TLDR;
This video provides practical tips on how to balance a busy life, including a 9-to-5 job, content creation, business ventures, and personal life. Lucy shares her personal experiences and a system she developed to manage her time effectively without burning out. Key strategies include prioritizing tasks, planning ahead, time blocking, combining tasks, lowering expectations for perfection, creating daily systems, and protecting your energy.
- Prioritize tasks instead of saying you don't have time.
- Plan your next day the night before.
- Time block everything.
- Combine similar tasks to multitask efficiently.
- Lower perfection expectations to avoid burnout.
- Create daily systems for efficiency.
- Protect your energy to maintain focus and productivity.
Introduction: Balancing Act [0:00]
Lucy discusses the common question she receives about how she balances her 9-to-5 job, content creation, business, and personal life. She acknowledges the challenges and explains that she has developed a system over the years to manage her time effectively, learning from past burnout experiences. The video aims to share this system with viewers who feel they lack time for their various interests and projects.
Background: Lucy's Credentials [2:54]
Lucy provides background information to establish her credibility on the topic of time management. She has been working a 9-to-5 job for over seven years, navigating different work arrangements from fully in-office to hybrid models. Additionally, she actively creates content on multiple platforms and manages her personal life in Hungary, including family responsibilities. She is a team lead managing a global team.
Tip 1: Stop Saying "I Don't Have Time" [5:25]
Lucy emphasizes the importance of changing the mindset from "I don't have time" to "This is not a priority right now." She advocates for categorizing and prioritizing tasks based on their importance and her current capacity. She recommends creating a prioritization list with three categories: work-related, personal/self-care, and life/creative tasks.
Tip 2: End the Day Before It Ends [6:55]
Lucy explains the importance of preparing for the next day the night before. This includes laying out outfits and creating a to-do list. Planning ahead saves time and reduces stress in the morning, allowing for a more productive start to the day. She plans content ahead of time, sometimes weeks in advance.
Tip 3: Time Blocking [8:33]
Lucy stresses the importance of time blocking, allocating specific time slots for various activities, including work, content creation, rest, and personal time. She blocks out time in her calendar for lunch breaks and content creation. She provides an example of a general time block schedule, including morning routine, work hours, content creation/editing, and dinner/unwind time. She recommends using the "Structured" app to help with time blocking.
Tip 4: Combine Tasks (Multitask) [12:12]
Lucy shares her "cheat code" for productivity: combining tasks or multitasking. She advises combining tasks that fall within the same category to avoid overwhelming the brain. Examples include listening to podcasts or audiobooks while getting ready or exercising, filming multiple content pieces with the same outfit and makeup, replying to messages while walking on the treadmill, or meal prepping while watching TV.
Tip 5: Lower the Bar [15:55]
Lucy discusses the importance of reducing perfectionist expectations to avoid burnout. She emphasizes that "done is better than perfect" and that aiming for 80% is often sufficient. She shares how she has simplified her content creation process by focusing on delivering the message effectively rather than striving for perfect editing or elaborate setups.
Tip 6: Create Daily Life Systems [17:44]
Lucy highlights the significance of creating daily systems to automate decisions and save time. Examples include having a capsule wardrobe, a consistent breakfast routine, fixed filming days, and fixed cleaning days. She emphasizes that while these systems provide structure, they should not be rigid and can be adjusted as needed.
Tip 7: Protect Your Energy [18:38]
Lucy underscores the importance of protecting your energy to maintain productivity. She advises against allowing interruptions and distractions to disrupt your focus and emphasizes the need for discipline in adhering to your schedule. She encourages viewers to prioritize their well-being and approach tasks with ease and peace.
