We are continuing our series of life optimization episodes today with the dynamic Laura Vanderkam, time management expert and author of multiple books on the topic, including three books we’re discussing in today’s episode: her book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, which came out in 2010; Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done, which came out in 2014; and I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time, which came out in 2015. Laura has also written What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings — and Life, which came out in 2012; All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending, which was released in 2013; The New Corner Office: How the Most Successful People Work from Home, which came out in 2020; and 2022’s Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. And that’s still not all of her books! A graduate of Princeton, Laura and her husband share five children — so time management is a must! — and she became interested in time management while working as a journalist, after interviewing accomplished people juggling busy schedules. In October 2016, she gave a TED talk called “How to Gain Control of Your Free Time,” which has been viewed more than 12 million times, and she has written everywhere from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fortune, and more. She is also the host of the “Before Breakfast” podcast and the co-host of the “Best of Both Worlds” podcast with Sarah Hart-Unger. With a life as busy as Laura’s, she has to know how to manage her time! Today we chat about Laura’s philosophy that looking at your life in 168 hour blocks — so, a week — is more preferable than looking at it in 24 hour blocks; the power of time tracking; the best piece of time management advice she’s ever received; how outsourcing is a time management hack; her thoughts on multitasking; and so much more. There’s not a person among us who has an extra stockpile of hours in their day or week — no, not even Beyonce! — and Laura’s here to teach us how to make the most of our time.

All by Laura Vanderkam:

168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done

I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time