Feel like your time isn’t your own? Author and mom of four Laura Vanderkam has an answer. Track your time. Laura believes that the awareness that comes with time use tracking helps you find the correct narratives about your life rather than defeatist narratives you may have. For example, the fears “if I work full time I’ll never see my family” or self care “I’m tired so I never get enough sleep.” In Body Kindness we know that our thoughts can get the best of our emotional well being and lead to downward spirals. Laura wants you to see that these thoughts aren’t necessarily true or helpful. You can adopt a “good enough” viewpoint with time use and allow the information to help you change how you spend your time where it really matters to your values.
In this episode we discuss the intersections of mindfulness and time use. How you can tend to your time like you would tend to a garden and capture a sense of agency over controllable aspects of your time rather than time passing without even noticing where it goes. Plus I answer body kindness reader questions about “time troubles”.
Listen to Episode 128:
Links mentioned
Laura’s TED Talk – How to gain control of your free time
Laura’s book – Off The Clock – Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done
About Laura
Laura Vanderkam is the author of several time management books, including Juliet’s School of Possibilities and Off the Clock. She hosts the podcast Before Breakfast and co-hosts, with Sarah Hart-Unger, the podcast Best of Both Worlds. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and four children and blogs at LauraVanderkam.com.
It’s interesting how so many different areas of our life can connect with Body Kindness.