168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

by Laura Vanderkam

Tune up as necessary. Life changes. Schedules change. Your “List of 100 Dreams” will change, too. Check in with yourself regularly—maybe once every 168 hours—to see if your weeks look like they should. If they don’t, spending 1 of those 168 hours figuring out how to change what you can is much more effective than stewing during the other 167. This last step is important because using your 168 hours to build the life you want will require some serious discipline. There will always be temptations to revert to the usual way of doing things. Consciously lowering your housekeeping standards is hard if you think people will judge you for having a less-than-perfect house. Getting up early to run is hard on cold mornings, and thinking through activities you’d like to do with your kids requires more effort than turning on the television. People will try to interrupt you during the times you’ve set aside to brainstorm new ideas.