168 Hours

You Have More Time Than You Think

by Laura Vanderkam

4.2(1,042 ratings)

9 min read

Brief overview

This book demonstrates how to stop feeling starved for time by treating every hour of your week as a valuable resource. It shows that focusing on strengths, outsourcing tasks that aren’t your specialty, and using strategic planning can help you achieve both career success and a fulfilling personal life. Expect to come away feeling empowered to find new ways to spend your 168 hours doing what truly matters.

Why 168 Hours Matter

We often measure our lives in days, but looking at a full 168-hour week reveals surprising pockets of time. By shifting to a “weekly” mindset, you see more opportunities to work toward big goals or relax meaningfully. If you look at 24 hours alone, it can feel tight. Yet, across a whole week, those small daily openings add up fast.

A central discovery is that most people overestimate commitments like work or chores and underestimate sleep and leisure. Once you measure your activities precisely, you discover you have more hours to play with than you assume. That’s how you reframe the common refrain, “I’m too busy” into a question—“Am I too busy, or am I choosing differently?”

By auditing how you spend your 168 hours, you can start eliminating wasteful habits that neither bring you joy nor advance your career or family life. This honest, data-driven method helps clarify which tasks merit serious dedication and which are better delegated, minimized, or cut entirely.

Treating the week as a whole is far more revealing than focusing on any single day.

Focusing on Core Competencies

Core competencies are the specific talents, interests, and skill sets at which you excel and that energize you. Whenever possible, align your schedule so you can spend the majority of your time on these crucial activities. This principle applies both at work and at home: discover what you alone can do best.

Many of us rarely pause to assess what those core strengths are. First, create a “List of 100 Dreams.” Write down all the experiences, skills, or goals you’d like to pursue. Look for common themes or repeated interests. These themes hint at the areas that matter most to you.

When you focus on your core competencies, you put your best energy into tasks with high personal or professional returns. You also gain clarity about what you can trim away without damaging either productivity or your sense of purpose.

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What is 168 Hours about?

"168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think" challenges the conventional view of time management by shifting the perspective from a daily grind to embracing the week as a 168-hour slate. Laura Vanderkam invites readers to explore an innovative approach to utilizing their time effectively by focusing on activities that align with their goals and core competencies. The book emphasizes harnessing these strengths, outsourcing less impactful tasks, and using strategic planning to attain both professional triumph and a personally satisfying life. By embracing this fresh outlook, readers can rediscover time as a resource, guiding them to live with purpose and intent.

Vanderkam's insights go beyond typical productivity tips, offering a transformative way to engage with time. By tracking weekly activities and recognizing patterns, individuals learn the power of reallocating time to achieve cherished aspirations, creating a fulfilling balance between work and personal life. The core message is that reframing your understanding of these 168 hours can lead to profound changes, enabling you to prioritize what matters most. "168 Hours" is an empowering manifesto for those who believe they are time-starved, helping readers unlock a newfound sense of abundance within their existing framework.

Review of 168 Hours

Laura Vanderkam's "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think" excels in its compelling message that time is not as scarce as we perceive. Instead of rushing through our days, Vanderkam educates readers on seeing each week as a blank canvas of potential. One of the book's hallmarks is its practical take on core competencies—by identifying skills and activities that drive individual energy and purpose, we learn to focus our efforts where they matter most. This is not just a book about organization; it's about reshaping your life by investing time in what truly counts.

Vanderkam's writing style is engaging and accessible, making sophisticated ideas digestible. The book seamlessly blends anecdotes with actionable insights, producing a guide that resonates with both working professionals and those managing busy home lives. The recommendation to track your activities over weeks provides a real-time audit that can lead to eye-opening revelations, highlighting neglected leisure opportunities. By doing away with unproductive habits or delegation, readers cultivate the ability to live more fully. "168 Hours" is ideal for anyone seeking a road map to a balanced life, where the focus is less on constant hustle and more on thriving within a set framework.

Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone who feels caught in the web of modern busyness. It offers an uplifting yet realistic pathway for reclaiming time, with a clear and cordial recommendation for anyone navigating the challenges of work-life balance. Embrace what's truly valuable, and you'll find the enriching life you seek within the 168 hours already given to you.

Who should read 168 Hours?

Busy professionals looking to optimize their work-life balance: This group will find value in restructuring their time to enhance productivity and personal fulfillment.
Parents juggling family and career: By adopting Vanderkam's techniques, they can prioritize family time while ensuring their personal and professional goals are met.
Individuals feeling overwhelmed or seeking change: Anyone at a crossroad will appreciate the systematic approach to reclaim personal and professional time.
Self-improvement enthusiasts: People keen to expand their personal horizons will find the strategic planning tips in "168 Hours" particularly beneficial.
Entrepreneurs and freelancers managing diverse responsibilities: The book provides practical strategies for managing a flexible schedule without sacrificing what's important.

About the author

Laura Vanderkam is an American author, speaker, and blogger known for her expertise in time management. She is a 2001 graduate of Princeton University and has written for numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Fortune. Her book "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think" argues that with proper planning and discipline, individuals can fit in a robust career, strong family life, exercise, hobbies, and enough sleep per night. She has also authored other notable works such as "What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast" and "I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time".