People & Change

How to find time for what matters

“We don’t build the lives we want by saving time. We build the lives we want and then time saves itself.”
Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam is an author shattering the myth that there just isn’t enough time in the week for working professionals to live, balanced and productive lives.

Her TED talk, ‘How to gain control of your free time’ - (find it at the bottom of the page) - offers strong empowerment through top level time analysis and a few practical strategies to help find more time for what matters to us, so we can "build the lives we want in the time we've got."

Four important things to remember about time-management

“Time is highly elastic”
We cannot make more time, but time will stretch to accommodate what we choose to put into it.
“I don’t have time = it’s not a priority”
Think about it. If someone was willing to pay you £50,000 to finish that report or do that pile of ironing in the next 20 minutes, you’d do it. Use language to remind you that time is a choice.
“We have the power to fill our lives with the things that deserve to be there”
Put priorities into your schedule first, and think through your coming week before you’re in it.
“Small moments can have great power”
Put your phone down. Whether for nourishing your professional life or your personal life, you could use those spare 15 minutes to fill your cup more effectively.