168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

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I did also have to change my “capacity settings” in my workspace from 40 hours a week to 168 hours a week.

She regularly appears in publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Fortune. Trying to make the best use of your time might include doing some things you don't really want to do. As a freelance graphic designer, I understand that working from home is not always a piece of cake like some people may think.The book is primarily targeted at wealthy mothers that are either self-employed or have significant flexibility over their working hours. So, let’s dig a little deeper into how you can go about implementing this time management strategy in your life. I truly hate to stop reading a book halfway through, but by the time I got to the chapter about "new household economies", I couldn't shake the feeling that the author has no comprehension of the realities of an average American life. Maybe its not a waste of time, but I guess I should spend my time in the 168 hours of the week that will help me make my life more fruitful.

The other problem with thinking about your time in increments of 24 hours instead of 168 hours, is that it is inherently more stressful (you feel you have “less time”), especially if you don’t take the planning fallacy into consideration—the phenomenon whereby an individual displays the “optimism bias” and thinks they need less time than they do to complete a given task, regardless of historical evidence to the contrary. Instead of letting the daily grind crowd out the important stuff, they start by making sure there's time for the important stuff. For example, I'm not sure how bragging about fitting into your pre-pregnancy jeans one week after your baby was born fits into this book.

By that same token, some weeks I sleep a lot less and probably consequently have less energy to exercise. In this edition of time management advice, Vanderkam stresses the importance of efficiency and prioritization so you can make time for *everything* that matters to you during your 168-hour week. I am, admittedly, a productivity addict - which means I like to read anything and everything on productivity and time management that I can get my hands on (though this hasn't necessarily made me more productive). But you'd be better off reading Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change and working those systems into a lifestyle that's meaningful for *you*.

That’s not to say there aren’t other options, but outsourcing time-consuming chores is something you’ll find a lot easier if you’re wealthy.This author impressed me with her ability to pose questions that made me ask questions in her book "All the Money in the World. Have the kids stay a few extra hours in day care or hire a babysitter for more free time after work - if you spend too much time with your kids it won't be quality time. Remember, while this first exercise is a good starting point, the optimism bias is probably at play and I am either underestimating or overestimating how much time I spent on each task, depending on what it entails. The latter two illustrate a slightly different way of thinking about your core competencies—the things only you can do for you.