The Long and The Short Of It

Episode 305 - Time Management

Transcript:

Jen: Hello, Peter.

Pete: Hello, Jen.

Jen: I am about to blow your mind...

Pete: No pressure. I'm holding my head, just to prevent everything from exploding.

Jen: ...with just this one simple fact: We have yet to record an episode with the title "Time Management".

Pete: I do not believe you.

Jen: It's true.

Pete: I do not believe you.

Jen: It's true, Pete.

Pete: I'm having a flashback...I feel like we tried this and it ended up on the cutting room floor like three times.

Jen: Oh, well, maybe that's what happened. But it is what I want to talk to you about today.

Pete: Alright, time management. We'd better get moving because we only have twenty minutes. This is The Long and The Short Of It.

Jen: Okay, let me start by saying, I'm in the middle of my summer coaching program right now. And every year, it's just so fascinating to watch groups of people who are moving through the same industry, thematically what they're struggling with, because it sort of like lets me know what's going on with the larger industry population.

Pete: Oh, interesting. And there are themes?

Jen: Oh, yes. So sometimes, it's themes of identity. Sometimes, it's themes of purpose. This year, time management is a huge challenge for people. And I'm guessing it's because of leftover Covid stuff.

Pete: Yeah. Even...I mean, isn't it wild? It's just like, I found myself saying this the other day, like, "Oh, this is a product of adjusting from Covid." And someone was like, "You know, Covid was four years ago." It's like, yep. Yeah, it was. Yeah. We're still untangling.

Jen: It was. And yeah, so pre-Covid, Pete, in my classes, I didn't need to keep a timer, because I could tell you down to the second how long a minute was and how long twenty minutes was, because they were such familiar chunks of time. Since Covid, I've had to literally use a kitchen timer, so that I'm being fair to everyone who's getting up to work and they're all getting the same amount of time. Because without it, I have no idea what time it is.

Pete: Oh, this is fascinating. Our sense of time has been warped due to, I mean, unsurprisingly I guess ,that was a time warp, that whole thing. That two years of our lives, it was like, "What? What just happened?"

Jen: Yep. So I put together, for my coaching clients this summer, a time management bonus seminar. Because I hadn't planned to discuss it at all, but I was getting so many questions. And I thought I might share some of the ways I think about time, and I'm very curious to hear about the ways you think about time.

Pete: Well, I feel like this is one of those topics where I'm like, "How do I think about time?" You know, like I'm wondering if I have a system, that I haven't ever thought of that's actually a system. Or I think about it without actually thinking about it intentionally, if that makes sense.

Jen: Yes. And just being an observer of you, you are very good at time management.

Pete: Which is, yeah, I mean, it's wild that you say that, because I would definitely have not said that that was a strength of mine. So, it's so funny. So funny. So wild. Alright, well, let's hear from Jen Waldman and your masterclass on how you think about time management, and I'll see if I can chime in.

Jen: Well, I think the first thing to say before we say anything else, is that it would be ludicrous, ridiculous, preposterous to be prescriptive about how other people should manage their time. Because we each have our own preferences, our own aesthetic, our own relationship, our own baggage, our own ideas when it comes to time. So I have systems that work for me, that I try to keep very, very simple. And other people have completely different systems that work for them, that would never work for me. So, I like to think more about the philosophies of time management. And I share with my clients. I let them look at my calendar. I let them look at my to-do list. Which is very vulnerable, I have to say.

Pete: Well done.

Jen: Not so that they'll copy me, but just so that they'll see what one person's perspective is. And then, maybe they could have a strong adverse reaction to it and be like, "I would never do it like that." That's fine. So, how will you do it?

Pete: I feel like that's such an important call out, because there's so many theories, perspectives, frameworks, books on, "This is how you must manage your time," and I feel like saying, "No. Like, take what works for you based on your circumstances, your preferences, your agenda, your life, all that." So yeah, I'm with it. I'm like, "Let's take what works from all of these 'gurus' of time management, and feel free to ignore the rest."

Jen: Yes. And then, I will share with you a pitfall that I've noticed as I've watched people over the years try to improve their time management, is they spend a lot of time researching time management systems and then commit to something that is so complicated that it's not functional.

Pete: That's so true.

Jen: And so my thought is, your time management system, in order for it to be fully functioning, needs to be simple and easy for you, the user, to understand.

Pete: Totally. I mean, this feels like, you know, we mention James Clear in every second episode, but like if time management is a habit, if managing yourself within time is a habit, then we need to make that as easily actionable, implementable, and easy to stick with as possible.

Jen: Yeah. Okay, so Pete, I'll tell you my philosophies about my relationship to time and the tools I use to manage my time. And then, I'm very, very interested to hear yours. So the first is that I keep a calendar, which I know sounds so simple, but I really do live and die by my calendar. The way I think about my calendar is that it is a tool that has to always be telling me the truth. So if it exists on the calendar, it actually exists. And if it doesn't exist on the calendar, it doesn't exist. And because of this commitment to my calendar, that I will believe it, I do not put to-dos on my calendar. Because sometimes, my to-dos don't get done.

Pete: Yeah. Nice.

Jen: But my calendar needs to always tell me the truth. Otherwise, I can't rely on it and I won't use it.

Pete: Nice. I feel like this is such a granular question...but I guess this is the point of this episode. Do have a virtual, like is yours an electronic calendar? Or do you do old-school, handwritten, "I've got a diary," type calendar?

Jen: I use a Google Calendar.

Pete: Alright, alright, alright.

Jen: Because I like the way it looks. I like the way it functions. I like color coding. I like the tetris of moving the blocks around. And it also integrates with my scheduling software that I use for my business.

Pete: Totally. Me too. Me too, by the way. Me too. I know Tracey, my wife, she absolutely loves, still, the analog calendar. And that works for her. So actually, we ended up with both. To appease both of us, we have my virtual digital calendar with shared stuff in there that we need to share. And then, she also writes that down manually for her own brain as well.

Jen: Yeah. So Drew, who is my right hand (and left hand) man at the studio, he keeps an analog calendar. And it works great. So, this is a great example of: To each their own.

Pete: Exactly, yeah.

Jen: Whatever works for you, as long as you can rely on it.

Pete: Mmm-hmm.

Jen: So when something goes in the calendar, I think of it as protected time. It's like a pre-commitment to my future self, of how I intend to spend my time. And my calendar then starts to become a reflection of my values and my priorities. I may have shared this on a previous episode, but I had this aha moment, years ago, that I was not spending enough time with my family. And at first, I felt very dirty about adding a time called "Family Time" to my calendar, because I was like, "What sort of a wife and mother has to schedule time with her family?" But now, all these years later, I'm like, "No, this is exactly the kind of wife and mother I want to be. In that, I want to pre-promise that my child and my husband are the priority and everything else can work around them."

Pete: Nice. Yeah. Especially given what your first rule was. You know, like it feels like it's consistent with that, which is, "If it's in the calendar, you know it's real."

Jen: Yeah.

Pete: I like that. I like that. I also just feel compelled to reverse back over that statement that you said in passing, which I just think is so true and provocative and important, which is that your calendar is a reflection of your values. You can say, "I value family time," in the example that you're using, "and I value time with my husband and/or children." And then, you might look at your calendar and go, "Okay, well, you're back to back from eight until eight, back to back from a work perspective. So, how is this showing me that you value your family? It's not. It's showing me that you value working from eight to eight." So it feels important, provocative, uncomfortable, all those things.

Jen: I also make time on my calendar for not doing other things. So, you know, I have the "White Space Time" for focusing on whatever creative project I'm working on. I don't really know what I'm going to do, but I'll think about that project. And I've got my "Magic Time" where it's just unstructured creative time about really anything. But I'm committing, then, to saying, "It's important to me to be creative, so I'm pre-scheduling creative time on my calendar." And why I like the Google Calendar is, if something else comes up, I can just take that block and move it into an open position. I just find it easy, yeah. It's like Tetris.

Pete: It's satisfying. It's like Tetris, like you said. Yeah, it's real satisfying.

Jen: Yeah.

Pete: And the different colors for different things, I like that too.

Jen: And then, I'm going to share one final philosophy about calendars. And then, I want to hear your philosophies about calendars.

Pete: Keep going, keep going. I'm writing notes.

Jen: That my calendar tells me where I'm supposed to be, and my task lists (my various task lists) tell me what I'm supposed to do when I get there. And sometimes, I'm literal. Like my calendar tells me where I'm supposed to be, like, "I need to be in the studio to teach this particular class." But referencing back to this time blocking concept, sometimes it's just telling me where I need to be mentally. Or it's like, "This is creative time. This is administrative time. This is productivity time. This is family time. These are the different sorts of mindsets I'm committing to adopting." So my calendar tells me where I'm supposed to be, and then my task lists tell me what I'm supposed to do when I get there.

Pete: Yeah. Nice. How has this been received in the workshop? Are people like on board with this?

Jen: Well, I think any time someone offers you a structure, it's like Legos. Right? You know, someone can give you Legos and say, "Please make this as it appears on the box." But if you don't like what's on the box, you're like, "I've still got the Legos, and I can rearrange them." So I think the idea of having a structured way to think about time management is helpful.

Pete: Yeah. Is it a Jen Waldman-ism to say, "Within structure lies freedom?"

Jen: It is.

Pete: Have I heard you say that?

Jen: Thank you for remembering that, my friend.

Pete: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I like that. I like that. So, I guess it's my turn to try and unpack how I think about this.

Jen: Yeah.

Pete: And I say "try and unpack" because I don't even know...sorry, let me just like vomit some initial thoughts, as I'm thinking about this and as you were sharing. And feel free to provoke, i.e. ask me a question. So my philosophical initial rant (and maybe this is just semantics) is, I don't know if I think about time management as much as I think about self management. Because I feel like time is. You know, like a chunk of time just is. An hour just is an hour. I don't know if I manage that.

Jen: Mmm. Mmm-hmm.

Pete: I manage myself, and I manage my energy, and I manage how and where I show up within said time. So this, again, it might just be semantics. But I feel like I think less about how to manage my time, and I think so much about how I'm managing myself.

Jen: Mmm. Say more.

Pete: Which, where I spend time is obviously part of that. So for me, I think about, "How do I manage myself in order to be able to show up as best as I possibly can, in any given situation at any given time, depending on where it is I am and what it is I'm doing?" So some examples, I guess...I don't know if this is making sense, so feel free to ask me questions. I have certain rules, especially at the moment, and this is very specific to my life at the moment. This has not always been the case. And so I guess that's an important call out, is like, the way I think about managing myself / time differs. At the moment, I do not work on Mondays, because I have a day with Ollie. I do not work past 3pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And I do not work on weekends. And that is loose. Like, I will probably check a few emails here and there. But I don't do delivery. I don't have calls. I don't, for all intents and purposes, work beyond those hours. And that is me managing myself, I think, not managing my time. And managing my values. Because I want to be able to show up for my family at the moment, given the chapter I'm in. Like Tracey's back working full-time, and I have a one-year-old. And that structure, at the moment, is what I've discovered works best for me. I don't think I'm very good from a work perspective, from a brain perspective, from a creativity perspective, beyond 3pm. And I find I'm a lot better in the mornings. And so, to manage myself, I use the time of morning as opposed to afternoon. So my first thought, apart from my philosophical rant, is the containers that I've set for myself are essentially 7am-3pm or 8am-3pm, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, from a work perspective. Does that make sense?

Jen: Yes, it makes a lot of sense. And I do think the semantics are important. I want to support and affirm your semantics, because the words we use matter and they shape the way we view ourselves, our world, our actions. So for you, "Self management". For me, "Time management." We are essentially explaining the same thing, but the words that we choose empower us to make the choices we want to make.

Pete: Right. Yes, yes. I like that. Beautifully said. So then, we get to like really tactical stuff. Like you, I use a Google Calendar. Like you, I use different colors. And I have different, I guess, sub-calendars within my calendar. So I have, you know, I have "Work", which is a light blue. And then, I'll color code that depending on the client. So I have different colors for different clients, which just is helpful for my brain. I have a sub-calendar called "Oddies", which is short for "odd jobs". And so if I need to go pick up some dry cleaning, that will be there in a navy, because it's an odd job. Oddies are probably the only to-dos, I would say, I add to my calendar. That's where you and I differ. I definitely don't have all my to-dos, but I do have odd jobs in there, for some reason. Then I have, I think "Healthy Habits" is colored purple, which is like I'm going to put in when I'm going to the gym, or if I'm going to go and do some exercise, or whatever I deem to be a healthy habit, maybe I'm going to go for a massage, I'm going to see the physio, whatever it is. I have that, and that goes in the calendar. I have "Meaningful Connection", which is a bit like what you were saying with "Family Time". For me, that is I've scheduled meaningful connection with either family or friends, that goes in the calendar in orange. I don't know I'm sharing the colors with you, but it's just so clear in my mind.

Jen: I love it.

Pete: And then, the other one is "Experiences/Travel", which is light green, which is just other things like we're going on a holiday, or we're going away, or we're going to the zoo, whatever it is. So that is a different color for me, which is another activity. I came up with those chunks based on...I can't even remember...things that I deemed to be important categories of my life, essentially. So work, experiences, meaningful connection, healthy habits, and then odd jobs. So that's like a, you know, in the weeds of Pete's actual calendar. I don't know if that's helpful.

Jen: I love it. I love it. Honestly, Pete, I mean, we are just like scratching the surface. We could probably do an entire year where the only thing we did was talk about like how we organize our lives.

Pete: Yeah.

Jen: And also, I want to hear from listeners how they are doing this. Because I just find it fascinating. When I have a client who says, "I'm struggling with time management," I say to them, "Can you send me screenshots of your calendar, your to-do lists, etc.? Because I want to see how you envision your relationship to your schedule." And it's wild. I mean, I've never gotten the same thing twice. Everybody's so different. It's truly fascinating.

Pete: That is crazy, yeah. Well, I have, ironically, so many more things to say and share and refine. However, I have to manage myself and we have to manage our time. It's been about twenty minutes, so the constraint that we set for this podcast is over. And that is The Long and The Short Of It.