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good books for bigs and littles

time management - part two

A few weeks ago I shared a post about the first of two time management books I was reading. (You can read my post about the book, Make Time, here.) This week, I’m on to the second part of that dynamic duo: Off The Clock, by Laura Vanderkam. (I’ve reviewed other books by Vanderkam here.)

Off The Clock continues in Vanderkam’s tradition of examining how people manage their time successfully to be more productive and live more meaningful lives. This time she writes about how to feel “off the clock.” Read on for some of her suggestions.

tend your garden

Vanderkam’s advice to “tend your garden” essentially boils down to a few principles: remain aware of your time, decide what you want to do with your time (based on your priorities and values), and stick the plans you’ve made for how to use your time, but continually tweak your schedule as life changes.

As with money, I think Vanderkam’s suggestion to track one’s time use is good. It’s interesting (and maybe a little uncomfortable) to come face-to-face with the way we waste both time and money, often in ways that are in direct contradiction to our values. Vanderkam recommends doing this by tracking every hour for at least two weeks, a practice that has led her to innumerable insights about her own time use. This too is great advice…if only I could follow it. Somehow finding the time (and the dang piece of paper) to record what I’m doing with my time feels like just one more thing to do.

Regardless, it’s worth setting aside some time in a busy life to contemplate where your time is going. Some habits that I can more realistically get on board with include designing a “Realistic Ideal Day” and then trying to enact it and then reflect upon it (What would you like to do more? Less?) and, something I already do, using some time on Friday to plan for the next week.

make life memorable

Routines can be constructive. They can help us maintain good habits (or bad ones) and can spare us from decision fatigue. However, the human brain is stimulated by novelty. Novelty helps us remember and learn. Vanderkam argues that even within a day that is mostly routine, we can spice things up (and make life slow down a bit) by approaching the day with a spirit of adventure. She asks readers to ask themselves, “What is different about today?”

don’t fill time

Of all the advice in Off The Clock, the advice to not fill time was probably most needed and most difficult for me. One of the top stresses in my life is the feeling that I am always, always on the go. This manic pace feels like the only way to get everything done. But Vanderkam shares several stories in the book of people who deliberately block open time into their schedules. This gives them wiggle room for the unexpected and reduces stress.

Vanderkam breaks down this advice into three precepts: declare independence, create time dividends and get over a fear of boredom. Declaring independence involves looking at your calendar and general responsibilities and removing those that lack meaning. (While I love this idea, I do wonder what my boss would say to me if I told him I was declaring independence from the aspects of my job that lack meaning for me.) Creating time dividends happens through better design, for example making a spreadsheet of meals you commonly make with all the ingredients listed to make compiling the grocery list easier or creating a FAQs sheet at work for questions people are always asking you. Getting over the fear of boredom is not currently something I struggle with. In fact, a little boredom sounds lovely.

invest in your happiness

Vanderkam’s advice to “invest in your happiness” includes advice on how to think strategically about the ways in which money might reduce the time spent on things you don’t enjoy and increase the time spent on things you do enjoy. She also advises people to “pay yourself first” but with time, not money. Several examples in the book highlight this principle, including a memorable story of an executive who works out at 4 a.m. then showers and dresses and completes most of his day’s work sitting at a table in a Waffle House eating breakfast and working on a laptop. When he has finished his highest-priority items for the day, he goes to work. For anyone who feels like being at work is a major impediment to getting any work done (anyone who may or may not bear a resemblance to myself) this morning routine sounds like a spa day. Perhaps it is the incessant interruption that goes along with being a working parent, but any expanse of “me time” that enables completion of a task start to finish sounds phenomenal.

So, I’m off to waffle house

Well, not really, but other tasks beckon. Vanderkam has many other pearls and anecdotes in this book and in her others. I especially enjoyed her stories about her third child—a stubborn non-sleeper like ours was—which save her from being disregarded as a hyperproductive, hyperorganized freak of nature and puts her more into familiar territory: just another busy person trying to make the best of her life.

Do you have any ideas for making the most of your time? Share them in the Comments section below.

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Off the Clock