"This is not rocket science here, people. Start with time for what'smost important."

"Terry Monaghan's approach to time management is simple: You can't manage time. Time never changes. There will always and ever be 168 hours in a week. What you can manage are the activities you choose to do in time. And what busy and overwhelmed people need to realize, she said, is that you will never be able to do everything you think you need, want, or should do. "When we die, the e-mail in-box will still be full. The to-do list will still be there. But you won't," she told us. "Eighty-percent of the email that comes in is crap anyway, and it takes you the equivalent of nineteen and a half weeks a year just to sort through. Eighty percent of your to-do list is crap. Look, the stuff of life never ends. That is life. You will never clear your plate so you can finally allow yourself to get the good stuff. So you have to decide. What do you want to accomplish in this life? What's important to you right now? And realize that what's important now may not be two years from now. It's always changing."

Monaghan looks at us starting forlornly at our blank Perfect Schedules. She sighs. "This is not rocket science here, people," she says. "Start with time for what's most important."

But that's where I got stuck. Everything seemed important. My work. My family. My friends. My community. Changing the kitty litter. Sorting my daughter's Barbie shoes. Keeping the incoming tide if clutter in the house at bay....

P.256

"The essence of their advice all seemed to boil down to what my kids learned in preschool: Plan. Do. Review. Take time to figure out what's important in the moment and what you want to accomplish in life. If you're ambivalent, notice it. Pick something anyway. Embrace it. Play. Try one approach. Assess. If that isn't working, ditch it and play with something else. Keep yourself accountable but enjoy the process. There is no right answer. This is life."

P.266

"Working continuously, without breaks, is in fact a surefire way to produce subpar work. Scientists have long known that, during sleep, the brain consolidates new information and skills by making new connections between neurons, effectively rewiring the brain. Neuroscientists in Sydney have found that that rewiring happens during the day as well, when we take a break. [...] Pulsing - deactivating and reactivating the brain - actually makes it pay better attention. The brain evolved to detect and respond to change, always alert to danger."

"Breaks also inspire creativity. Scientists have found that people who take time to daydream score higher on tests of creativity. And there's a very good biochemical reason why your best ideas and those flashes of insight tend to come not when you've got your nose to the grindstone, oh ideal worker, but in the shower."

P.267-8

"But as our time horizons grow shorter [as we grow older and realize we have only a short amount of time left in life], we start to see the world differently. We start to see that what matters most are often the simple things - the smell of roses, watching your grandchildren splash in a puddle, the smile on a face of an old friend you're meeting for coffee. It's those little moments that you start to focus on." And by focusing on what's important and beauty of the small moments, she said. Older people are actually happier.

P.272

"Be silent everyday. Even if that means taking five breaths. Being mindful for less than a half hour a day will, literally, expand your brain."

"Choose ONE thing that's most important to do every day."

"Find Your Own Private Netherlands."

"Understand the story that drives your flavor of "not enough." Notice it. Get clear about how you define success, what you want and your time horizon. As Steve Jobs said, "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

"Banish busyness."

"Live an authentic life."

P279-286 - Appendix: Do One Thing

From Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play when No One Has The Time. By Brigid Schulte.