Why time management books might not help you manage your time better
Why time management books don't help you manage your time better
It’s summer 2022. That means fewer work hours, more adventures, and a lot more reading for me. Personally, I have no goal in terms of the number of books I’ll read. However, I’ve read 16 books so far this year... and I have no plans to stop!
If you struggle with spending your time how you want to, focusing, getting things done, or procrastinating less, I'm guessing you're planning to read a time management book (or maybe, five) this summer.
Before you pick up any books, you need to know why most time management books don't actually help you manage your time better!
My hope is that this blog will either convince you to read romance fiction instead (😂) or help you make the most of any book you have or will read so you can truly start spending your time how you want to.
What’s wrong with time management books?!
I’m going to say this bluntly (with love). Almost every time management book claims it’ll help you...
accomplish more in less time
work less and take off more
find time for relaxation
take better care of yourself
feel less stress and anxiety
Yet the chance of that actually happening is slim to none. Why?
If they did deliver on their promises, 201,000 people a month wouldn’t be searching for time management help still.
Millions of people wouldn’t be working 50-60+ hours a week or unable to take off without feeling guilty.
Of course, another question is…Is it the advice that’s bad or is it the inability to integrate the advice given? I’ll get back to that in a sec.
For many reasons, the very concept of productivity books isn’t working.
The main reason is: You have to make time to read a book… that’s supposed to give you more time?
As you are merely trying to get everything done in your business and life, reading and integrating the tips in any book become yet another thing for you to do.
Blegh.
What if the time you spent reading about time management books, you spent listening to what you needed?
What do you want to do with your time? How might you make that happen? The strategies that you come up with are 10x more likely to work anyways.
This is what I support my clients with as a holistic time coach. Click here to read more about working with me.
Of course, sometimes we do need strategies from outside to experiment with, which is where time management books can help us. Here’s my best advice:
How to best use time management books
(In my “expert” opinion)
1. Take them with a big grain of salt
I used to read time management books that promised I'd become a productive magical unicorn if I followed their advice. I'd get all excited, thinking I'd finally figured out all my problems, try to implement the advice, and then discover it didn't work for me.
Or, it would work for a little bit… until they didn’t. So I’d move on to the next book while internalizing that something is wrong with me.
Does this cycle sound familiar at all?
The productivity industry has convinced us of three things: we need to be better or different, it will fix us, and if it doesn’t, something is wrong with us… not it.
When you approach any struggle in your life with any shame or guilt about who you are, progress is nearly impossible.
So before we go any further… I’d like to tell you that you are amazing. You don’t need to be fixed. Nothing is wrong with you.
Read the time management books that make you feel good about yourself, that align with your values, and laugh at the books or pieces of advice that don’t.
Don’t find any time management books that do that? Consider working with me!
2. Shift your expectations
Most of the folks I coach have really high expectations of themselves and feel like they should already know how to perfectly get things done and manage their time.
On top of that, time management books have an underlying assumption of: “You’ll be able to get everything done one day following my advice, and that’s when you can relax.”
Most productivity books and tips are imbued with toxic productivity and hustle culture. Read more about toxic productivity and how it impacts you here.
Your high expectations, societal pressure, and the underlying tone of toxic productivity only lead to overworking, more stress, and exhaustion. Yep, you read that right. Time management books often share advice that does the literal opposite of what they say they’ll help you get.
Time management isn’t easy.
Choosing what to do with your life and actually doing it is terrifying.
A book won’t make that decision for you.
When you read a time management book with a lot lower expectations, it will be much easier to throw out the things that don’t feel good to you.
3. Make them fit you, not the other way around
The people that write books about productivity, or create apps and programs, are sharing what works best for them.
Speaking of, did you know most productivity tips, apps, and strategies are made for software developers and engineers? Makes sense they don’t work for the majority of people!
That being said, you will most likely never find a time management book out there that has been made by someone in the exact same situation that you are in right here, right now. Unless you’ve written a time management book!
Yes, there will probably be some time management tips, strategies, books, and things out there with people similar to where you are but at the end of the day, there is no one exactly like you.
Which is a beautiful thing. However, it does make it a little bit more difficult to manage your time in a unique-to-you way.
What do you do? You get to create your own rules!
When you read a book, think of it as reading about someone else’s rules. Then ask yourself what rules of theirs make sense or feel good to you?
At the end of the day… the best time management strategy: How can you be more you?
4. Small changes, seriously.
I know so many people preach small changes and progress. But if you’re anything like me… we just want to get it all done as quickly as possible and keep moving.
Again, if you're already struggling with time, you don't have time to read books, and then implement all the information they throw at you.
When anyone attempts to change a ton of things about how they organize and spend their days and weeks, it will be extremely overwhelming and unhelpful. It will end in throwing everything out, and starting over.
It’s important to choose one to three small (I’m looking at you!) shifts that feel good and you’d want to make after reading any time management book.
Now that we’re here, to answer my previous question: “Is it the advice that’s bad or is it the inability to integrate the advice given?”
It’s both/and. Some advice really sucks, but other times, we try to change too much at once when we’re already stretched thin on time.
That said, the jury is still out for me whether time management books help people manage their time better. After reading this, what do you think? Will you read any time management books this summer? Let me know in the comments below.