There are over 40,000 books on time management listed on Amazon right now.
Forty thousand!!!
There are apps and frameworks and courses and coaches that have entire productivity philosophies dedicated to helping you get more done in less time.
And I’ve tried a lot of them throughout my life.
If you’re like me, and most other people out there, you use some of these productivity philosophies and it feels a lot better for like two weeks. Then you’re back to the same problem you had before.
In fact, you should go listen to a little rant that I had about Atomic Habits. I think you’ll like that one.
The Thing Nobody Selling You A System Wants Me To Tell You
The reason none of these really work to solve the problem you’re trying to solve is because there’s a thing everyone who’s selling you time management systems doesn’t want me to say.
But I’m gonna say it anyway.
You don’t have a time management problem.
I know. It feels wrong.
You’re saying, “Jeff, I have a time management problem. I don’t even know why I am listening to you. I’m busy, I’m overwhelmed. There’s not enough hours in the day to get done what I want to get done. And if that’s not a time management problem, then what is?”
Well, listen, I’m glad you spoke your mind to me. Honesty is really important in our relationship, so I appreciate it.
And let me be fair to some of the 40,000 authors out there. Those systems aren’t useless. Time blocking works. A good to-do list helps. I’ve got an awesome to-do list. It’s really long. And getting your calendar under control matters a lot.
But none of those cure the problem. They’re just treating the symptom.
It’s Not The Problem You Think
Time management isn’t a time problem. It’s a
