What I’ve Learned about Managing my Time from I Know How She Does It

Going back to work full-time, albeit from home, was a huge adjustment. There was a huge learning curve, learning how to teach online and a new system for communicating with staff and parents. Every day brought a slew of tasks I’d never done before. I felt like I was always pestering people with questions! Thankfully, my second (and third) year of teaching has been so much easier if only because I know what I’m doing.


Still, I noticed that this year I’m still complaining often about not having enough time to write or that I’m too tired. Often this “lack of time” has got me frustrated.

But then I started reading Laura Vanderkam’s work. See, she actually did a study (I KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT) where she asked professional women to log their time. To her amazement, they were working less than they thought (about 40-50 hours/week), and still managing to squeeze in time with their kids, their husband, and often crafts or hobbies. It turns out that how much time we have has a lot to do with the stories we tell ourselves.

Here are a few tips that I’ve learned from Laura:

1.   Look at your whole week rather than the 24 hours. I know, for example, there’s a lot of writing advice that says to write every day. Instead, Laura talks about looking at your whole week. We each have the same 168 hours. Maybe you can’t write or do your creative hobby every day, but look at what you’re doing the whole week. The weekends count too—if that’s the only time you can find!

2.   Pay yourself first. I use this for budgeting, but this is also a good time management principle. I don’t know about you, but I tend to put the things that matter only to me (writing, hobbies, reading) at the bottom of my list—after I’ve completed everything else. And then I’m frustrated because I’m too tired to write. Instead, she says to make your creative pursuit something you do first. This could mean getting up early and writing before work. It could be making sure you write on Monday instead of waiting till the end of the week.

3.  Use the BTN (Better Than Nothing) Principle. She says she commits to running about 10 minutes a day, but always ends up doing more. How can you lower the bar enough for yourself to be able to do something each day? Maybe it’s committing to writing 200 words or if you’re having trouble finishing books, reading a page each day. If the bar is low, it feels easy to reach it and you’re more likely to do it often.

4.  Be Gentle with Yourself. Being overly critical of yourself will kill the fragile bud of creativity. She told a story about an artist who wanted to paint more, but beat herself up when it didn’t. She suggested the artist tell herself to make art as much as possible, but if she didn’t, that’s okay too. This has revolutionized my way I look at my own art of writing. If it happens, it happens, but I’m trying not to pull my hair out if life intervenes. We all have bad days or bad weeks.

5. Limit TV or endless scrolling on the internet. I found it fascinating that the average American watches 30 hours of TV a week. No wonder no one has any time. Laura emphasizes that you always have a choice—you could binge watch your favorite show on Netflix or write another page in your novel. The choice is yours—but I bet you’ll be happier if you choose the second one.

6. Find the space/time you work best (my discovery). Now this isn’t in her book, but this is the best thing I’ve done for my writing: I’ve left my house to write. My town started a “Writing League” that meets every Saturday morning at our cultural center. We don’t talk, except to say what we’re working on. It’s just focused writing time. There’s no internet, no kids to interrupt.  These two hours a week have made such a difference in my creativity. I still try to write during the week, but if that doesn’t happen, I have my Saturday time.

Find what works for you and do it. I’m a happier person when I write—and so I don’t feel bad for taking the time. It makes me a nicer person, which blesses my family as well.

What are some of your time management tips and tricks? How do you manage to write and balance work and/or a family?