Mastering Time for a Balanced Life

Mastering Time for a Balanced Life: Learn to prioritize, focus, and optimize your daily routine to achieve a harmonious work-life balance. 

Image Credit: Adobe Stock/Modified by Meta AI (originally designed by Jacob Lund)

By Victor Mushimbami

Purpose Beyond Limits

November 2nd, 2024

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced world, the concept of time management has evolved beyond merely creating schedules. It’s now about building a balanced, fulfilling life centered around personal priorities. Surprisingly, even time management experts struggle with this balance. Laura Vanderkam (2019) points out that managing time is an ongoing journey, not a perfect science. In her work, she provides valuable insights into creating a meaningful life, using time as a tool rather than a constraint. This paper delves into Vanderkam’s practical advice for taking control of time to live a life aligned with one’s goals and priorities.

The Realities of Time Management

People often think that once you master time management, handling daily life becomes easy. However, even experts struggle to balance personal and professional commitments. Vanderkam (2019), a well-known time management expert and mother of four, openly admits that, despite her experience, she sometimes ends up late, even to her own meetings. This honest confession shows that time management is a challenge for everyone, no matter how skilled they are.

I face similar challenges in my own life. As a student, pastor, and parent, I juggle many responsibilities, from family duties to schoolwork and leading at church. My wife, Dorcas, often points out how I lose track of time when I’m deep into my studies, which sometimes makes me overlook family needs. Noticing these struggles has pushed me to be more careful with my time and try to stay focused on each role.

By paying more attention to how I spend my time and aiming to be present in each area of my life, I’m working toward a better balance. Managing different roles isn’t easy, but this ongoing process of awareness and small changes has helped me find more harmony among my personal, professional, and family responsibilities.

Building a Life of Purpose

Time management, according to Vanderkam (2016), is not just about squeezing more activities into the day but about designing a life that aligns with our deepest values and priorities. In her TED Talk, she highlights that “we don’t build the lives we want by saving time. We build the lives we want, and then time saves itself.” This approach challenges the common notion that time management is about strict efficiency. Instead, it encourages us to ask: What truly matters? Which activities align with our long-term goals and personal values?

Vanderkam advocates for a proactive approach: tracking time, setting clear priorities, and making sure essential tasks are accomplished first. By intentionally focusing on the things that matter most, people can avoid the stress of chasing endless to-do lists and instead invest their energy in what brings them fulfillment. She suggests prioritizing tasks not for productivity alone but for a more meaningful, value-driven life.

Adopting this perspective creates a powerful shift in how we handle our daily routines. Rather than feeling constrained by a rigid schedule, we are free to focus on purposeful activities that add meaning to our lives. This outlook transforms our approach to time: each day becomes a chance to build something lasting, driven by purpose, rather than merely crossing off items on a list. Through this lens, time management becomes less about doing more and more about doing what truly matters.

The Elasticity of Time

Time, as Vanderkam describes it, is not a rigid, limited resource but a flexible one that stretches to fit our highest priorities. This idea resonates with the philosophical concept of time as a subjective experience, molded by our perception and intention. As the ancient philosopher Seneca noted, "It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it." When we focus on what truly matters, we find that time expands to accommodate our priorities.

In her research, Vanderkam shares a vivid example: a woman participating in a time diary project faced an unexpected crisis when her water heater burst. Despite an already full schedule, she managed to carve out seven hours to address the issue. Vanderkam (2016) suggests that if we approach our most important goals as “non-negotiable”, like fixing a water heater during a flood of commitments, we will naturally make space for them.

Theologically, this echoes the principle of stewardship, which encourages us to treat time as a gift to be used wisely and meaningfully. As Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us, “To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” When we prioritize what matters, we fulfill our purpose more fully, using each moment as it is meant to be used.

From a psychological perspective, the concept of time elasticity speaks to the importance of intentionality and focus. Psychologists note that when we align our tasks with intrinsic goals, we engage in what is known as “flow” , a state of deep involvement where time seems to slow down. By focusing on meaningful, high-impact activities, we avoid the trap of filling each hour with small, low-impact tasks and, instead, structure our days around our most meaningful work.

This perspective on time invites us to shift from simply managing tasks to thoughtfully crafting a life centered on purpose. By viewing time as elastic, we realize that our schedules reflect our values, not just our obligations. In doing so, we create a life that stretches to encompass our true priorities and leads us closer to a fulfilling existence.

Setting Priorities and Goals

At the heart of Vanderkam’s time management philosophy is the principle of anchoring our schedules around the tasks that matter most. She advocates for starting each year by setting clear professional and personal goals, breaking them down into actionable steps to make progress achievable and consistent. This approach ensures that our goals are not just distant ideas but part of our daily and weekly routines.

One of Vanderkam's key strategies is to schedule important tasks ahead of time, especially using Friday afternoons to look forward to the coming week. She explains that Fridays, often lower in intensity, provide a unique opportunity for this type of strategic planning. Rather than facing the week reactively, we can look ahead, prioritize key activities, and prepare for upcoming responsibilities. By establishing priorities before Monday arrives, we enter each day with clarity and purpose, making it easier to focus on high-impact tasks rather than getting caught up in low-priority demands.

This practice of weekly reflection builds a habit of intentionality, where time is directed toward meaningful progress rather than spent in constant reaction to immediate tasks. Vanderkam (2019) suggests that anchoring our schedules around fixed points, our most important goals, gives us a framework that accommodates both daily responsibilities and our larger ambitions. By regularly setting priorities and planning intentionally, we can more effectively shape our schedules to reflect what truly matters, transforming our time into a tool for purposeful living rather than a resource to manage reactively.

Maximizing “Bits of Time

Vanderkam (2016) emphasizes that effective time management isn’t only about organizing big tasks but also about making the most of the small, often overlooked moments in our day. These “bits of time”, a few minutes between meetings, a commute, or a short break, are opportunities to engage in activities that support our personal and professional goals. Rather than allowing these moments to slip by unnoticed, we can use them intentionally to enrich our lives and make consistent progress toward our aspirations.

For instance, instead of mindlessly scrolling through our phones during a commute or waiting in line, we could spend those minutes reading, journaling, or listening to an inspiring podcast. During a quick break, we might choose to practice deep breathing, meditate, or stretch, making use of the time for activities that boost mental and physical well-being. Even five to ten minutes can make a difference when used purposefully.

Vanderkam’s approach transforms how we view the fragmented moments in our schedules. By intentionally filling these pockets with meaningful actions, we foster personal growth and add value to our day without needing to carve out extra time. This practice of maximizing small moments helps build habits that contribute to a fulfilling life, where even the “in-between” times become chances for learning, reflection, and progress.

Conclusion

As Vanderkam shows, effective time management is not about perfect schedules but about aligning our time with our core priorities. By treating essential tasks as non-negotiable and consciously using time for meaningful pursuits, we can build the lives we desire within the constraints of a busy world. Her insights remind us that while we can’t create more time, we can make the most of what we have by choosing to focus on what matters. Ultimately, time becomes more than a daily limit; it becomes a resource for living an intentional, fulfilling life.

Ready to take charge of your time and live a more balanced life? What’s one small, achievable goal you can set today to get started? Share below and let’s inspire each other to make every moment count!

References

Vanderkam, L. (2016). How to gain control of your free time [TED talk]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_vanderkam_how_to_gain_control_of_your_free_time

Related Posts

Vanderkam, L. (2016). Are you as busy as you think? Read more here: https://lauravanderkam.com/2012/06/busy-think-2/

Vanderkam, L. (2019). Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. Read more here: https://lauravanderkam.com/books/off-the-clock/

Internet Archive. Letters from a Stoic. Read more here: https://archive.org/details/letters-from-a-stoic-1