168 Hours

• Log my use of time for 168 hours in the week, for 4 weeks
• On the average, what percentage of 168 hours do i expend on my core competencies and what percentage do i expend on my non-core-competencies?
• What changes do I need to make.

As the author rightly points out, most productivity books are written by men. It's good to see this book tackle things from a slightly different perspective - a woman who's trying to balance both her career ambitions as well as raising a family and running a household.

Vanderkam reasons that in order to have enough time to do the things we need, we should outsource the things we aren't good at, like household chores. Since people spend so much money on cars, etc., what's a little bit more money spend on outsourcing your laundry, etc.? Not sure I completely agree with this concept, or that outsourcing is as cheap as the author claims it is (maybe that's because I don't live in America).

Standout point for me was the author's mention of “flow” states and how a study was done that shows that people who spend more time in flow (focused on challenging yet doable work) are happier. Heard of being in a state of “flow” before but didn't know that it actually makes you happier (but that makes sense). Going to go research that more.

Interesting focus on how we spend our time - Laura provides a glimpse into the choices we make and (mis)perceptions we have about where our time goes. She compels the reader to figure out where their time is really going, and separately identify what really matters. The challenge then is to do more of what matters and lose as much of the rest as possible.

I have a sickness where I inhale productivity books.

But they all have a sickness where they think that capitalism is good. Sigh.

Yes Brenda, “we all have the same number of hours in a week.” But allllll this optimization shit is running on the same false premise of individual will, even when it tries to be quaint and talk about family/relationships and not just increasing surplus labor value.

why do I do this to myself?

4.5 stars. I'm a big fan of Vanderkam's blog and I think she offers actionable strategies for making time for what matters while also recognizing the privilege many of us have in being able to think these things through. This book felt a little dated and could use a refresh for 2018 but overall still applicable.