As fierce feminine leaders and entrepreneurs wearing many hats and taking on a wide variety of personal and professional responsibilities, finding ways to improve our productivity and get the most accomplished in our daily lives can sometimes seem unattainable. In fact, there are literally thousands of books, tools, and apps available on the internet that are designed to help people become more productive and manage their time more effectively. However, the truth is, we truly do not have an accurate gauge of how we spend our time – and because of that – we often feel like we are less productive than we truly are.
My guest today is Laura Vanderkam, an expert in time management and productivity. Laura is the author of several productivity and time management books, including I Know How She Does It: What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast and 168 Hours. Her work has been featured in dozens of publications including Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, and USA Today. She joins me today to share her insight and research regarding how many highly successful women manage their time, the myths about having a big career while raising a family, and why she believes tracking your time throughout the week – including the weekends – is the key to discovering how you can improve your productivity and time management skills.
“How we think we spend our time often has very little relation to how we actually spend our time.” – Laura Vanderkam
Today on the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast:
- What she discovered after tracking her time in 30-minute increments
- Why she tracks her time during the weekend as well as during the week
- The biggest net benefits of tracking her time each week
- The misconception that having a big career or working full-time will reduce the amount of time you spend with your children
- Surprising trends she discovered during her 1,001-hour research project
- Utilizing morning hours and structuring morning routines to work for you
Laura Vanderkam’s Top 3 Success Tips:
- Track your time for one week.
- Really think about what you want to spend more time doing.
- Think about how you use those “little bits of time.”
Connect with Laura Vanderkam:
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A Special Thank You to Our Sponsors
This episode was made possible by our wonderful sponsors, BMO – Bank of Montreal – The Bank for Women.
Join the conversation at BMO for Women to gain the insight, knowledge, and support you need to succeed and to truly understand how to manage your money!