168 Hours by Laura VanderkamA Book Review

This time management book, filled with statistics, is actually quite a compelling read. Subtitled You Have More Time Than You Think, its basic premise is that how one fills one's time is a choice and that there is time to do the things one really wants to do.

I think I've always believed that — and I already do several of the things that Vanderkam suggests, such as listening to audio books during my commute, using the DVR to record the few television shows I watch so I can do so on my own schedule, keeping a Bible with me all the time (via an app on my iPhone) so I can read a few verses whenever I have a few minutes, and focusing on gratitude, and I've been a planner all of my adult life.

We all have 168 hours a week.
Time spent doing one thing is
time not spent doing another.

— Laura Vanderkam

I need to remember that I'm the one in charge of my 168 hours a week. As Vanderkam says, "Sometimes when we get really busy, it’s easy to feel absent from our own lives." I need to be more mindful about living my full life.

I would like to make two lists that Vanderkam recommends — a "List of 100 Dreams" and a list of things that make me happy or that I find meaningful that take 30 minutes or less, or even less than 10 minutes.

When we analyze what we are actually doing with our 168 hours each week, Vanderkam asserts, except for sleeping and eating, we probably don’t have to do any of the things we're doing.

Everything else is a choice.

I choose to say "Yes" to the things that matter!

Quote of the Day

"You don't need more time ...
you just need to decide."

~Seth Godin

Thinking about Priorities

Today in the women's meeting at church, the new organization president, Brittany, talked about priorities and about putting "first things first." She said it's really easy - as we all know - to get caught up in the daily tasks of life and to neglect some of the things that really matter.

I find time management to be an interesting concept. What we do with our time illustrates what we truly value. I know that no one can do everything - but I am certain that each of us makes time for the things that really matter to us. On a very basic level, we make time to shower, to eat, and to sleep (even if we don't eat as well or sleep as much as we ought to). Those things are obviously priorities to us, so we make time for them. We simply can't wait until we find time for the things that are truly important.

Here are some ideas about priorities that I like and want to consider further:

• "Good, Better, Best" by Dallin H. Oaks (October 2007).


• "Put First Things First," which one of Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." (I particularly like the concepts of "urgent" vs. "important" and "Quadrant II Time Management.")


• "Focus and Priorities" by Dallin H. Oaks (April 2001).


• "Seek ye first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33).

By the way, Brittany ended her lesson with one of my favorite scriptures, one that's actually part of my Guiding Principles:

"And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a [wo]man should run faster than [s]he has strength. And again, it is expedient that [s]he should be diligent, that thereby [s]he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order" (Mosiah 4:27).