Bookmarked: 5 Insights from Laura Vanderkam’s “I Know How She Does It”
January 28, 2016
At MM.LaFleur, we’re always thinking about how we structure our work wardrobes, but what about how we structure our time? Having written two other books on the subject, Laura Vanderkam is, in a nutshell, a time-management specialist. In 2010’s 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, she urges readers to think of the week as a single 168-hour block, instead of seven 24-hour cycles. With What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast (2013), she asserted that we are not only wired to be more productive in the morning, but it’s also the only time that is still sacred, enabling you to focus on your priorities.
In I Know How She Does It, she turns her lens on women who “have it all” (which she defines as women who make over $100,000 annually and have children). She asked a group of these women to track their time on a spreadsheet for a week. Their individual spreadsheet cells collectively inform Vanderkam’s “Mosaic Project,” which elicits the insights, wisdom, and strategies shared in the book.
So what are the secrets to making the most of your 168 hours each week?
1. Track your time.
The cells from the time-tracking spreadsheet are not just a practical tool, they’re also an emotional check. They allow you to see what entries elicit joy versus stress.
2. Avoid the “24-hour trap.”
Working with units of 168 hours—rather than a measly 24—allows you greater flexibility. For example, you can choose to leave the office at a certain hour to get home with kids, and then wrap up with a couple hours of work at night (“split shifting,” in Vanderkam’s language). Or you can front-load Monday through Wednesday with intensive work so the second half of the week will be less frenetic.
3. Plan ahead.
“Time management is like chess,” Vanderkam writes. “The masters always think a few moves ahead.” Whether it’s planning meals and outfits for the coming week or booking a sitter so you can go out with friends, looking ahead establishes efficiencies and forces priorities.
4. View technology as an enabler.
It’s easy to chafe at catching up on work emails at night or putting in a few hours of work on the weekend; but having technology to work from home affords more flexibility. For example, an hour of work on Sunday might make Monday morning less stressful, or it could free up time for a pre-work coffee date.
5. Ditch the unimportant.
Despite her no-nonsense message, Vanderkam’s tone is completely non-judgmental—a gift to working mothers who shoulder an inordinate amount of guilt. “There are no points for martyrdom,” she insists. So if you suddenly have a free hour, don’t rush home to relieve the nanny or hit the grocery store. Spend it on yourself; take some time to play. Do something to make your day-to-day life more positive and stress-free.
“A lot of time and life management is mental,” Vanderkam notes. That takeaway alone is worth the read.
