“Big Time is refreshingly optimistic and thought-provoking. Rather than viewing time as scarce and stressful, Laura Vanderkam shows readers how it can be abundant, flexible, and full of possibility. Vanderkam makes the case for using your 8,760 hours a year to craft a joyful, meaningful life.”
—Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of Supercommunicators and The Power of Habit
“You can either see your schedule as a source of frustration, or an opportunity to revel in the wonders of life. In her fascinating and original new book, Laura Vanderkam makes a compelling case that the second answer is not only possible, but the best way to approach time management. I’m convinced!”
—Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of Slow Productivity and Deep Work
“With its practical tactics and engaging writing, this book opens up an exciting sense of possibility with the time we have.”
—Cassie Holmes, UCLA Professor and bestselling author of Happier Hour
About the Book
A beloved productivity expert’s mind-opening and schedule-expanding guide to making the most of every hour.
Many of us have an adversarial relationship with time. We’re always trying to beat the clock—behavior rooted in a fear that time is scarce and must be obsessed over, hoarded, and ultra-optimized.
But time management expert Laura Vanderkam argues that even busy people can come to feel that time is abundant. Drawing on original research about how hundreds of real people spend their time, and her own experience of tracking her time for a decade, Vanderkam offers simple tactics for how to manage a complex life, stick with long-term projects by breaking big goals into tiny steps, and make the most of leisure time many people don’t even notice.
By turns surprising, thought-provoking, and encouraging, Big Time shows readers that the daily experience of time can be quite spacious—and that, managed well, each day’s hours can be a source of happiness and satisfaction.