How To Be More Intentional With Time

by Laura Vanderkam

We all have the same amount of time: 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week, 8,760 hours in a year. People who do amazing things in the world - developing a new cancer drug, creating award-winning ads, helping their communities - may seem to have all sorts of advantages. But they don’t have any more hours than the rest of us. Instead, they may be allocating their hours in interesting ways that the rest of us can learn from. We can use their strategies to feel less busy and get more done too.

In this workshop, time management expert Laura Vanderkam explains about how broadening our perspective on time will help us be more intentional with the hours we have, and shares the simple, practical steps your team can take to start making time work for them.

Key Takeaways:

Know the Difference: How you think about time - and how you actually spend it

Low-Tech Time Tracking: Simple, easy tips for tracking your time

Create More Space: How and why to build more open space into your calendar

Avoid the “Busyness Trap”: Tips to keep you productive and relaxed

About the Mentor:

Laura Vanderkam has spent the past decade studying how thousands of effective people spend their time. The author of five books on time management and productivity - including Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done and What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast - she has contributed to publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Fortune; is the host of two podcasts; and lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and four children.

Genres: Audiobook, Self Help, Nonfiction, Business, Productivity

Audiobook

Published February 18, 2020

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

[Madelyn Hague · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more like a podcast but enjoyed it - especially looking at life in a week, not a day. Overall, great information!

[January · Rating 4 out of 5]

How To Be More Intentional With Time by Laura Vanderkam
33m narrated by the author - Laura Vanderkam

Genre: Time Management, Leadership, Business, Self-Help, Nonfiction, Audiobook

Featuring: Workshop, Spending Time Mindlessly, Being a Wise Stuart of Time, Productivity Expert, Knowing Where Your Time Really Goes, Perception Vs. Reality, Time Logs, Tracking ALL Your Time, Thinking 168 Hours Not 24, Building in Space, Benjamin Franklin

Rating as a movie: PG

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⏳️

My thoughts: This book basically talks about how you have more time than you think and shares exercises to track and find that time along with changing your perspective of time

Recommend to others: Yes. This book is short, helpful, and included on Audible.

[Billy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good advise. More like a podcast than a book. Brief, some filler stories and practical advise. That's about it.

[Faith Akwo · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Track your time
2. Think in 168 hr weeks
3. Create spaces in your calendar

[kodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

another (very) quick non-fiction audible piece! SLAY!

this book brought up lots of interesting ideas when thinking about time management. I like to think I have improved on my time management a lot since high school, but there is still some things I’d love to be better at. this book gave an interesting perspective on managing time.

as to whether or not this book was super memorable, I suppose time with tell. I can definitely see myself coming back to the idea of scheduling a whole week rather than going day by day.

I think if it were longer, I would have made the rating higher. however I’m not sure how much you can really write about when it comes to this topic, but it definitely interested me! I’m eager to learn more!

[Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is included in Audible Plus, and it's a short introduction to the currently popular time management guru Laura Vanderkam.

For me, I realized that I already do many of the things she advocates:

Think of your time in terms of a week, not a 24-hour day
Build in time buffers for when things go wrong
Determine your priorities and make them happen

What I don't do because I don't have that kind of money - pay people to do things for me, such as house cleaning, errand running, etc.

This is a short listen in under 35 minutes, so I listened to it on my 40-minute commute this morning.

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

This audiobook is a pleasant listening experience with good, actionable advice regarding time management. I think the most helpful strategy of the three the author suggests is to think of time by the week (168 hours) not by the day (40 hours). I'm going to utilize this suggestion to apply a more holistic view to my time and to resource my time more effectively. This point made me realize that thinking in days truly constrains and limits potential, while thinking in weeks can broaden the aperture and create more room to get the most important things done.

[Biggest Little Book Talker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great and straightforward book, other reviews say it reads like a podcast and I would definitely agree with that.
The book starts out string relating to everyone because we all have the same amount of time in the day, week, month, etc.
it’s about how we choose to use are time.
She goes over 3 main topics: 1. Track your time, 2. Think in 168 hour weeks instead of 24 hour days, and 3. Create spaces your in calendar, busy doesn’t always mean best.
The author gives gray examples and really loves you to start tracking and seeing if you can improve upon how you use your time.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although it's a short audiobook, there is some good advice. For example, instead of looking at time by the day (choose between going out with coworkers or going home to spend time with the family), look at time by the week (one night with coworkers and six nights with the family). Also, add space in your calendar so your activities aren't ending exactly when the next activity needs to begin. This creates unnecessary stress and leaves no room to recover if something unexpected occurs.

[M. M. Sana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a short essay read by the author on Audible. About half hour of time management advice that isn't very inclusive of everyone. I felt it was geared towards working moms mainly.

Everything she advised that might be be for everyone, think in terms of 168 hours (the whole week) and not in terms of 24 hours (a whole day), track your time etc... most people do that anyway. Or at least, I do. It's basic information.

[Anastasiya M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audiobook was concise yet informative. Although a topic as intricate as this might require more time for a thorough explanation, the narrator effectively addressed why we often feel time-deprived and offered practical exercises to help listeners manage their time more effectively and purposefully. I liked the audiobook but it would’ve been better with more length.

https://annietheinkdrinker.wordpress.com

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

As anyone who knows me knows, I would read ANYTHING by Laura Vanderkam. This is a short essay that basically summarized 168 Hours (her first and - I think - best book). If you want a quick intro to her content, this is a good place to start. But it WILDLY simplifies the points that she’s built her career on. This is a good companion for her books. But it’s not a substitute.

[Beth Virgil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how concise this book is. Laura managed to bring new ideas, a variety of ways to employ how we should view time and different ways of managing the time that seems so elusive and abstract. The underlying theme: learn to measure your time, and get creative on how you choose to manage it. Brilliant!!! Love this new to me approach.

[Ramona Mead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful but not very in depth. This should have been at least twice as long with more tips. I did appreciate the idea to look at not 24 hours in a day but the number of hours in a week. I'm going to print out a weekly hourly planner and try scheduling that way for a few weeks to see if I feel better about my usage of time.

[AttackGirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

In your face reality about your life cycle. Do you want to be like me working from the time you awake until you fall into bed each night…. If not then what, perhaps going to try to learn to have fun, perhaps out and about talking to the masses- very dangerous

[Stephanie Mutone · Rating 4 out of 5]

With her 3 tips, she gave time more perspective to me. I definitely like the idea of looking at time in a 168 hr week rather than 24 hr day. My recent expression is that “I have things coming out my ‘earballs’. “ Hopefully I can use some of her tips and gain some of my time back.

[Ntombezinhle Nzama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually want to implement what she suggests. I will start tracking my time from Monday and also be intentional about thinking of my time in a week rather than a day. I also definitely need to start scheduling free time/space. Interesting talk.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been wanting to read her books and listened to this free short (30 min) on audible. Still makes me want to read her books on time

[Isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short but sweet. Good kick up the bum with plain truths about productivity & time.

[Rebee · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good that I immediately went out and got another book by the author

[Naomi Spratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this. She’s a fan of Gretchen Rubin (so am I), and you can tell.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick book with solid advice.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short audiobook with some good pointers for, well, being more intentional with time.
She makes some VERY good points.

[Jaccy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couple of interesting thought provoking points and a good length but felt it could’ve been more in-depth for the length considering the author also has a 200+ book on the subject

[Sameena Shaik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much to review. It was a short and simple book.

[Gregg · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is nothing new in here. This is elementary enough to be insulting. The number 1 indicator you are not great at managing time? Reading this…well I guess I failed.

[Chad King]

Short workshop

[Nadia Sheikh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise and crisply narrated ideas along the lines:

Find where your time goes
Plan for the week instead of the day
Build space in your plan for the unexpected

[Kyle Bennet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that helped me stop procrastinating as much.

[Roselyn Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information!