168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

by Laura Vanderkam

These days, when most of us have an hour to go lie in the grass, we turn on the TV, check e-mail, or peruse Facebook instead. Then we complain of having no time to think.

“I know I’m in charge of me. Everything that I do, every minute I spend is my choice.”

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

you can choose how to spend your 168 hours, and you have more time than you think.

We don’t think about how we want to spend our time, and so we spend massive amounts of time on things—television, Web surfing, housework, errands—that give a slight amount of pleasure or feeling of accomplishment, but do little for our careers, our families, or our personal lives.

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.

From interviewing people who love their lives, I’ve found that these people focus, as much as possible, in the work and personal spheres, on what I call their core competencies.

As Daytner explained to me, 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.”

Broadly, those who get the most out of life try to figure out and focus on their core competencies. They know that at least one key difference between happy, successful people, and those just muddling along is that the happy ones spend as many of their 168 hours as possible on their core competencies—honing their focus to get somewhere—and, like modern corporations, chucking everything else.

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.

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.

happy people are more productive and successful than unhappy people.

Any “work” that is not advancing you toward the professional life you want should not count as work. It is wasted time.

If you want to use your 168 hours effectively, once you make a commitment to yourself to spend a certain number of hours on a task, keep it. Never miss a deadline. Follow through on anything you say you’ll do as a matter of personal integrity.

once you start breaking commitments to yourself and the people around you, the whole system of discipline—the trust you build up in yourself to be in control of things—breaks down.

Don’t let your own weakness contribute to the problem.

Some people are naturally better at things than others, and you should choose work that is aligned with the things you do best.

Just as you need a “work team” to support your career, you need a “home team” to help you focus on your core competencies and save time in your personal life.

I think time is too precious for us to be totally leisurely about leisure.

If the average person started exercising every time he was tempted to turn on the tube, he could be doing triathlons competitively within a few years.

If you have a busy life, you simply can’t leave your most meaningful leisure activities to chance.

Television doesn’t really relax you. Go to bed instead, and shift that free time to the morning,

plenty of things in life are difficult and we do them anyway.