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119: Off the Clock—Finding Time Freedom with Laura Vanderkam

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Laura Vanderkam is a productivity tour de force: she has written four books in the last several years, launched a podcast, and given talks all over the country—all while running a household with her husband and four children.

I’d tell you that I truly don’t know how she does it, except that she already wrote a book to answer that question called, what else, I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time. One of my other favorites was her runaway bestseller among the Fast Company crowd, What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings--and Life.

The focus of this week’s podcast conversation is her newest book, Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. Laura reveals the counterintuitive principles the most time-free people have adopted, and teaches mindset shifts to help you feel calm on the busiest days.

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at PivotMethod.com/podcast/off-the-clock.

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More About Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam is the bestselling author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, I Know How She Does It, and 168 Hours, and her newest book is Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done.

Her 2016 TED talk, "How to Gain Control of Your Free Time," has been viewed more than 5 million times. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, and other publications. She lives with her husband and their four children outside Philadelphia. 

Topics We Cover

  • Grindhopping: building a career without paying your dues

  • What the most successful people do before breakfast

  • Finding a sense of time freedom in the day-to-day, not just on vacations

  • The time paradox

  • Free up time by letting go of problematic expectations

  • The secret of prolificacy: “people who seem relaxed and yet get so much done” - small things done repeatedly add up

  • Handling multiple inboxes and keeping up with small incoming requests

  • Surprises: I’m not working as much as I thought I was

  • On hiring help - what if you can’t afford it or don’t want to?

  • Figure out what the biggest pain points are for you, then what you can do about them. And what can you drop?

  • Tend to your garden: four daily reflection questions

  • Mini-adventures; plan something to look forward to (Tim Ferriss)

Resources Mentioned

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