168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

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Also, a lot of the studies in her book showcase women who "have it all." The woman who runs a multi-million dollar business, is raising 5 kids and hikes every week was one of the people she used as an example of someone who uses her 168 hours very wisely. The whole concept of being a woman who can 'have it all' is actually incredibly destructive and creates an enormous amount of psychological stress. Using time better IS essential to a happy and productive life. But trying to convince women that they should be able to do everything isn't healthy. In Bill Gates' words, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” The core concept behind this time management strategy is that all of us have the same amount of time in a week—168 hours—but it’s what we do with this time that makes all the difference.

I’m willing to go out on a limb and bet you’re either overestimating or underestimating what you’re doing with your time. There has to be a better way...and Laura Vanderkam has found one. After interviewing dozens of successful, happy people, she realized that they allocate their time differently than most of us. Instead of letting the daily grind crowd out the important stuff, they start by making sure there's time for the important stuff. When plans go wrong and they run out of time, only their lesser priorities suffer.Money might be a problem: If you can’t afford to outsource some of the things that gobble up your time but are not core competencies, well, you’re going to be at a disadvantage to someone who can. That’s not to say there aren’t other options, but outsourcing time-consuming chores is something you’ll find a lot easier if you’re wealthy. That means, after all of those things—assuming I’ve guessed correctly—I have 72 hours to spend on the other things I like doing. That’s huge! In total, I logged 115 hours against 7 core weekly activities. That means I have 53 (168 - 115) hours of remaining time to do with it what I will, including possibly taking time from things like “watching T.V.,” or “social media” to do tasks of higher value. If this gives me two extra hours a week, that will be a win as that’s two extra hours I can spend learning microscopy or writing fiction. Use your insights to rethink your schedule Most of us are used to thinking about time in terms of only a handful of hours—eight hours of work a day, seven hours of sleep, 24 hours in a day. We plan our lives around these small time slots, becoming ever more harried and stressed as we struggle to do the things we say we will do, or want to do, in the allocated time.

Despite the imperfections of this book, I have re-read (or re-listened to it multiple times) so clearly it hits a chord with me. Having practiced this strategy for a week, I can safely say that while it is very hard to maintain an accurate log—I am not good at remembering to write down what I’ve done every half hour—it was insightful, and has made me think much more about the activities I don’t want to spend time on, as well as the goals I want to accomplish, and how I might now, build time into my week (not day) to move in a positive direction. Don't spend time cooking in the kitchen. You can still have a home cooked meal by opening a can of lobster bisque or microwaving a frozen burrito. (My kids thought this one was particularly hilarious.)Hours does, indeed, contain a lot of food for thought. There are ideas in here that can truly make an immediate difference in your life, and various statistics that will put your mind to rest. And once you read it, you’ll no longer have to struggle to find an excuse for avoiding things: as author Laura Vanderkam says, if you don’t like to do something, own the truth.” There were also several insulting references to families that chose to have the wife/mom stay at home, which admittedly made continuing to read more difficult for me (I'm a stay-at-home mom). I also felt that, while she's clearly devoted to nurturing her children and advocated that strongly, the references made to nurturing one's spouse/partner were a nod-and-wave at best. But the book's title is misleading. It's less about thinking creatively about your limited time and more about self-fulfillment. Some may argue that those are the same thing, but I think there's a subtle difference. Trying to make the best use of your time might include doing some things you don't really want to do. Self fulfillment is trying to only do things that fulfill you - which is what the author advocates. She argues that you "outsource, minimize, or ignore" anything you don't like doing, and that you focus your time exclusively on things that you do better than anyone else. I felt this left little wiggle room for exploration or growing underdeveloped skills. Other things she asserts: Kids are actually underscheduled and have too much spare time. (Citation needed, but not proffered.) You should schedule exciting dinner outings with your kids a couple of days a week. (A terrible idea if your kid has an early bedtime, or is fond of routine.) You can make a "homecooked" dinner in fifteen minutes by opening a few jars and taking advantage of pre-prepared (and more expensive, but that's okay because you can afford it) foods.

Vanderkam shows how most of us have enough time to do everything that is really important to us. The most successful people manage their time by prioritizing the things that matter most to them and letting other things (e.g., perfectionism, what other people think they should be doing in their stage of life with their time, the things they aren’t that good at) go. She encourages you to list your 100 dreams and core competencies and then arrange your schedule to reflect your aspirations, values, and strengths.

I am, admittedly, a productivity addict - which means I like to read anything and everything on productivity and time management that I can get my hands on (though this hasn't necessarily made me more productive). Vanderkam's book was enjoyable, but I felt it was geared more towards the working mother. Quite a bit of effort is spent in assuaging guilty feelings about untidy homes and take-out food. Her solutions are impractical for those on limited budgets, though she makes a good try at justifying them, e.g. get rid of cable so you can afford to pay someone to do your laundry (what about those who can't afford even cable?), but I admit you can't write a book for everybody. You should now have a good understanding of why thinking about your time in 24-hour increments is not always the best solution. After all, I don’t mow my lawn every 24 hours, and therefore wouldn't normally think about reducing the frequency of mowing. I think Laura Vanderkam has a great take on modern life, especially for women. Since reading 168 Hours for the first time, I've returned to her thoughts on managing my time with a "portfolio mindset" again and again. Vanderkam somehow manages to combine the revolutionary with the completely practical, and the result is a fresh take on time management.

But there were huge sections where her suggestions and reasoning were based on underlying assumptions that I just don't agree with at all. If she doesn't come right out and say it, she strongly implies that a woman who doesn't have a career aside from mothering and home-making is wasting her time and life. I don't agree. Several other things she writes about here just rubbed me the wrong way. For example, I'm not sure how bragging about fitting into your pre-pregnancy jeans one week after your baby was born fits into this book. And I suspect that once the author actually has school-age children, she might not be so gung ho about feeding them school lunches to save time. She claims the hot lunch offering in school are now "healthy." Hmm.If you aren’t a creative genius perhaps you could be a professional flunky. See if www.flunkies-are-us.com is available.