You Aren't as Busy as You Think You Are

I'm about halfway through Laura Vanderkam's book I Know How She Does It - and have just completed my own time-tracking study so that I can compare my data to the examples she uses in the book. I'll write more about that later (a preview: I worked about 45 hours the week of my study, and averaged 7.2 hours of sleep a night - not too shabby), but there was a line in the book that SHOUTED out at me - one of those lines that makes you wonder if the title should have your name in the title. I Know How JEN Does It.

In her introduction, Vanderkam lays out the premise of the book, which is that we are not as busy as we all say that we are, and there are very real consequences when we overstate our own "busy-ness." While the damage we do to our own psyche isn't to be understated, there are broader implications as well: when men and women in senior leadership roles "exaggerate workweeks, [they] can make some jobs appear off-limits to those who care about having a life."

Read that line again. I read it about seven times in the space of my own eureka moment. I've struggled for a while now, knowing that the next step in my career is likely into a senior or executive role, and I've felt nothing but dread wondering how I could possibly do that and still be the parent and partner I wish to be. Reading that sentence was the first time it ever occurred to me that perhaps what that particular life looks like is not based in reality, only in the same perceptions that led me to believe that I could never fit personal pursuits into my already crazy schedule. My own time study - and the fact that I work a high-demand job, have time for soccer and pool days with my kids, and started this blog - suggests I may need to challenge those perceptions.

More on this topic to come, as I work my way through the book and my own time study project....