I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make The Most of Their Time

“Engrossing and eminently helpful”
Forbes

“A refreshingly optimistic take on a topic rarely approached with a sunny outlook: having it all”
Chicago Tribune

“The most positive take on work and family I’ve read in a long time.”
—KJ Dell’Antonia, Motherlode

“I’ll never look at my weekly calendar the same way again.”
—Gretchen  Rubin, Author of  Happiness Project and Better Than Before

“Advice on carefully rethinking how your time is spent and being present for moments in your life is solid, thought-provoking, and substantive.”
Publisher’s Weekly

About the Book

“Having it all” has become the subject of countless books, articles, debates, and social media commentary, with passions running high in all directions. Many now believe this to be gospel truth: Any woman who wants to advance in a challenging career has to make huge sacrifices. She’s unlikely to have a happy marriage, quality time with her kids (assuming she can have kids at all), a social life, hobbies, or even a decent night’s sleep.

But what if that’s not the whole story? What if all those tragic anecdotes ignore the women who quietly but consistently do just fine with the juggle?

Instead of relying on scattered stories, I Know How She Does It adds hard data to the debate. Based on hour-by-hour time logs from 1001 days in the lives of working mothers earning at least $100,000 a year, this book shows how these women spend the 168 hours that every one of us has each week. Case studies and interviews document how women make time to advance in their careers, enjoy family activities, and pursue their own passions. Based on these strategies, I Know How She Does It offers a framework for anyone who wants to thrive at work and life.

Press

Reviews

“I’m a longtime fan of Laura Vanderkam’s insightful work—her recommendations for getting the most out of every day are often counter-intuitive but always realistic and manageable. In her new book, she reveals the time management strategies that highly successful mothers use to build lives that work. Thanks to her findings, I’ll never look at my weekly calendar the same way again.”
—GRETCHEN RUBIN, author of Better Than Before and The Happiness Project

“For many years I’ve wanted to see reflected in our collective conversation what I know to be true in women’s lives: that many of us are happily combining work and motherhood, and loving both. Laura Vanderkam has written the book that’s been sorely missing, and she does so with an impassioned, eloquent voice, important new research, and the warmth of a dear friend.”
—TARA MOHR, author of Playing Big

“An empowering guide for professionals who want to figure out how to become superstars in their fields while building satisfying lives.”
—DORIE CLARK, author of Reinventing You and Stand Out

“This book could have been titled How to Be a Superhero, because that’s how it makes you feel and act after reading it. Vanderkam’s curiosity for high performance and what makes it possible is infectious. Packed with research from real lives and tips for real change, this book is sure to help women around the world discover their own path to success.”
—JON ACUFF, author of Do Over

“In this engrossing and eternally helpful book, Laura Vanderkam shares valuable insights from women who have mastered their most vital resource: time. I Know How She Does It stands apart thanks to Vanderkam’s nuanced understanding of what it takes to become an efficient-yet-balanced individual.”
—TIM SANDERS, author of Love Is the Killer App

“As a busy CEO, I was inspired by the hundreds of people Vanderkam studied who found ample time for career, family, and self in the same 168 hours available to everyone, each week. If my entire team read this book, we would all benefit.”
—RICHARD SHERIDAN, CEO and chief storyteller, Menlo Innovations, and author of Joy, Inc.

“On an unrelated note, I recently read an advance copy of Laura Vanderkam’s excellent new book, I Know How She Does It, which tackles the topic of how successful women manage the tension between professional and family life. Unlike many treatments of this topic, which rely on anecdotes and personal opinion, this book instead draws from an extensive data set of detailed time logs that Laura gathered from a large sample of successful women. The result is surprisingly optimistic and refreshingly unemotional. If this topic interests you: take a closer look.”
—CAL NEWPORT, Study Hacks Blog