Tag Archives: Time Management

A Productivity Hack That Will Work For Everyone

time-management

source: Tribune Media Services

I love me some productivity hacks, but I often find that when I read about how to improve my time management, the solutions always seem to be conflicting or involve things that just aren’t realistic for my life. “Set Your Alarm 30 Minutes Earlier” — Uh, I already get up between 4:30 and 5am. “Only read emails twice a day” No thanks, I’d get fired. “Multi-task” oh wait, no “Don’t multitask” The advice out there is infinite. And maybe that is part of the problem.

You can’t manage time. Time is finite. You hear this all the time but it is true: There are only 24 hours in a day, and there will always be a laundry list of things that need to get done on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. This is a reality that has hit me like a ton of bricks in my new job. I am someone who measures my success by what I achieve so obviously I’m a big fan of Goals and To Do Lists — this shouldn’t be a shock, you can take one look around this blog and see that. But despite making them day in and day out, and checking things off regularly, As of a week or so ago I wasn’t feeling super accomplished.

Maybe I should be writing better To Do Lists. Maybe I should be using a different system. Maybe I should be working harder. Maybe I should be working smarter. But here is the epiphany I had this week: No productivity hack is going to eradicate the tedious tasks of life or work, and nothing you find on Pinterest is going to magically turn you into an organized, pulled together person who has always gets everything done in an orderly fashion. Time Management is a myth. It is physically impossible to manage time. You cannot manage your time, but you can manage your energy.

If you want to get things done, you must have the energy to do.

And for me, that was like a light switch. I’m still not at a place where I feel like I’m balancing EVERYTHING yet, but for now I am balancing the important things. And spending a lot more time doing this:

You guys, what did I even Instagram (or do, for that matter) before I got this dog? #bustergram

And slowly but surely, things are feeling like they are getting back to normal. Whatever else I can do on top of that? Icing on the cake!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...