A friend recommended the book Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. He saw this post on Instagram and it inspired him enough to pick up a copy and recommend it to me.

I am glad he did because it sparked a rich internal attentiveness and conversation about time and priorities. As a writer and self-employed entrepreneur, my time is truly my own. What to focus on? What to do, in which order?

Two time management nerds wrote this book. They are obsessed with MEANING and OPTIMIZATION (like me!).

As I read Make Time,

  1. A business coach shared this quote (it was the subtitle of a book, but I can’t find the book or know who said it).

Ouch.

Talk about a sucker punch to the gut, but one I quickly became grateful for.

  1. I also found an accountability/ business bestie to meet with each week to share our goals and and discuss what was and wasn’t working in our lives (business, family, health, all the areas).

Confession

I quickly figured out I had an honesty problem when it came to my time and energy. While I wasn’t lying to anyone else, my expectations of myself were unrealistic, and I crammed too much into my day—which often led to feelings of defeat and discouragement.

My brain loves to create options, ideas, and stories and say YES YES YES to projects without taking an honest look at what matters and if I have time to do all the things.

Meeting with my accountability partner each week has slowed me down to take an honest look at the rhythm of my days and weeks. I realized I listed far too many projects in my weekly and daily goals.

The impact of greater honesty

  • Permission to let some projects go, either entirely or to save them for later
  • It forced me to grieve but also welcome and accept my limitations of time, energy, and the season I am in today
  • Provided renewed energy and excitement about what I am committing to because my YES is coming from a more realistic place of what is achievable (still working on the realistic versus the vaulting ambition of doing it all)

I read more of Make Time last night, leaning against the bedroom door because my son gets scared if we’re not close as he falls asleep.

What’s great about this book is that there are illustrations for my visual brain and so many strategies to try. The authors embrace a growth mindset, curiosity, and experimenting to see what works for you.

How to manage time as a creative

The older I get, the less interested I am in cookie-cutter/dictator systems and processes. Maybe it’s the creative in me (INFP, Enneagram 4) that doesn’t like to be boxed in. My brain is a creative mess, and while on the outside, I may seem together and excel at getting things done (thank you, firstborn traits)—my internal world bustles with big emotions, ideas, and perpetual wonderings.

This awareness of how my honesty informs my time management has been hugely helpful.

Benefits of greater honesty & new strategies

  • I am in control of my time.
  • There is enough time to do what I want and need to do.
  • I get to be creative in prioritizing what matters most to me: my faith, health, writing, and family (I am a much happier and loving spouse and mother when taking care of my body and creativity).
  • Developing the habit of choosing a highlight each day that can be urgent, meaningful, or just fun to focus on (you know, instead of a to-do list with 20 items)
  • Scheduling time for deep work and using a 15m timer to keep me laser-focused for mini sprints
  • Embarrassing realizations of how much time I spent scrolling social media, Pokemon Go, and checking email throughout the day, I’m happy to say I’m taking my time back! My brain needs more time for boredom and daydreaming.
  • Scheduling time for deep work and using a 15m timer to keep me laser-focused for mini sprints.

Remember, your journey is your journey; what works for someone may not work for you. I’m grateful for all the learning, ideas and momentum Make Time provided in my writing and life.

Your turn! Drop a comment and let me know.

  • What are you reading and learning in this season?
  • Are there internal conversations about certain topics and themes?

I love sharing the journey with you,

Deanne

PS: Want my 3 top tips to writing conistently? Check out this video and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more writing tips and friendly kick in the butts (your words matter too much for me not to).

*Links in this article may be affiliate links; where I receive a few cents if you purchase an item based on my recommendation.