Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance

by Laura Vanderkam

A beloved productivity expert’s mind-opening and schedule-expanding guide to making the most of every hour.

Most of us have an adversarial relationship with time. We’re constantly trying to beat the clock—behavior rooted in a fear that time is scarce and must be obsessed over, hoarded, and ultra-optimized. But what if there is a different way to view time, one that could make our hours feel abundant? What if we believed that we had enough time to advance our careers, enjoy meaningful relationships, pursue hobbies, and more? In Big Time, time management expert Laura Vanderkam shows us how to make this our reality.

Drawing on original research about how hundreds of real people spend their time and her own experience of tracking her time for a decade, Vanderkam shows how even busy people can come to feel that time is abundant. Big Time offers simple, tested tactics with high impact, such as developing a “ringmaster” mindset; breaking big goals into daily, bite-sized pieces; and making little bets within a schedule to increase the odds of a breakthrough. Through actionable advice for managing a complex life, Vanderkam demonstrates how we can feel liberated by the time we have, instead of restrained by it.

By turns surprising, thought-provoking, and encouraging, Big Time shows readers that the daily experience of time can be quite spacious—and that, managed well, each day’s hours can be a source of happiness and satisfaction.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Personal Development, Productivity, Audiobook

Audible Audio

Published May 5, 2026

About the author

Laura Vanderkam is the author of several time management and productivity books, including:
The New Corner Office
Off the Clock
I Know How She Does It
What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast
168 Hours

Laura is also the author of a time management fable, Juliet’s School of Possibilities and another novel, The Cortlandt Boys, which is available as an ebook.

Her 2016 TED talk, "How to Gain Control of Your Free Time," has been viewed more than 5 million times.

She regularly appears in publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Fortune.

She is the host of two weekly podcasts, Before Breakfast and The New Corner Office and she is the co-host, with Sarah Hart-Unger, of the weekly podcast Best of Both Worlds.

She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and five children, and blogs at LauraVanderkam.com.

Reviews

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of Laura's latest book, Big Time, which explores the premises of what happens when you truly believe that time is abundant and that there is enough time for you to create a life you enjoy, especially when you are mindful and intentional with the many hours that you can direct. She states in the introduction that the book is about how to fall in love with your schedule and how to arrange your days where you know you have something to look forward to. Laura promised at the onset that the book would be practical.

I was simultaneously intrigued, wishful and skeptical at her premises, and by the end, I was pleasantly surprised, hopeful and inspired with the tactics, statistics and stories of those who had created joy, tackled large accomplishments, and claimed back their time through looking at time as big. Rather than looking at the 24 hours in a day or 168 hours in a week, look at time as more expansive - as 8,760 hours in a year.

Some of my highlights from the first 20 pages: "We have an incredible amount of agency over the daily experience of our time." "The long run may always be uncertain, but we can shape our lives." "When all time feels like it's a bit of a bonus, we can have a different mindset, and we ask what we'd like to do with it." "We can benefit from viewing time less as a foe and more as a friendly companion, present in enough quantities to be appreciated and savored."
"How we spend our time is how we spend our lives. I want everyone to fall in love with how they're spending their days... making smart choices with our time can enable that." What memories do you want to make?

Laura shares that "knowing where the time goes can help you rewrite your story from scarcity to abundance - and that, in turn, can make the next 8,760 hours the best of your life." Pay attention to the story you tell yourself about time. "In the absence of data, we build stories based on the moments that register.... negative moments stand out more than positive ones." Laura recommends to try tracking your time for a week and see what it looks like. "I now believe tracking your time makes you happier about your time... knowing where the time goes lets us tell ourselves a different story about our lives... there is more of it than you have probably imagined."

I found Laura's time satisfaction scales to be fascinating, and I plan to slowly implement various challenges and tactics that she referenced - along with leveraging her statements and scales to rate my own sentiments when exploring these tactics. Participants in her challenges noted that tracking made them more mindful of making better choices in the moment, that their sense of time shifted from it being scarce to it being more abundant than they realized. "When you rewrite your story from one of scarcity to one of abundance, you start to realize that what you thought were limits on possibility may not be there.... Flip that around and time simply opens up."

Laura devotes time to explore how to adopt the mindset of becoming the ringmaster of your own life and embracing the bigness of time, which requires a good plan, flexibility, and the delight of the ringmaster in creating the magic. She delves into how to limit the amount of mental energy / load that daily life requires by identifying repeatable solutions and processes or house rules. Laura also highlights the importance of having margin in schedules, which requires more open space, so that your schedule can be resilient when life is life-ng.

Laura encourages us to consider "what makes you feel in love with your life?" and to ensure you always have something you're genuinely looking forward to." She suggests "think of each weekend like a vacation." Research shows when doing that people are happier, less stressed and more satisfied.

Laura delves into Dream Big, Plan Small, sharing her year-long projects and others' long-term efforts. She shares how to assess and break down a project into doable steps / reasonable small chunks of time, and to ensure that it is something you truly want and enjoy doing. For example, reading War and Peace can be done in less than a year by reading one chapter averaging four pages a day. These longer-term efforts lead to "feeling like you have accomplished something meaningful (which) can make time feel more abundant."

While many of us may feel minimal control over our time spent on work, Laura identified three strategies at work that can enhance us feeling a sense of competence (finding meaning in what we do), a sense of belonging (relatedness), and autonomy at work. The participants in the challenge of implementing these strategies reported feeling happier and more productive at work - as well as having more energy for activities after work. I loved that she highlighted the research on taking breaks reduces fatigue and boosts energy, especially taking microbreaks throughout the day. And ensuring those are intentional breaks that are focused on maximizing rejuvenation / restoration reaped the most benefit - especially when those breaks were anticipated.

Laura points out that our weekday evenings could be 16 hours of time a week, depending on your work schedule and bedtime, so putting more intention behind that time can improve your satisfaction. Embracing your golden hours is about reframing how you choose to view the time after work and before bed, setting intentions for an enjoyable 30 to 60 minute activity a few times a week outside of work, housework, or family care, and then savoring and appreciating that activity. Laura encourages us to decide our "effortful fun" ahead of time, so we can better manage our energy. Participants reported an improvement in getting enough sleep to feel well rested - because leisure time and sleep were no longer at odds. If you're already planning in weekday fun, notice the time that you're already spending and savor the things as you're doing them.

Laura believes that the stories of time stress come from taking a limited view of time and encourages us to zoom out when we are feeling overwhelmed. When we see how vast time is, "we start to feel a happy sense of possibility." Also, "when we realize that time is big and abundance, then we can afford to be generous with it." Laura calls this active patience - "You can have faith in the outcome and take steady steps toward your goal, but still hold the timeline lightly, understanding life is often about probabilities..... there is much happiness to be gained from realizing that for many types of success, time is the secret ingredient. You do what you can do, and then you let time work its magic." Laura even suggests turning active patience into a game and giving yourself Patience Points for the list of steps you are taking toward the future outcome.

Laura packs a lot of useful tactics, examples and inspiration into this 205-page book and left us with the reminder that Time will be our friend.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who has felt like there is too much on their plate, there is never enough time, and that life seems to be flying by in a haze. I'm looking forward to incorporating Laura's tactics into my life to have a more abundant and intentional view of the next 8,760 hours and beyond.

[Emily Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC from W.W. Norton. Review for Verily Magazine coming in May!

[Iris Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Laura Vanderkam! She has made me look at time with a different perspective. We do time-lots of time-if we are thoughtful and focused on how we use it, rather than let time pass (because it will). I’ve read several of her other books, and this book was an interesting take about making time feel abundant and more fulfilling. I am looking forward to implementing some of the recommendations, especially around the ‘golden hours’.

[Aaron Mikulsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Big Time: How to Build a Life That Feels Like a Life, time management expert Laura Vanderkam shifts her focus from "efficiency hacks" to the macro-strategy of life design. She argues that we often lose our sense of time because we live in the “small time”—the frantic daily grind of emails, errands, and reactive tasks—and fail to invest in the “Big Time”—the milestones, deep work, and long-term relationships that define a meaningful life. Vanderkam posits that “busy-ness” is often a symptom of misaligned priorities. Her primary framework is the “Time-Horizon Shift”: if you look at your life in weekly, annual, and decadal blocks rather than daily to-do lists, you gain the perspective necessary to say “no” to the trivial and “yes” to the transformative.

Top Stories & Examples
The “Summer of Impact” Project: Vanderkam highlights a software engineer who, feeling stuck in his career, dedicated one hour every Sunday for an entire summer to a non-work passion project. By looking at his time in a three-month block, he transformed his portfolio and successfully pivoted his career, proving that “Big Time” moves are built through small, consistent investments.
The “Parental Milestone” Audit: A common example throughout the book involves working parents who feel they are “missing everything.” Vanderkam shares the story of a father who mapped out the remaining “summers at home” for his children. By visualizing those finite blocks of time, he was able to prioritize a two-week unplugged family vacation that he had previously deemed “logistically impossible.”
The “Ten-Year Professional Vision”: She details an executive who mapped her career not by fiscal quarters, but by “career seasons.” This allowed her to accept a lower-paying, lower-stress role during a period of high family demand, knowing that her “Big Time” plan still placed her on a trajectory toward a board position in her 50s.
The “Sunday Night Reset”: A recurring practical example is the “Sunday 15,” a 15-minute weekly planning session. Vanderkam demonstrates how this brief, constrained time investment eliminates the “reactive chaos” of Monday mornings, effectively buying back hours of “Big Time” mental space.

Key Studies & Research
The “Time Perception” Study: Vanderkam cites research showing that people who participate in “novel experiences” (like traveling to a new city or learning a new skill) perceive their time as passing slower and more meaningfully than those who stick to rigid, repetitive routines. Novelty acts as an anchor for memory.
The “Opportunity Cost” Benchmark: She points to productivity studies showing that the average knowledge worker spends nearly 60% of their day on “work about work” (email, meetings, admin). Vanderkam uses this to advocate for the “Hard 3”—choosing only three high-impact tasks per day to ensure the most important work gets finished before the “small time” takes over.
The “Decision Fatigue” Research: She leans on studies of cognitive depletion to argue that our willpower is a finite resource. By automating small decisions (like meal planning or recurring weekly meetings), we preserve our peak hours for “Big Time” strategic thinking.

The “Big Time” Framework. Vanderkam concludes with a three-step method:
The Decade View: Look ten years ahead. What one “Big Time” achievement do you want to define this decade?
The Yearly Block: Break that down into annual goals. What is the one thing you must do this year to stay on track?
The Weekly Anchor: What is the one weekly recurring appointment you will never miss, which keeps you connected to your purpose?

Big Time argues that time can feel abundant when you stop treating every day as a crisis and start managing your schedule with more honesty, structure, and intention. Vanderkam’s big idea is that most people have more discretionary time than they think, and the key is using it well.

The book’s central claim is that “time abundance” is a mindset plus a set of practical habits. Vanderkam draws on her own decade of time tracking and research on how hundreds of real people spend their time to show that even busy people can reclaim meaningful hours for work, relationships, hobbies, and rest.
The ringmaster metaphor. Vanderkam frames life as a three-ring circus of career, relationships, and self, with you as the ringmaster who decides where attention goes.
The 168-hour week. She argues that looking at a week, not just a day, reveals more room for the things that matter.
The Tolstoy example. A review notes that she spent about 10 minutes a day reading Tolstoy and finished on schedule, illustrating how small daily commitments can produce large outcomes.
The golden hours idea. She highlights the weekday stretch after work and before bed as a prime time to protect for chosen pleasures rather than defaulting to screens.
TOAD, or Time Outside After Dinner. Her family’s habit of going outside after dinner is an example of building simple rituals that make leisure feel fuller.
Vanderkam repeatedly favors small, concrete experiments over sweeping life redesign. For example, she suggests spending one more hour a week on your favorite work, 15 more minutes a week with a coworker you enjoy, or taking two intentional breaks per day to improve work satisfaction.
She also emphasizes “effortful fun” before “effortless fun,” meaning that a little reading, music, drawing, or walking before grabbing a phone can make free time more satisfying. Another recurring tactic is making fewer decisions by relying on presets, so energy goes toward meaningful choices instead of constant re-deciding.

The book leans on Vanderkam’s original research tracking how people actually spend their time, along with her own long-running time logs. One of the strongest recurring empirical claims is that many people who feel time-starved still have discretionary time, but they do not always recognize it because they look only at today instead of the whole week. She also cites experiments showing that small changes in how people spend breaks, time with coworkers, or preferred tasks can significantly improve how they feel about work.
Practical takeaway

The book’s practical message is that you do not need a perfect schedule to feel less rushed; you need a more realistic one. Vanderkam’s approach is less about squeezing and more about shaping time so the good stuff actually happens.

Top Quotes
“We don’t ‘find’ time for the things that matter; we create time for them by deciding that the alternatives don't matter.”
“If you want to know what your priorities are, look at your calendar, not your intentions.”
“Small time is reactive; Big Time is intentional. You cannot live a big life on autopilot.”
“We spend our days sweeping the floor when we should be building the house.”
“Time is a finite resource, but ‘meaning’ is an infinite project. Stop trying to do it all, and start doing the right things.”
“A life of ‘shoulds’ is the fastest way to lose track of time.”
“Don’t measure your life by the length of your to-do list, but by the weight of your accomplishments.”
“The most important work you do this year will likely be the work you didn’t even put on your daily list.”
“Time abundance” is the book’s governing phrase and organizing idea.

“Your life is a circus. Be the ringmaster.”

“Think in weeks, not days.”

“Almost everyone has some discretionary time.”

“We have much more discretionary time than we often realize.”

“The daily experience of time can be quite spacious.”

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anecdotes and practical suggestions

[Lorna Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Productivity Book That Made Me Feel Calmer, Not Busier

I had the opportunity to read this book through the First Look Club at the Next Big Idea.

The subject is one I think most people can relate to: how do we do more with the time we have available, while also feeling more accepting of the demands already on it? That framing alone made this book stand out to me from the many “optimize every second” productivity books out there.

The basic premise is deceptively simple. First, check your reality through a time audit. Then think about what changes you can make based on the insights that brings - what gets removed, what gets added, and what matters enough to intentionally make space for. Laura Vanderkam also encourages readers to think across multiple buckets of life at once: career, relationships, and self.

One of the ideas that really resonated with me was the challenge to think “Big Time” rather than getting trapped in the next day, week, or meeting. I’ve always felt pressure to identify one grand purpose in life - the single thing I’ll have achieved or left behind that will matter in the end. What I took from this book is that maybe it doesn’t have to be just one thing. Maybe a meaningful life can be built through multiple strands that evolve over time.

I also loved the idea of stretching growth over longer periods instead of only relying on intense bursts of reinvention. I already try to do one thing each year that scares me or develops me in some way, but the book made me think differently about how to sustain those changes over time rather than treating them as isolated experiences.

Before reading this, I honestly assumed the people who “fit everything in” must secretly sleep three hours a night and be utterly exhausting to be around. This book shifted that perspective. Instead of feeling cynical about those people, I found myself curious. What systems are they using? What choices are they making? Which techniques could genuinely help me build a life that feels fuller without feeling frantic?

I haven’t fully put the book’s recommendations into practice yet - I read it while on vacation - but that may actually be one of the strongest endorsements I can give it. Before I’d even finished reading, I had already sent myself notes for changes I want to make when I get back to work.

Most importantly, the suggestions feel doable. A combination of low-effort, high-impact activities, alongside a consistent reminder to zoom out, take a step back, and enjoy the life you are actively building.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this time-management manifesto, the author argues for a more expansive approach to time. By looking not at the 24 hours in a day or the 168 hours in a week (yes, those 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think) but at the 8760 hours in a year, she says, we can find space for serious work, creative leisure, family and friends, and projects of all varieties.

Vanderkam begins by acknowledging that busy readers are investing a couple of hours of their time in the book on making the most of that time. In return, she promises Big Time will be "practical", "new", and "entertaining. She keeps these promises to a significant, but variable, degree.

The book's strong point is its entertainment value. The text is a mix of the author's ideas, supporting research (some of which she conducted herself), case studies, and personal anecdotes. The writing is engaging, and the book is a quick and interesting read.

Less obvious is the book's practicality. One of Vanderkam's favorite bits of advice is to track one's time, but this seems designed more to scare off the casual reader than to actually help. Other ideas are more solution-oriented, including discussions of how to plan a complicated life to keep from losing sight of any important areas; breaking down big projects into small steps; and improving one's workdays and weekday evenings by focusing on manageable but meaningful activities.

Big Time's weak point is newness. Most of the major ideas are repeated from Vanderkam's earlier books, with some updated details or supporting information. While it can be useful to read the information synthesized differently, with a different emphasis, loyal readers will not find any unforeseen revelations.

Despite the fact that I don't find all of its advice revelatory or useful, I enjoyed reading Big Time and found its perspective on time and life-management helpful.

[I received a complimentary ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. Opinions are my own.]

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of us feel like we have too much to do and too little time to do it in. What if we could view time as an abundant resource that we just need to allocate in a way that works better for us? That’s the premise of Laura Vanderkam’s Big Time. Through a combination of stories and tactics, she lays out a philosophy and approach to help you feel like your schedule is less of a treadmill to survive and more of an open territory in which to discover opportunities.

The first step is understanding how you spend your time by doing a time-tracking exercise. Tracking your time can give you a chance to step back and get beyond the impressions we have (it may feel like you work too much, but the numbers don’t say that. It can also be an incentive to avoid multitasking as that makes the time tracking overhead greater.

Vanderkam’s approach integrates work and personal life, but she also offers some very helpful guidelines for managing your workday.

There are important ideas in the book, and the stories and examples might especially resonate with those trying to balance work and family without abdicating self-care. You’re likely to find some that resonate, though you may also find some that seem superfluous, and I found myself skimming through some stories that didn’t seem relevant to me.

Did the book meet its goals? There is a concise summary of tactics section at the end of the book that is a helpful guide to implementing the practices, and which captures the core ideas in the book, and the stories have the potential to inspire. But I felt the book could have been a bit tighter without giving up its conversational tone.

It’s worth thinking about how we use our time—both in and out of work. Working well, working in small increments and finding something valuable to do in the gaps gives us opportunities to accomplish what we want as long as we don’t let the desire to be busy and a sense of futility consume us. Big Time, while not perfect, can be a guide to learning how to do that.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big Time by Laura Vanderkam releases on May 5th!

Laura Vanderkam is one of my favorite experts on productivity, time tracking, and general life "hacks."

If you are always trying to beat the clock, cramming in as much as you can in a day, or trying some new trick to really be able to finally do it all, this book is for youuu!!!

Big Time is Laura Vanderkam flipping the notion of doing it all and focusing instead on TIME ABUNDANCE! Sounds amazing, right?

Do you know someone (or are you someone?!) who is always complaining about how busy you are, how overwhelmed you feel, how underwater your life is? It you tracked your every hour tor a week, do you think you'd realize that you have more time than you think?

I can tell you from first-hand experience that tracking my time years ago was an eye-opening experience. You have 8,760 hours in the year. A person who works a 40-hour week has 72 WAKING, nonworking hours each week to do other things. Read that again.

Laura Vanderkam's work to me is just so, so refreshing, so attainable and so digestible. She had me tabbing and highlighting this book and nodding my head along with her.

I have loved her other works for years, specifically Tranquility by Tuesday, What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. I also get her emails Vanderhacks, and her weekly emails, and I always look forward to those landing in my inbox (she just posted a fantastic one about screenshots - which I did, in fact, screenshot).

This was such a refreshing read that makes me want to spend more time embracing a less rushed life, perfect for Spring!

Thank you Laura for writing this masterpiece! Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Graeme Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance is a reflective and practical exploration of how people experience time, and how that experience can be reshaped through intention rather than pressure. Laura Vanderkam draws on extensive research and long-term personal time tracking to challenge the common belief that time is always scarce and uncontrollable.

At the heart of the book is a simple but powerful reframing: time is not something to be constantly fought against, but something that can feel expansive when structured with clarity and purpose. Vanderkam supports this idea with real-world behavioral insights, showing how small, consistent decisions can create a sense of spaciousness even in busy lives.

The book’s strength lies in its grounded approach. Instead of abstract productivity theory, it focuses on practical shifts such as breaking down long-term goals into manageable actions and becoming more aware of how everyday time is actually spent. This makes the ideas both accessible and immediately applicable.

There is also a strong emphasis on recognizing overlooked leisure and undervalued moments, encouraging readers to re-evaluate what “making the most of time” actually means. The tone remains encouraging throughout, aiming to reduce anxiety around productivity rather than intensify it.

Overall, Big Time is a thoughtful and reassuring guide for anyone seeking a healthier, more balanced relationship with time. It is especially relevant for readers who feel overwhelmed by schedules yet still want to pursue meaningful long-term goals without burnout.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time reading Laura Vanderkam’s work, so I went into Big Time without the comparison point that some other reviewers mentioned regarding overlap with her earlier work.

Overall, I found the book to be a helpful mix of reminders of techniques I have experimented with in the past and some completely new ones. What resonated most with me was the shift away from simply “doing more” and toward examining what we are actually spending our time on. I found the time log to be intriguing and to be intention in aligning what really matters to me. I also enjoyed the mindset shift from scarcity to abundance.

There were several concepts I appreciated. Planning with flexibility. Creating small rituals. Making space for things that bring joy. I also needed the reminder (just in time) that “the difference between nothing and just a little more than nothing turns out to be huge.”

The book did lean heavily on parenting examples, which made sense given the audience. Because I’m not a parent, those parts didn’t always connect to my own life experience. I also found there to be some underlying privilege in the assumptions, around having strong support systems and available resources. Some of the recommendations feel far easier to implement when strong networks and financial stability already exist.

This book felt like an invitation to become more thoughtful about how I was experiencing my days. I did walk away with several ideas I want to experiment with, especially around tracking time and creating more intentional evenings.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Better Way to Think About Time

Laura Vanderkam’s latest book on Time Management, Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance, has a simple yet extremely powerful thesis. If you think about time as being abundant rather than scarce, you’ll find that you can make far better use of the time you have.

Ms Vanderkam offers an array of tools to help make the shift in thinking. Chief among them is time-tracking, to find out not only how you currently use your time, but perhaps more importantly to discover where you can take advantage or if necessary create slots on your schedule to perform work that is important to you. She also asks you to expand your horizon, no longer thinking of time as 24-hour blocks in a day, but rather larger blocks like the 168 hours in a week or the 8,760 hours in a year. Within these larger time pools you can certainly find time to do the things that are important to you, as long as you don’t feel compelled to do it all at once.

While I personally don’t track my time to the degree suggested by Ms Vanderkam, I realized after reading Big Time that with a few simple changes in my daily routine I could be far more productive. I stopped spending the first hours of my day consuming news and working puzzles and got back to the practice of spending my first waking hour writing. For me a huge change.

Big Time is a quick read, and I recommend it to anyone who is feeling that they never have enough time to do what they want. If they learn to think of time as abundant, it can be life changing.

[Curtis Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Know what you are getting. This is a book about time management. It is much more than that as well. It is a book about the psychology about time, lack of time and priorities. The author seeks to enable the reader to improve their time management and feel better about their life and accomplish the things that really matter.

Does it accomplish these goals? Absolutely and in a very easy to follow format. Laura did a fantastic job breaking down simple research studies that she has conducted over the years and helping the reader feel like they could have control over their time, mental state, and priorities without adding more challenges into the mix.

I have not followed the author's podcast, other writings or any of her other endeavors. I do not know if all this information is/has been readily available from her in other formats or if this book is just a rewrite of other books. It is a fantastic stand-alone book to manage time.

I had the audiobook which was read by the author, and she did a great job with lots of inflections at appropriate points. I found the pace to be perfect between 1.25 and 1.5x speed.

Writing 5/5
Narration 5/5
Practical information 5/5
Overall the best new nonfiction book I have read to date (5/19) in 2026 barely nudging past "Incorruptible" by Eric Ries (the best business book of 2026) due to practical everyday application for the normal person.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read all of Laura Vanderkam's books on time management since she wrote 168 Hours in 2010 so I'm very familiar with her. She doesn't have much new to say in this new book. She repackages a few concepts but it is basically the same content as her other books: time tracking, weekly planning, make better use of your evening hours, plan yearly projects. The one new concept is a chapter on being happier at work. Her suggestions are to 1. spend more time on projects your like, 2. deepen work friendships, and 3. take intentional breaks. Not exactly earth shattering suggestions.

The book was pleasant to read and she presents some interesting anecdotes as examples of her principles. I particularly enjoyed the interview she had with a circus performer. Her research in done with surveys and challenges she did with volunteers she recruited on her blog. Not very scientific. For someone who is not familiar with her work, I would recommend this as a good introduction to her concepts. For those who have read her other books or follow her blog, there is not much new material.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader ebook.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 Stars
I have been a long time fan of Laura Vanderkam's productivity books along with her Best of Both Worlds blog. I have bought most of her books on audio and reread them multiple times of year. With that background, I was very excited to learn that she had a new book coming out.

Unfortunately, I feel like my experience suffered because I am so familiar with the author's previous works. This book felt like a summary or revisit of her previous themes and recommendations. I found several of the sections repeated ideas from her last several books.

I understand that it's difficult to always have something new to say on this niche topic so I don't want to be overly critical. I still enjoy reading these discussions and will likely still buy the audiobook at some point because it often feels like an extended podcast which can still be comforting to revisit as I consider the work life balance of my own family.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.

[LauraBeach123 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love a new book by Laura Vanderkam because she has a way of reminding me to be more mindful and conscious of my 168 hours each week. Big Time is another great reminder that time is something we are always choosing how to use, whether we realize it or not.

This book made me think about how easy it is to waste endless time doom scrolling. Vanderkam reminds readers that even with sleep, work, family, and responsibilities, there are still many hours left in the week to work toward goals, build better habits, and use time more constructively.

I liked the practical reminders in this book. Make lists. Break long term goals into bite sized pieces. Use small pockets of time well. Take breaks with a purpose so they actually feel like breaks. As a teacher, I cannot always plan my own breaks during the day, but this book reminded me that I can still use the free time I do have at work in a more meaningful way.

One of my favorite reminders from the book was: “Expectations are infinite. Time is finite. You are always choosing. Choose well.”

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura Vanderkam’s Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance earns a solid 4/5 from me. I’ll admit, I was initially put off by the idea of tracking every hour of my week — if I already feel short on time, why add homework? But the exercise turned out to be surprisingly eye-opening. It highlighted how much time quietly disappears into things like scrolling Facebook or other low-value habits that don’t actually add much to life.
What I appreciated most was the author’s shift from viewing time as scarce to viewing it as abundant. Vanderkam encourages readers to zoom out — life is not just about surviving today’s to-do list, but about how we want to spend a month, a year, or even a lifetime. The book offers practical strategies without sounding preachy, and several of the tactics genuinely changed how I think about my schedule. A thoughtful, refreshing read for anyone who constantly feels “too busy.”

[Berlin-Peck Memorial Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of our Berlin-Peck patron’s Carol received an ARC of “Big Time” from the publisher through a library event. She provided a rating of 4.5 stars and the following review:
I have always been a big fan of self-help books and I found this one to be very inspiring. It was presented in a clean and straightforward manner, including excellent strategies such as tracking time, analyzing results, and weekly planning. I liked the idea of changing your mindset to seeing time as your friend, as well as prioritizing things you find pleasure in. Although the book speaks more to very busy, working individuals, the strategies can prove useful to anyone. Becoming more intentional with your time can bring about a feeling of overall satisfaction with your life. I thoroughly recommend this book.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm always going to be a bit biased when I read Laura's books because I find everything she writes so... calming. She makes me feel better about my use of time while simultaneously making me also want to make a series of subtle tweaks to squeeze more pleasure out of life.
Big Time is a great book, and a natural companion to her other work, especially Off the Clock and Tranquility by Tuesday.
As with every time-management book, not everything is going to be relevant to every reader. Every situation is unique and so Laura's books offer a variety of suggestions, not a mandatory rule book.
I'll definitely re-read this in the future when I need a pep talk and to get inspired to make some fun additions to my schedule.

[J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF: The author is either willfully obtuse and/or incredibly privileged.

Regardless, an individual seeking information on maximizing increments of time should neither be met with skeptical reproach over the validity of their situation nor be told that the number of working hours has decreased when myriad stats, in fact, indicate the contrary; more importantly, certainly not within the first few pages.

Thus, my recommendation to readers already pressed for hours in a day is as obvious and pedant as the prose, don't waste your time. Savor those precious moments for a better publication instead.

[Emily Midgley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m fortunate to have read an advance reader copy of Big Time. This is a useful book for busy people who are looking to accomplish meaningful things in their limited time. There’s no judgment about what is meaningful, nor is it about productivity. Vanderkam wants you to consider your own situation, family, work, and values.

Vanderkam’s take on serendipity was unexpected for a genre that’s often devoted to protecting your carefully curated time. She encourages us to say yes more often when an opportunity arises that wasn’t in your schedule: “the initial excitement is telling. Everything else is logistics. You’ll probably figure it out.”

[Mesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an inspiring and practical read that completely shifted how I think about time. Rather than focusing on squeezing more productivity into every hour, Vanderkam encourages readers to be intentional with how they spend their time and to align their schedules with what matters most.
What I loved most about this book was its realistic and empowering approach. The advice felt actionable without being overwhelming, and the examples made it easy to reflect on my own habits and priorities. Instead of leaving me feeling pressured to "do more", I was reminded that making the most of our hours is really about making room for what matters.

[Fairies And Paperweights · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an inspirational read. This work masterfully describes how time management is done. It not only convinced me that i have more time, it proved it.
I am incredibly motivated to reclaim my time. She gave us all the necessary tips and I truly trust that all I need is to listen to that. It was optimistic and realistic at the same time. Filled to the brim with functional wisdom with some storytelling to give it some life. Beautifully executed and amazing narration.
Wonderful!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for recieving this ARC.

[Sarah]

As a fan of Laura’s podcasts and previous books, her voice certainly shone through. There were certainly a few new points/wordings in this book that made me think of time a little bit differently. I think my favorite part of reading time management books is that they always make me realize that I have more time than I think.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Humaira · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a great continuation of Tranquility by Tuesday, with lots of great ideas and case studies for how to manage the golden hours and zoom out to see time as more expansive than it feels on a day to day basis.

I’ve got lots of ideas for what to do with time and a lot of the themes from previous books are repeated which if you’re a regular reader is quite repetitive but for a new reader, it may be a new concept.

Overall, a great read!

[Tom Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

"With a slightly different set of historical events, or even a change in the precise moment of anyone's conception, you would not exist as you, and yet here you are."

"Given how improbable each minute of actually existing is, I prefer to view the hours as not somehow fewer than one hoped there would be, but all as being a bit of a bonus."

"Expectations are infinite, time is finite. You are always chosing. Choose well."

Big Time offers a fresh perspective on how we view time. Normally we think of time in terms of scarcity, but the author suggests time is actually much more abundant than we realize, especially when we are intentional with our discretionary time. People working 3 jobs to make ends meet probably don't have much discretionary time. But I think the point is that even people with very little discretionary time can make changes to improve their everyday lives and make time feel more abundant.

[Madison Bidwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is perfect for someone who struggles with time management or is wanting to rework their current schedule. We all struggle with trying to keep up with all the “to do’s” and it just feels like there isn’t enough time in the day. This book does a great job of giving examples of how we can look at our days differently.

[Matt Astin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb work showing how we often misconstrue our time. Taking the big picture view opens up a new world of possibilities. Practical steps are given to show you how to reclaim and repurpose your time to do what you most want to do.

[William Rush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Thanks again for such great ideas and examples of what has worked with other people. I am encouraged and excited to make some changes. I have never been a big planner, but the benefits of planning are numerous!

[Melissa]

WSJ