For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a neat freak. My closet, bedroom, desk, and dresser drawers were always tidy and organized with meticulous care.
This trait followed me wherever I went.
I remember one day, when I was about nine or ten, looking at the stickers at Target, and they were all out of order. Not being able to stand the disarray, I straightened up the display rack putting each sticker pack in its place. Funny enough, this was not a one-time occurrence.
When the Struggle Started
But even though I’ve always been an extremely organized individual, that’s on time (read 10 – 20 minutes early), when I had my daughter, I struggled to manage everything on my plate. For the first couple of years, I was a complete mess. I was always flying by the seat of my pants, feeling frazzled, and overwhelmed.
It all finally came to a head when my daughter took my credit card out of my wallet unbeknownst to me. I was at the airport leaving for my friend’s bachelorette party when I went to buy a coffee and breakfast taco, but my credit card wasn’t there. In a panic, I called my husband to see if it was anywhere around the house.
Long story, short, my daughter had removed it from my purse when I was trying to squeeze in work and entertain her at the same time. I felt terrible. If I had missed this, what else was I missing? The whole reason I decided to work from home in the first place was so that I wouldn’t miss out on those special moments with her.
When My Time Management Journey Began
It was then that I vowed to be a better mom by learning how to manage my time more effectively. I read books, articles, and blog posts. I experimented with different planners, calendars, and time management apps. At conferences, I always choose the time management sessions. Over the past ten years, I’ve found simple systems and techniques that have allowed me to be more efficient with my time. Luckily you don’t have to do the legwork yourself. You can use my years of trial and error to help boost your productivity in just 20 minutes a day.
In my new book, Time Management in 20 Minutes a Day: Simple Strategies to Increase Productivity, Enhance Creativity, and Make Your Time Your Own, I share a wide variety of methods and strategies for maximizing your time each day. Best of all, the book is compact (128 pages), and after reading each chapter, it will only take you 20-minutes to implement the strategies in each section.
The topics and areas covered are:
- Attack Your Inbox
- Set Daily Goals
- Parse out Priorities
- Organize and Order
- Manage Meetings
- Get Focused
- Keeping Yourself in Mind
- Time-Blocking Chart and Resources
Want to know more? Here are a couple of early Amazon reviews:
Tackle Time Management!
“Easy to read, no-nonsense advice about tackling time management. Overall strategy emphasizes using what works for YOU. Well written, well organized.” – DisneyDenizen
If You Want to Streamline Your Life, Here’s How
“There’s always a new angle, no matter how many books people write on a topic. And this one, while short, is crammed with easy and often surprisingly smart solutions that’ll simplify and streamline your life.
“Holly’s ideas cover every aspect of life, not only the workplace. How to manage the annual scout cookie drive, for example, is something that disrupts many moms calm, but Holly’s got you covered.
“She suggests a Not-To-Do list, as distinct from the more common To-Do lists that litter our lives. And how to stop your phone from eating up your day. Not only novel, but it’ll probably be your greatest time-saver. And once the initial pangs have passed, you’ll be fine!
“Holly touches some hidden time-sucks that, when addressed, can truly make your life over. She talks about unsubscribing from things you don’t need or really want. This was huge for me, and resulted in loads of extra hours since I no longer scan unnecessary emails and newsletters’ just in case’.
“The content of the short, well-structured chapters is augmented with a pithy ‘blue box summary’ that reinforces what you’ve just read.
“You’ll deliver a much-needed boost to your time management skills when you adopt any of the excellent resources Holly provides throughout her book. They also feature in a resource section at the end. Clearly, this book is written by a thoughtful and highly organized woman.” – Sue Waterworth
Grab Your Copy of Time Management in 20 Minutes a Day
If you’re ready to manage your time better, grab a copy of my book on Amazon. You can also purchase the planner that I created for myself in my printable shop here.
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