We all know we can’t live outside our financial means, right? But have you ever stopped to consider that the same is true for your time?

In this episode, I’m introducing the concept of living outside your time means—a sneaky trap that leads so many women to believe they have a time management problem, when really… It’s just a math issue. You’re trying to fit more into your days and weeks than they can actually hold. And no amount of productivity hacks or color-coded calendars can fix that.

I’ll show you how to recognize when you’ve hit that limit, and walk you through three simple but powerful steps to get back within your time means—so you can stop overcommitting, start planning realistically, and actually feel in control of your week.

This episode is your permission slip to stop trying to “make it all fit” and start planning in a way that reflects your real life—and your real capacity.

In This Episode, We’ll Explore:

• Why the problem isn’t you—it’s the math
• How to figure out your true time “budget” each week
• What to do when your task list doesn’t fit your available time
• Three key filters to help you decide what doesn’t make the cut (without guilt)

Mentioned In The Episode:

• Want to learn how to calculate your time budget and plan with clarity? Join my TOP Bootcamp: thetopbootcamp.com

Listen to the episode here!

Or watch the episode here!

I’d be honored and grateful if you would head over to iTunes to leave a review and let other female entrepreneurs know what you learned! While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss an episode.

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:00] Chances are if you're feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list right now, the fact is you don't actually have a time management problem. You probably have a math problem. And today I wanna talk about the three things that you need to do right away. If you are doing what I call living outside your time means, meaning you're trying to do more than as physically possible in any given day. 

[00:00:27] Hey everyone. Welcome back to Work Life Harmony. I'm really excited to dive into this concept of living outside your time means But before we dive in, I wanna share an email that I got yesterday from a top program student. Her name is Sandy, because it ties into exactly what we're gonna be talking about today. 

[00:00:45] And here is what Sandy wrote. I'm gonna be reading it. She said, Megan, I get it. I finally. Get it. I've spent the last decade of my life beating myself up because I could never get caught up. Now that I'm weekly planning the way you teach in the top program, everything has changed. For the first time in my life, I am truly productive. 

[00:01:06] I'm actually doing less. Nothing important falls through the cracks. I've never felt more free and alive. Thank you for this precious gift. Friends, this is what we all deserve to have in our life. And the fact is, too many women today are trying to figure out some secret way. To get more done than is physically possible in any given day. 

[00:01:32] And I know that this is hitting a lot of you because lately you know, every month I hold a live call for all the women inside of the top program, and I have been seeing every single month an increase in the number of women coming up and posing some form of question That all comes down to this same problem where they're saying, okay, Megan. 

[00:01:53] I am now, stepping into doing the weekly planning. I'm, at that point in the program where I'm starting to walk through the step-by-step weekly planning process, the question is, what do I do if I'm now seeing that there physically isn't enough time in my week to, to get everything done What I love about that question is I'm like, yes, we're here. We're at the point now where you have a system where you can see that the math is not math, right? There physically is not enough time in your day or week to get the things done that you either want or need to get done. And so they're coming to me going, what do I do? 

[00:02:30] Now, this moment of clarity is huge. This is what we all need to have, right? And when it comes to time, it can be really hard to get that moment of clarity because if you're just living your life looking at a Google calendar or an eye calendar, right, it usually isn't gonna paint that picture for you. 

[00:02:47] And this is why I teach weekly planning the way I do, because it gives you a visual. Into the exact amount of time you really, truly have to work with. Similar to looking at the number in your bank account, right? Like how much money is in there. Now, there's a reason why they're coming to the call or you're posing questions saying, what do I do? 

[00:03:09] How do I shift my plans to to make it all fit? And the reason why? People are looking for a solution that doesn't exist. Namely, how do I make more time, unfortunately, is because when you go out and look at social media, you read books from productivity, quote experts, et cetera, they're all promising some sort of hack. 

[00:03:30] Or easy button to get more done. And while there are some, you know, techniques that you can implement, like routines is a great way to maximize efficiencies, right? There are things that you can do that ultimately mean that you can take some of your tasks and do them more efficiently or in less time. 

[00:03:50] There is a limit to this, right? At some point, if you've maximized every single efficiency. You will likely find yourself at some point where it's like, okay, I've done everything I can, right? And I still do not have enough time. 

[00:04:11] Now I, I often use you know, analogies back to finances or money just because it, it's such an easy way to paint the picture here. So this came to fruition for me. It was such a, a moment of clarity around this when just the other week my family and I were on vacation. And we were at a resort and I was in line at the little market there, and there were two very young gals in front of me. 

[00:04:35] I'm guessing they were about seven years old, and it was obvious that their parents had given them a little money that they could go in and pick out some candy. And so I'm watching as these two girls are. So carefully, you know, deciding which ones to get. And they're holding these $2 bills in their hand. 

[00:04:51] And so they, they put all the candy on the counter and the woman rings it up and it's $10 more than what they have. So they're sitting there, they each have a $10 bill and it comes up and it's $30. And these are two very young girls. And so they just paused and they looked at each other. They're like, and they looked at the woman ringing them up, and probably one of 'em just said. 

[00:05:12] Well, what do I do? And you know, a little grin crossed over my face. 'cause I'm like, this is the exact thing that I see coming in with the questions that come in because we are wired to think if I'm not getting it all done, there's something wrong with me When from the outside looking in, the answer is so simple. 

[00:05:31] Right? Here were these two young gals that. You know, this was their parents' money. They've probably never shopped on their own before, and they're handing this woman $20, and the woman's saying, but you owe me 30. And in the moment they're like, I don't understand. What do we do? Well, the answer was very simple, right? 

[00:05:46] They needed to put something back. They had to pick what they were not going to buy. To get the cost under $20. That was the only way that they were going to solve this problem. And the same is true if you are trying to get 40 hours of work done and you only have 30 hours available. The bottom line is something's not going to get done right now where the power of this comes in. 

[00:06:12] Is being very intentional about thinking about what is it that is not going to get done. And that's what I really wanna talk about today. I wanna give you three things that you can really look at to help make those decisions. So back to these two cute gals in the store I was watching as finally the, you know, there's a little bit of a language barrier as well, so I, I just kind of gently said, well, hey, you know, it looks like you're gonna need to make some choices about what you all don't want to buy. 

[00:06:38] You know, I said in looking at it, you're gonna need to pick. Two of the things that you, that are on the counter here that you don't want, and they looked crestfallen. And then I watched as these two, I don't know, six, seven year olds are in heavy negotiations with each other about which two things they were not. 

[00:06:55] Going to pick. And it was so fun to listen to how they came to their decision of which two packets of candy were ultimately going to get left behind. It was painful for them. It was fascinating to watch. But finally they made their decisions. They put two back. They were able to pay with the money that they had, and then they left. 

[00:07:14] So they learned this lesson with finances. You know right away that if, if you don't have enough, you're gonna have to make choices about what you're not buying. And the truth is, when it comes to the vast majority of you in your task list today, you're going to have to make tough choices because you simply can't get it all done. 

[00:07:33] And again, it's not because you're failing, it's because the expectations. We're never possible to begin with, right? The math was not math. If you only have 30 hours, you've maximized every efficiency that you can, but you've got 40 hours of stuff that you're trying to figure out how to get done. You're gonna have to figure out which things you're going to say no to. 

[00:07:59] Now, this is easier said than done, right? So if you're looking at your week, you're looking at your list and you're wondering, man, what do I put back? Just as those two young gals are having to decide which two bags of candy to put back, trust me, I get it. You're not alone in thinking, okay, this is, this is hard. 

[00:08:16] the good news is when you're starting to ask those questions to of yourself, it means that you're starting to create a new relationship with yourself and your time, because it means that you're gonna start walking through some thoughts around prioritization, right? And you know, a tiny bit of math in terms of understanding, alright, how much do I need to get rid of here in order to make this work? 

[00:08:42] Why this is so hard initially is because everything feels important, right? Everything feels important, which is why it makes it so hard to go, well, I have to get it all done. What am I gonna put back? So let's look at the three things. that basically are gonna come into play here when you're needing to make those decisions. 

[00:09:06] First and foremost is ultimately your budget. How much time do you actually have? Just as those two gals knew, their budget was $20, they were each holding a $10 bill. Now, this one thing is a skill. You've got to learn. You need to know how to figure out how much free time do you really have. And unfortunately, most people are going about this completely wrong because here's what they're doing. 

[00:09:35] They're opening up their, either their planner or their Google calendar, I cal, whatever, you know, interchange, whatever tool you're using, and they're looking at the appointments on there. And they're saying, okay, everything else outside of those appointments is the time that I have available and friends. 

[00:09:53] It is not, and this is one of the first things that we learn inside of the top program. I also teach it in my bootcamps. But you need to walk through a process of capturing the full reality of your life, right? Most people are only looking at those things that show up as appointments, but the fact is you've got. 

[00:10:12] Time where you can't be working on your task list. Those appointments usually don't include all the tasks around the appointments, right? I mean, in the simplest of examples, if you have an appointment that you need to drive to. or actually I'll use my example from today here I have a cello lesson. 

[00:10:27] Today it's at one 30. So you know the appointment that gets sent to my calendar is a cello lesson from one 30 to two 30. Well, my calendar shows that that time starts at one. 'cause that's when I need to be collecting myself, getting everything ready, getting in my car, and then I'm not gonna be home and ready to get back to work again until three. 

[00:10:46] So that one 30 to two 30 is really. One to three, right? So that's just one small example, but the first thing you have to do is get crystal clear about how much time do you really have. And this is the underlying reason why I teach weekly planning the way I do. It's not to put rigid structures in your life. 

[00:11:07] It's not to have you functioning like a robot. It's not about making you just go, go, go all day long. It's about helping you see realistically. What's possible because when we have that number, when we know the budget, number one, it makes prioritization a lot easier. Alright? Once those gals knew, those two little girls knew, ooh I'm gonna need to put two of these pieces of candy back right now. 

[00:11:32] They had a framework to work into, help them make that decision. So that's the first thing that you need to, to capture and understand is what is your available time? What's your time budget? Now, the second thing. That you need to understand is how much time do the things on your list that are competing for your time take Now. 

[00:11:53] This is for most people the hardest skill to master. Basically, it's getting really good at estimating how long stuff takes. Now the good news is the vast majority of the things. On your quote list, competing for your time are things that you've usually done before, meaning you have a way to go back in time and capture that data. 

[00:12:20] This is why I have people go through a time audit with the types of tasks and activities that they do on the regular, because we need to make sure you know that. Actual number, not what you think you could do, but the reality. Right? I mean, I still have tasks that every time I, I do them like some on my monthly or weekly rhythms in my gut, I'm always like, ah, I can get that done in like 15 minutes. 

[00:12:42] But the data shows me, no, Megan, this takes you 30 to 45 minutes. Right? So I know that, so I know to plan for that. So once we know. The budget, which is the first thing. And then the second thing, the cost for each of the things on our list, meaning how long do each one of those take, those are the two elements that are, you know, the math part that we need to get an understanding of. 

[00:13:06] So again, back to the, the two gals at the candy counter, right. Their budget was $20, and then each of the bags of candy was $5. All right? So they had six up there. They knew that they needed to get rid of two in order to get rid of that extra $10. Now, the third part of this, all right, which is not the math, is around prioritization. 

[00:13:30] All right, we need to know how much time do you really have? What does everything cost? So that way you know how many things you're gonna need to say are not gonna happen this week. And now the third part is the making the decisions around what you're going to say no to. Right? And this aligns with prioritization. 

[00:13:47] Now don't worry, I'm not gonna tell you, pick out your top three if you've been around for a while, if you've listened to the show for a while, you know, I think that that's. Terrible advice. So here's what I wanna do. I wanna give you a different way to think about it. All right? The fact is. For most of you, everything feels equally important, right? 

[00:14:09] If, if you were to just show me, Megan, here's everything I've gotta get done this week, and if my, you know, response back to you was, well, what are the most important things here? Most people initially like, well, they're all important. They all have to get done. They're all equally important. And, and if you are feeling like everything is equally important or urgent, it's likely because you've been prioritizing based on outside expectations, not your own values. 

[00:14:42] I'm gonna repeat that. If everything is feeling equally urgent and important, it's likely because you are allowing your prioritization. To be based on outside expectations, not your own values, right? Meaning so much of this stuff coming on your list is coming from other people and you're allowing their perceived importance of it dictate yours, or you're allowing yourself to get should shited into things, right? 

[00:15:11] And I don't really want to, but I will because I won't look good if I don't say yes to it. Et cetera. So I want you to think about kind of three filters, if you will, that you can run your list through. Now, inside of the top program, I have an entire training on prioritization, where I walk through a six step process. 

[00:15:30] We don't have time for that here, so I wanna give you something to think about. If you are in a place right now where you're having to make those tough decisions, right? You know your budget, you know the cost, and you're like, okay. I've gotta figure out which six hours of stuff is not getting done this week. 

[00:15:45] First and foremost, run it through this filter. Does it truly have to happen this week? Or is it just something that maybe you're like, oh, I didn't do it last week, so I gotta do it this week? I mean, so many times we get stuck in this rhythm of doing these tasks, what I call carryovers, right? You rewrite it from yesterday to today, today to tomorrow, so on and so forth. 

[00:16:04] But you never take the time to stop and go, wait, does it really have to happen this week? Or can I let go of that? Right? And you will. I promise you, you will be surprised at how many things that are on your list that you felt like was a half to this week, but really isn't. All right. So that's filter number one. 

[00:16:25] The second filter, does it have to be you? Or could it be transferred, delegated, maybe divided into smaller chunks where someone could do part of it and some of it could be you. Just last night I was feeling this tension for myself where I am gonna be doing a workshop. I needed to assemble a bunch of the gifts for all the people coming to the workshop, and we had a little emergency pop up last night that definitely needed my attention. 

[00:16:54] Well, then it got me. I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to wake up extra early. Then I stopped. I went, no, I don't have to be the one assembling the gifts. So I outsourced with my own family and leveraged them to jump in. And help out and I get it not, they're not always that simple to be able to, to delegate, but sometimes we have things, especially as women on our list where we're going, no, it has to be me And ultimately you're saying that because you want it done the way you want it done. Well, maybe it would be better off being done by someone else. Slightly different than by you. And guys, believe me, I'm still a work in progress on that one myself. Now, the third filter, I want you to run this through, and this one is the most meaningful one. 

[00:17:35] Is this, is it aligned with what matters most in your life right now? Are there things that you're frantically trying to squeeze in and you're staying up late and you're waking up early? That when you take a step back and think about what really matters? This isn't it? All right. And this is why at any time you've been in a workshop with me where I'm teaching more strategic long-term planning, right? 

[00:18:04] So like the women in my next level planning communities, and when I run Plan Palooza every year, we always start with an exercise to get connected back with our core values. Because when we have a solid understanding of those holy cow, it puts a whole new light and lens on what we allow ourselves to say yes to. 

[00:18:26] And it helps filtering some of those other things out so much easier. But most of us don't take the time to do that because we're strung out, right? We're like, I don't have time for any of that. Well, it's a double-edged sword, and at some point it's gonna be worth the time investment to get that alignment in place. 

[00:18:44] So once you've run it through that filter of, does it have to happen this week, does it have to be me? Is it aligned with what matters most in my life right now? Anything that doesn't pass those, you give yourself permission. To pause, meaning not to put it on your plan for this week, and you get to do it guilt free because the math won't math, right? 

[00:19:04] It's not that you don't care. It's not that you haven't tried hard enough. It's not that you're not good at time management. It's that it's not gonna be possible to get it all done, right? This doesn't make you behind. It means you're being real. You're being realistic. About what can honestly get done. And friends, I know some of you, especially if you're working in a corporate job, are thinking, yeah, but Megan, but my boss says I have to. 

[00:19:28] I am here to tell you I have never had, and guys I spent over 20 years in the corporate space, all right? And I had some. Challenging bosses myself and who knows, maybe some people out there would've called me a challenging boss. But I have never in the history of my career presented data to a manager or a boss showing, here's everything I'm doing. 

[00:19:50] Here's how long it takes. Here's the priority or. Order I'm working in, when I needed to illustrate, I can't get it all done. Never have I worked with a boss that that wasn't willing to come back and go, oh, okay, let's realign some priorities. Let's move things around. They're not piling stuff on you, out of, you know, hoping to get you to just kill yourself. 

[00:20:10] They don't, they're not keeping track of every single thing and how long they all take, and most bosses don't have clarity into everything that. That is being handled. Alright, so I promise you, collecting, having a data-driven conversation can be incredibly powerful. And remember, our ultimate goal here is to help you be productive, but not in the way society. 

[00:20:34] talks about productivity, the way I talk about productivity, which is getting the most important things done in a stress-free way, right? It's not about saying, yeah, I'm gonna ma tell you, you gotta start sleeping less in order to make the math work. No. What we need to do is get your planning and your priorities aligned in such a way that the most important things are getting done in a stress-free way. 

[00:20:57] And when we're doing that, that means we're living with. In our time means right meaning we're not overcommitting and pretending that we have more time than we do and then beating ourselves up for it. Now, if you wanna see some of this in action, right? If you wanna learn how to calculate your actual time budget and see what some of this planning looks like, the best place for you to kind of dip your toe into the water is to come check out my top. 

[00:21:26] Bootcamp, it is a $17 investment. You have access to those training videos forever. It's, it's no time limit to when you wanna watch them. And it is the first, like, it is the, the perfect first step into really seeing how to get control over your calendar. And you can just head over to the top bootcamp.com. 

[00:21:48] You can get signed up and get started on it. Right away because friends, I promise you, when you start living within your time means it is going to change your life.