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laurcoh's review
4.0
This is a great read for someone like me who is constantly skeptical of people’s narratives that they “have no time.” Vanderkam’s takedown of people who act like “every day is a death march” and people who rely on negative narratives to explain their days was kind of beautiful. She provides data from outside sources as well as data from a study she conducted to show that the ways people actually spend their time do not match how they verbally report it.
It’s not just a heckle fest though. People aren’t lying just to lie, there is a very real disconnect. She breaks down the various stumbling blocks that keep people from realizing how much free time they have and using it in the best way for their satisfaction.
It’s not just a heckle fest though. People aren’t lying just to lie, there is a very real disconnect. She breaks down the various stumbling blocks that keep people from realizing how much free time they have and using it in the best way for their satisfaction.
thebookishbollinger's review
3.0
This book is written for a very specific kind of woman, Laura Vanderkam admits that her research focused on “successful” women with a very limited definition of success. She measures by woman who work, making at least $100,000 a year and have children. She challenges the “you can’t have it all” mindset by focusing more on how people choose to spend their time when they use the mosaic model to break down their day into 15-30 minute chunks.
While I do not fall into her definition of success (yet!) I gleaned some very insightful ideas for the future and still found it applicable to my current work/life balance. As someone who works full-time in the corporate world and working toward my MBA, my first response to “How are you” seems to always be “Oh I’m good, you know just busy!” Vanderkam challenges that response and why our society wants to perpetuate that harried lifestyle. Her research shows that when working women take the time to break down their schedules, they can see exactly where they are spending their time and make the necessary adjustments to focus time into things that fulfill them more.
I do understand that the women studied in this book had access to significant resources that won’t be available to the average woman, including hire a private chef to cook dinner throughout the week and bring the cleaning lady in multiple times a week to keep you from doing too many chores during time you could be spending with your kids! I think that the overarching principle of study how you currently do spend your time and make the necessary adjustments and challenge society’s version of the “we must always stay busy” can be applied to everyone across the board.
While I do not fall into her definition of success (yet!) I gleaned some very insightful ideas for the future and still found it applicable to my current work/life balance. As someone who works full-time in the corporate world and working toward my MBA, my first response to “How are you” seems to always be “Oh I’m good, you know just busy!” Vanderkam challenges that response and why our society wants to perpetuate that harried lifestyle. Her research shows that when working women take the time to break down their schedules, they can see exactly where they are spending their time and make the necessary adjustments to focus time into things that fulfill them more.
I do understand that the women studied in this book had access to significant resources that won’t be available to the average woman, including hire a private chef to cook dinner throughout the week and bring the cleaning lady in multiple times a week to keep you from doing too many chores during time you could be spending with your kids! I think that the overarching principle of study how you currently do spend your time and make the necessary adjustments and challenge society’s version of the “we must always stay busy” can be applied to everyone across the board.
rowiash's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.25
DNF - library rental ran out of time, will probably pick this up again sometime
Update: finished it! Valuable mindset coaching to help you get what you want out of life - spoiler, it involves lots of scheduling, but also doing some mental labor ahead of time to curate lists of things you’d like to do. That way, you can work toward making time for them, and/or have ideas ready to go when unexpected free time pops up.
The author shares good strategies for getting off auto-pilot and making the most of every day - for fun and family time, not just productivity, which was a welcome shift in priorities after her previous book, 168 Hours. While helpful now, will be worth a revisit or two as seasons of life change and kiddos grow.
Update: finished it! Valuable mindset coaching to help you get what you want out of life - spoiler, it involves lots of scheduling, but also doing some mental labor ahead of time to curate lists of things you’d like to do. That way, you can work toward making time for them, and/or have ideas ready to go when unexpected free time pops up.
The author shares good strategies for getting off auto-pilot and making the most of every day - for fun and family time, not just productivity, which was a welcome shift in priorities after her previous book, 168 Hours. While helpful now, will be worth a revisit or two as seasons of life change and kiddos grow.
ginnygriggs's review
4.0
This clearly has mixed reviews, but I loved it - and I say that as a woman without kids who doesn’t currently intend to have any. Even the parts that didn’t apply directly to me gave me a new perspective. Not everything in this work will make sense for you, but I’m guessing you’ll find at least a few strategies you can use (that goes for men, too).
ateam1022's review against another edition
4.0
*I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.*
There are some interesting ideas here on how women in particular can "fit it all in" and have the life that they want. I did find it a bit frustrating that many of her ideas involve paying for additional help, which makes since considering the demographic of women she was working with, but is ultimately out of reach for many middle class and low income families. I appreciated that the tone of the book was optimistic and not the same old "women can never have it all" story. As with all self-help type books, your mileage will vary, but I walked away with a few valuable ideas.
There are some interesting ideas here on how women in particular can "fit it all in" and have the life that they want. I did find it a bit frustrating that many of her ideas involve paying for additional help, which makes since considering the demographic of women she was working with, but is ultimately out of reach for many middle class and low income families. I appreciated that the tone of the book was optimistic and not the same old "women can never have it all" story. As with all self-help type books, your mileage will vary, but I walked away with a few valuable ideas.
betyplush's review
3.0
I liked 168 hours better. This would be better for someone who actually had kids.
ckporier's review
4.0
Great book, great real-life examples, I love the "mosaic" concept. Provides a good counterbalance to the "work vs. family" narrative. Four and a half stars.
carolineva's review against another edition
Too focused on having kids, and some fairly ableist parts
moonstormer's review
5.0
I love the idea of thinking of time as a mosaic. It eases up the idea of "i work all the time" or "I don't spend enough time with the kid" or whatever else we tell ourselves. Also, the bit about no schedule being too full or strict to not be able to make room for early morning cuddles from kids was an important reminder. It's how we arrange the tiles of our mosaic that can work or not for us, but there ARE enough hours in the day for the things we find important.