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You’ve tried tons of time management strategies, but they just don’t seem to work. 

You see morning routines shared by influencers and daily schedules shared by CEOs. You try them out, and then you feel like a failure because it doesn’t work for you. What’s the deal?

Copying and pasting someone else’s time management strategy doesn’t work. And it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you – it just means you have to find the right strategy! Join my conversation with Andrew Mellen on the Declutter Your Life Podcast to see what I mean. Plus, learn my #1 tip to boost your productivity this week. Read on, or listen to the full episode here.

Find Your Time Management Personality

So often, we want to save time by replicating someone else’s time management strategy. And then we feel like a failure when that person’s system doesn’t work for us, or when that billionaire’s morning routine doesn’t work for me (a mom of 2 who works from home).

Instead, it’s important to understand your personality to find a time management system that works for you. For example, some people are perfection-driven and enjoy checklists. Others are experiment-driven. When you know what makes you tick and how you prefer to make decisions, that’s a great clue on what time management strategies will work well for you. 

Interested in finding out what your time management personality is? I created the Chaos to Calm Quiz to help you take your first steps. After this quiz, you’ll see results that show you exactly what you need to do to feel more productive, less stressed, and more balanced.

Take the quiz 

Weekly Planning Session

Regardless of your personality, though, I always recommend my #1 tip for time management: a weekly planning session each Sunday.

When we get ready to go on a road trip, we plan ahead. We get gas, plan our route, and then we get in the car. We don’t just start driving. Your weekly planning session is your roadmap for the week. It’s your opportunity to get a bird’s eye view of the week ahead: to combat communication breakdowns before they happen, to find solutions, and to step into your week feeling calm and prepared. 

If you’ve never done a weekly session before, here are the steps:

1. Decide what you need to plan.
2. Identity what tools you need to create your plan.
3. Commit to a weekly meeting with yourself. Put it on a calendar and hold the space.
4. Decide how you’ll make it fun! Whether it’s getting a fancy coffee, lighting an expensive candle, or planning your favorite music – make it something you look forward to.

I promise – this is 30 minutes a week that will change your life. 

Want more? Listen to the full episode here, or find out more about Andrew here.