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168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think QUOTES

168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think QUOTES

1 " This is what happens when you treat your 168 hours as a blank slate. This is what happens when you fill them up only with things that deserve to be there. You build a life where you really can have it all. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

2 " you can choose how to spend your 168 hours, and you have more time than you think. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

3 " go back through your “List of 100 Dreams” and choose elements of a few to incorporate into your days. Make two lists: one of activities that take half an hour or less, and another of activities that take less than 10 minutes. Then, figure out ways you can make these two sets of activities as easy as lighting up a cigarette or turning on the TV any time a bit of leisure shows up on your schedule. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

4 " by trying lots of things you think you might enjoy, you will learn more about yourself, and what you are actually good at, what might be your core competencies, and which of the biggies are worth going for. You may be shocked by what you discover. This is why you just have to keep an open mind and try things. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

5 " Reading fiction as you commute to a job you don’t like will make you feel somewhat more fulfilled; being in the right job will make you feel incredible. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

6 " The majority of people who claim to be overworked work less than they think they do, and many of the ways people work are extraordinarily inefficient. Calling something “work” does not make it important or necessary. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

7 " when you focus on what you do best, on what brings you the most satisfaction, there is plenty of space for everything. You can build a big career. You can build a big family. And you can meander along a Maryland creek on a weekday morning because the day is too wild and beautiful to stay inside. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

8 " when it comes to daily life, the time-crunch narrative doesn’t tell the whole story. The problem is not that we’re all overworked or underrested, it’s that most of us have absolutely no idea how we spend our 168 hours. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

9 " We don’t think about how we want to spend our time, and so we spend massive amounts of time on things—television, Web surfing, housework, errands—that give a slight amount of pleasure or feeling of accomplishment, but do little for our careers, our families, or our personal lives. We spend very little time on things that require more thought or initiative, like nurturing our kids, exercising, or engaging in the limited hours we do work in deliberate practice of our professional crafts. We try to squeeze these high-impact activities around the edges of things that are easy, or that seem inevitable merely because we always do them or because we think others expect us to. And consequently, we feel overworked and underrested, and tend to believe stories that confirm this view. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

10 " Though you will save many hours by seizing control of your calendar, and clearing away non-core-competency activities, in the long run, the best way to create more time is to actually get better at your professional craft. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

11 " you’ll need to figure out what you want to do during your 168 hours. Many of us have no idea; one of the benefits of claiming to be overworked or starved for time is that it lets you off the hook for dealing with the burden of choice. From interviewing people who love their lives, I’ve found that these people focus, as much as possible, in the work and personal spheres, on what I call their core competencies. These are the things they do best, and that others cannot do nearly as well or can’t do at all. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

12 " people were happiest when they were completely absorbed in activities that were difficult but doable, to the point where their brains no longer had space to ruminate about the troubles of daily life. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

13 " You cannot remove randomness from the universe. You can, however, use your 168 hours to stack the odds in your favor. To do this, you have to place many bets, and leave nothing you can control to chance. In other words, you have to be open to possibilities, and plan for opportunities. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

14 " if you were offered $400 million to never do the stuff of your work again, would you be bummed about it, despite your riches? If you would, then it’s time to ask a follow-up question. If you did land a windfall, and could still do the stuff of your job, what parts of your job would you change? Given that you’d never have to work a day in your life, what would you do more of and what would you shove off your plate? "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

15 " This is the 168 Hours principle for work: Ideally, there should be almost nothing during your work hours—whatever you choose those to be—that is not advancing you toward your goals for the career and life you want. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

16 " I define “work” as activities that are advancing you toward the career and life you want. If they aren’t, then they are not work. This is true even if they appear on your work calendar or you’ve always done them, "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

17 " There is a lot of randomness in the universe, but truly lucky people recognize that fairy godmothers are lazy. If taking your career to the next level will require your fairy godmother to tip her wand, make sure the wand is pointed at you, and that you’re standing as close to her as possible, so all she has to do is nudge the thing like a bored barfly fiddling with a cocktail glass. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

18 " Like a successful modern corporation, you probably don’t have more than half a dozen core competencies. Broadly, most people’s core competencies fit into certain categories. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

19 " People who get the most out of life spend as much of their time as possible on these core competency activities, and as little as possible on other things. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

20 " the right job leverages your core competencies—things you do best and enjoy—and meets certain working conditions, including autonomy and being challenged to the extent of your abilities. "

― Laura Vanderkam , 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think