168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

by Laura Vanderkam

time management isn’t just about saving five minutes on the margins,

True time management is about filling our lives with things that deserve to be there.

corollary,

fallow

if you want to do something or become something—and you want to do it well—it takes time.

What made that particular Tuesday a good day was the high proportion of hours I spent on things that relate to my life goals.

corollary

when you focus on what you do best, on what brings you the most satisfaction, there is plenty of space for everything.

American Time Use Survey (ATUS).

In 168 hours, there is easily time to sleep 8 hours a night (56 hours per week) and work 50 hours a week, if you desire. That adds up to 106 hours, leaving 62 hours per week for other things.

This is what happens when you treat your 168 hours as a blank slate. This is what happens when you fill them up only with things that deserve to be there. You build a life where you really can have it all.

one of the benefits of claiming to be overworked or starved for time is that it lets you off the hook for dealing with the burden of choice.

I’ve found that these people focus, as much as possible, in the work and personal spheres, on what I call their core competencies. These are the things they do best, and that others cannot do nearly as well or can’t do at all.

Effective people outsource, ignore, or minimize everything else.

she doesn’t tell herself I don’t have time to do X, Y, or Z. She tells herself that she won’t do X, Y, or Z because “it’s not a

priority.”

When you say “I don’t have time,” this puts the responsibility

on someone else: a boss, a client, your family.

I like things where there are no prodigies. I think I like them because I think I can do them. They are accessible to you and me.”

A life is likewise a bundle of tasks and activities an individual takes on.

when you devote this scarce resource to things that you might be good at, but that other people can do as well or better. It takes energy and focus away from what a company does best.

What the phrase “core competencies” usually means are things that a company does best and others cannot do nearly as well. In our efficient, global marketplace, companies succeed by focusing on their core competencies and minimizing, outsourcing, or ignoring everything else.

people, like companies, can have core competencies too.

abilities that can be leveraged across multiple spheres.

they should be the things we do best and that others cannot do nearly as well.

those who get the most out of life try to figure out and focus on their core competencies.

culture where busyness is a sign of worth, and you see how easy it is to miscalculate.

Ceniza-Levine calls this exercising the “passion muscle.” The experience helps people figure out “what it’s like to like what they’re doing.” You will learn a few things by grabbing this low-hanging fruit.

by trying lots of things you think you might enjoy, you will learn more about yourself, and what you are actually good at, what might be your core competencies, and which of the biggies are worth going for. You may be shocked by what you discover. This is why you just have to keep an open mind and try things.

This is why you just have to keep trying things, noting your reaction, noting what you learn from any experience, noting what you can scratch off your list and what makes you “almost insatiable,” as Camborde puts it, to learn more.

People who get the most out of life spend as much of their time as possible on these core competency activities, and as little as possible on other things.

84 percent of respondents said they weren’t in their dream jobs (though there’s plenty of evidence that most people aren’t miserable, either). Perhaps

89 percent of adults who work more than 10 hours per week are either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their jobs.

“You should do what you love, and you should love what you do.” A graduation speech cliché? Perhaps.

the right job leverages your core competencies—things you do best and enjoy—and meets certain working conditions, including autonomy and being challenged to the extent of your abilities.

What if someone studied job satisfaction, preference on longevity of career in military

They found that the best results required three things: • that people be given a great deal of freedom in figuring out how to carry out the work—that is, the opportunity to make day-to-day decisions in the project • that team members felt challenged in a positive fashion

by the work • that people felt they had sufficient organizational support (resources, a supportive work group, a supportive supervisor who communicated well, and an organizational environment where creativity was encouraged)

Apply to life as a PL or CO

What time of day does your best work happen? Some people are useless after or before a certain hour, but some people have waves of concentration that come and go.

They found that people were happiest when they were completely absorbed in activities that were difficult but doable, to the point where their brains no longer had space to ruminate about the troubles of daily life.

“one discovery leads to another, each new scrap of information triggering awareness of dozens of

new unknowns.”

If you’re spending some time in this state, then you are probably at least close t...

"Time flies when your having fun"

First, happy people are more productive and successful than unhappy people.

most cheerful first-year college students were earning more, 16 years later, than their more morose peers, even though few eighteen-year-olds have any clue what they want to do with their lives.

You do not get to be world class at anything without devoting long hours to the deliberate practice of your craft.

This obsession is the only way to stay on top, because you can trust that your competitors are thinking about their jobs in the shower.

One recent University of Maryland study found that unhappy people watched 20 percent more television than happy ones.

Unhappy people like to escape.