First of all, love this article and all of your content. So thank you.
Lately, a small change with big impact has been thinking about how I can help my future self. Example, don't want to put away laundry at night, but know my future (morning) self will benefit. Floss my teeth, my future self will benefit. Just doing the tiny little tasks NOW, instead of putting them on that infinite 'to do' list has been a big boost.
Randi, I’ve been doing the same! Making my bed in the morning, washing dishes and wiping down counters before bed, doing a “two-minute living room reset” with my kids to put away any clutter at the end of the day… I started doing so many little things each day for “future Jenna” and she’s always very grateful. ☺️
Thanks for sharing Chris’s ideas! Now that I’m a self-employed retired teacher, I’ve been struggling with daily time management and long-term planning, which I suppose makes sense after decades of a highly rigid daily structure and a feast and famine style work load (yes, summers off are vital for the insane mental and physical work load of teachers the other 10 months 🙂). And as a life-long procrastinator and recently diagnosed ADHD menopausal woman, I’ve done a lot of self berating over my lack of productivity!
The life coaches I know all say to use time blocking, and sometimes I do use it successfully. But I was getting myself stressed out and frustrated because I wasn’t accurately planning for how long certain to-do items were taking, so recently I did start incorporating the time buffers, like Chris mentioned. So now when I have a chunk of non-client-facing time, I try to build my schedule of time blocks with that buffer. I also build in short walks outside (my 15-year old Chihuahua’s pee schedule gets me out of the house more frequently!). Even though, or maybe because of it, I get fewer items accomplished, it feels so much better to have those little time buffers and walks built in.
I also have been using an Eisenhower style long- and short-term planner. I modified the 4-quadrant labels a little - I have Do Now (important to goals or family and urgent/timely), Schedule (important but not urgent), Delegate/Stack (things my young adult children need to take on and things I can mindlessly do while watching a movie or listening to a podcast or “stacking with something else”) and Delete. I tried writing these lists in a paper planner but am still working on implementing a paper planner in general (I’ve been a random sticky note and list person forever), so this hasn’t helped in the past.
So when I moved/downsized recently, I converted an extra large picture frame to a dry erase board for my Eisenhower chart and hung it above my desk in the living room. Each quadrant has two colored lists - one for my business and one for family/personal tasks. I’ve realized I’m definitely more of a visual person and need that chart front and center. And surprisingly, see the big to-do list doesn’t stress me out. I think it’s because of the quadrant system and because I’ve given up the stressful, for me, SMART goal system that includes specific timelines.
Thanks so much for sharing your insights! I tend to rebel against very strict and specific time blocking but love setting outcome-based goals like "I will write a new Substack post by Friday" which gives me the freedom to write any time I like - before Friday!
Love this! Chris touched on values and aligning how you spend your time with them.
This feels really important.
All of a sudden, the concept of values keeps coming up for me …. Defining them and consciously living in alignment with them is something I’m currently working on.
I think people might struggle with defining values (I have 🙋) and connecting them with how we live our lives and make decisions. But I’m starting to understand that it’s a major key to fulfillment.🤍
Yes! I love to write down my values and priorities and then check them against my actual schedule / how I spend my time. Very eye opening and a great way to recalibrate! x
Loved this—urgency culture is just productivity in prettier packaging.
I’ve been unlearning it on all fronts. In life, in work, even in how I design physical spaces for small brands. Everything doesn’t need to move fast to be valuable. Sometimes the boldest thing is to build for pause, not panic. A calm life is a loud refusal.
Love his insights and your questions! To piggy back on his concept of switching how one thinks of time, I’ve allowed for the acceptance of seasons in my life. Having children made me much less productive/efficient (as it can!). I drove myself nuts comparing what I got done to my former self. At some point, I consciously stopped that and enjoyed what I was at the moment - a less efficient person who was having a joyful time with her small children. This season is ending for me as the youngest starts kinder this fall, but I enjoyed my time AND I’m looking forward to the next season and what it will bring.
Fantastic post with so many great tips! I especially like the consideration of “how did I spend my last 40 minutes?” to gauge if I am doing meaningful work.
And I wholeheartedly agree with the tip to limit communication accessibility! I joke that “there are way too many ways to get ahold of me!” and am working on streamlining that!
First of all, love this article and all of your content. So thank you.
Lately, a small change with big impact has been thinking about how I can help my future self. Example, don't want to put away laundry at night, but know my future (morning) self will benefit. Floss my teeth, my future self will benefit. Just doing the tiny little tasks NOW, instead of putting them on that infinite 'to do' list has been a big boost.
You're very welcome! And the future-self concept is the only reason I do dishes and laundry! 🤣
Randi, I’ve been doing the same! Making my bed in the morning, washing dishes and wiping down counters before bed, doing a “two-minute living room reset” with my kids to put away any clutter at the end of the day… I started doing so many little things each day for “future Jenna” and she’s always very grateful. ☺️
Thanks for sharing Chris’s ideas! Now that I’m a self-employed retired teacher, I’ve been struggling with daily time management and long-term planning, which I suppose makes sense after decades of a highly rigid daily structure and a feast and famine style work load (yes, summers off are vital for the insane mental and physical work load of teachers the other 10 months 🙂). And as a life-long procrastinator and recently diagnosed ADHD menopausal woman, I’ve done a lot of self berating over my lack of productivity!
The life coaches I know all say to use time blocking, and sometimes I do use it successfully. But I was getting myself stressed out and frustrated because I wasn’t accurately planning for how long certain to-do items were taking, so recently I did start incorporating the time buffers, like Chris mentioned. So now when I have a chunk of non-client-facing time, I try to build my schedule of time blocks with that buffer. I also build in short walks outside (my 15-year old Chihuahua’s pee schedule gets me out of the house more frequently!). Even though, or maybe because of it, I get fewer items accomplished, it feels so much better to have those little time buffers and walks built in.
I also have been using an Eisenhower style long- and short-term planner. I modified the 4-quadrant labels a little - I have Do Now (important to goals or family and urgent/timely), Schedule (important but not urgent), Delegate/Stack (things my young adult children need to take on and things I can mindlessly do while watching a movie or listening to a podcast or “stacking with something else”) and Delete. I tried writing these lists in a paper planner but am still working on implementing a paper planner in general (I’ve been a random sticky note and list person forever), so this hasn’t helped in the past.
So when I moved/downsized recently, I converted an extra large picture frame to a dry erase board for my Eisenhower chart and hung it above my desk in the living room. Each quadrant has two colored lists - one for my business and one for family/personal tasks. I’ve realized I’m definitely more of a visual person and need that chart front and center. And surprisingly, see the big to-do list doesn’t stress me out. I think it’s because of the quadrant system and because I’ve given up the stressful, for me, SMART goal system that includes specific timelines.
Thanks so much for sharing your insights! I tend to rebel against very strict and specific time blocking but love setting outcome-based goals like "I will write a new Substack post by Friday" which gives me the freedom to write any time I like - before Friday!
I love that idea!
Love this! Chris touched on values and aligning how you spend your time with them.
This feels really important.
All of a sudden, the concept of values keeps coming up for me …. Defining them and consciously living in alignment with them is something I’m currently working on.
I think people might struggle with defining values (I have 🙋) and connecting them with how we live our lives and make decisions. But I’m starting to understand that it’s a major key to fulfillment.🤍
Yes! I love to write down my values and priorities and then check them against my actual schedule / how I spend my time. Very eye opening and a great way to recalibrate! x
Brilliant read, so much to take from this. I'll be using quite a few of these. Thank you !
So happy to hear - I am always inspired by Chris's work! x
Loved this—urgency culture is just productivity in prettier packaging.
I’ve been unlearning it on all fronts. In life, in work, even in how I design physical spaces for small brands. Everything doesn’t need to move fast to be valuable. Sometimes the boldest thing is to build for pause, not panic. A calm life is a loud refusal.
Love his insights and your questions! To piggy back on his concept of switching how one thinks of time, I’ve allowed for the acceptance of seasons in my life. Having children made me much less productive/efficient (as it can!). I drove myself nuts comparing what I got done to my former self. At some point, I consciously stopped that and enjoyed what I was at the moment - a less efficient person who was having a joyful time with her small children. This season is ending for me as the youngest starts kinder this fall, but I enjoyed my time AND I’m looking forward to the next season and what it will bring.
Fantastic post with so many great tips! I especially like the consideration of “how did I spend my last 40 minutes?” to gauge if I am doing meaningful work.
And I wholeheartedly agree with the tip to limit communication accessibility! I joke that “there are way too many ways to get ahold of me!” and am working on streamlining that!