Ideas change everything

How to gain control of your free time

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Laura Vanderkam |

TEDWomen 2016

• October 2016

There are 168 hours in each week. How do we find time for what matters most? Time management expert Laura Vanderkam studies how busy people spend their lives, and she's discovered that many of us drastically overestimate our commitments each week, while underestimating the time we have to ourselves. She offers a few practical strategies to help find more time for what matters to us, so we can "build the lives we want in the time we've got."

There are 168 hours in each week. How do we find time for what matters most? Time management expert Laura Vanderkam studies how busy people spend their lives, and she's discovered that many of us drastically overestimate our commitments each week, while underestimating the time we have to ourselves. She offers a few practical strategies to help find more time for what matters to us, so we can "build the lives we want in the time we've got."

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

Track your time! The first step to spending your time better is knowing how you’re spending it now. Download a log (30-minute or 15-minute versions) from Laura Vanderkam's website and write down what you're doing every few hours in as much detail as you think will be helpful. Try to keep going for a week (168 hours) to get the full picture of your life. After you're done, add up the major categories: work, sleep, time with family, housework, TV, exercise, volunteering, commuting. Then ask yourself what you like about your schedule and what you'd like to change.

About the speaker

Laura Vanderkam

See speaker profile

Laura Vanderkam shatters the myth that there just isn’t enough time in the week for working professionals to live happy, balanced and productive lives.

Learn more

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

Laura Vanderkam | Portfolio (2015)

Laura Vanderkam - *I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time*

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

Track your time! The first step to spending your time better is knowing how you’re spending it now. Download a log (30-minute or 15-minute versions) from Laura Vanderkam's website and write down what you're doing every few hours in as much detail as you think will be helpful. Try to keep going for a week (168 hours) to get the full picture of your life. After you're done, add up the major categories: work, sleep, time with family, housework, TV, exercise, volunteering, commuting. Then ask yourself what you like about your schedule and what you'd like to change.