Meghan Loftus

If a woman works 40 hours a week and sleeps 56 (8 hours each night, 7 times a week), that leaves 72 hours for ‘everything else.'  Author Laura Vanderkam wanted to know how successful women maximize those ‘everything else’ hours, and her research led her to writing her book, I Know How She Does It

In her book, Vanderkam looks to rebuke the argument that women who manage to be mothers and have big careers are ‘superhuman, rich, or self-employed’, as professed by Anne-Marie Slaugher in the Atlantic.  She began her research by identifying the ‘successful woman who has it all,’ which equated to women who earn more than $100,000 per year and have at least one child (under age eighteen) living at home.  Vanderkam also asked these women to prepare time logs to aid in her research.

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Purchase Laura Vanderkam’s book: I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time here!

And so, based on this, The Mosaic Project began; a time diary of 1,001 days in the lives of professional women and their families.  Vanderkam found patterns in the women who managed a family, job, exercise, leisure time, and themselves.

While the first half of the book is data heavy, illustrating examples with actual time logs from women, the second half explores time management, including self-care.  The second half is a more enjoyable read because the tips and tricks have been backed up with actual evidence from the first half.

I’m not the target audience as I am a 19 year old college student with no kids, however, I found the time management and success stories helpful in motivating me to more closely monitor how I spend my own time. 

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I found the time management and success stories helpful in motivating me to more closely monitor how I spend my own time.

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I recommend this read to any working woman, whether you have children or not.  Where the logs have entered ‘family time,’ you can replace with something pesonal to your own life.  For example, I replaced it with friend time.  Keep an open-mind and find ways to relate the logs to your own life categories.  By doing so, you'll make the most of this book - and make the read well worth your precious time. 

 

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