts (ticket stubs, t-shirts, etc)Play the same song over and over again to encode that song to a specific memory or experienceCreate as many memories as possible - more memories makes time expand Time is highly elastic - it stretches to accommodate what we need or want to fit into it Time management is not about shaving extra hours out of every day - it’s about selecting the right prioritiesIf you’ve ever binged something on Netflix - you found extra time because you had something that was a big priorityLack of Time = Lack of Priorities “Reflective Activities” like journaling, meditating, praying - stepping back from life and thinking about life - people with the highest time perception and time management scores did these every other day, the lowest scores people never did itPart of feeling relaxed about your time is knowing when and how you’re spending your leisure timeLetting go of expectations is a great time management strategy Planning your weeks before you’re in them is a great strategy to make time for your priorities FIRSTMake a 3 category priority list:CareerRelationshipsSelfEach one of those categories is key!!A great tactic for setting your short to medium term goals - writing a “Performance Review” (for next year)Look at this list all the timeIt can start informing your schedule choicesHow do we create more effective morning and evening routines?Homework: Track your time for a week (if you can’t track it for a day or two)Homework: Plan a “mini adventure” during the work day or after work this week - do something different, put a little adventure into your life
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The Death of Time Management & How You Can Manipulate Time with Laura Vanderkam | The Science of Success podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
