168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

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It can be alarming to see how much of that potentially valuable time is spent on things like watching television, or crafting the perfect social media post. I was turned off right from the beginning, where the author says she had her 2-year old in daycare all day, then came home and left the child with a babysitter. As the title suggests, Vanderkam argues that each of us has 168 hours each week and how we use those hours is a personal choice. That’s how you’ll figure out which activities, small though you may think they are, are eating into your time. In reality, the average person, after work, commuting, preparing and eating dinner, and doing housework, really only has around three hours of leisure time a day (weekday.

This author impressed me with her ability to pose questions that made me ask questions in her book "All the Money in the World. She didn't seem to leave room for the idea that not everyone wanted her life, or that they might have genuine limitations to achieving that even if they wanted it.She stopped making excuses about not having enough time to read books, and the following year, allocated this time to reading books instead. At first, it seems like the lesson is "there's always room for more" but the real lesson is that if you didn't put the big rocks in first, they never would have fit once all the small stuff had been put in.

The woman who runs a multi-million dollar business, is raising 5 kids and hikes every week was one of the people she used as an example of someone who uses her 168 hours very wisely. And once you read it, you’ll no longer have to struggle to find an excuse for avoiding things: as author Laura Vanderkam says, if you don’t like to do something, own the truth. I wish I'd skipped this 7 Habits of Highly Effective People-type pablum and gotten a few of my 168 hours back this week to do something worthwhile. hours is a good memory tool: When you have a historical record of everything you’ve done, you also have a journal, of sorts. The book is primarily targeted at wealthy mothers that are either self-employed or have significant flexibility over their working hours.All in all, this book inspired me to take a long, hard look at how I spend my time and encouraged me to use my 168 hours wisely. A less stressful way to think of your time: Vanderkam says, “Looking at life in 168 hour blocks is a useful paradigm shift, because—unlike the occasionally crunched workday—well-planned blocks of 168 hours are big enough to accommodate full-time work, intense involvement with your family, rejuvenating leisure time, adequate sleep, and everything else that matters.