Kate Christie, Founder and CEO of Time Stylers, is a Time Management Specialist. An Australian mom of 3, Kate is a best-selling author, speaker, coach, and attorney. You name it; she does it all! She’s spent years working with high performing individuals and teams to help them get to the next level. Kate shares with us that it all comes back to time and productivity. After reading her new book, Me First, I just had to have Kate on the podcast. Her book is about how women can find 30 hours a month to get back to themselves. If you’re wondering how to get back your time, handle interruptions, get the kids to pick up after themselves and whether work-life balance exists, this is a must-listen!
Let’s talk about finding time so that working moms can get back to themselves.
What we’re talking about
- Kate Christie’s 4th Book, Me First
- How To Get Control Of Your Time
- How To Handle Interruptions
- Does Work-Life Balance Exist?
Kate Christie’s 4th Book, Me First
Kate’s new book, Me First, is her 4th best-selling time management book. It is now available in Target in the United States!. She shows women how to get 30 hours a month back for themselves as a working mom. Kate guides us to reflect on what your priorities and values are.
Growing up in a generation where women were told they could have it all, Kate developed inner confidence. She shares her simple formula for success and explains how she felt she could have whatever she wanted. Her inner confidence changed once Kate started having babies. She felt that the wheels had fallen off, and she was overwhelmed by mom guilt and imposter syndrome. She decided she could either be a really great mom or have a really great career, but not both. So Kate opted out of her career.
The timeout from her career gave Kate the perspective to re-frame and realize she didn’t need to have it all. Kate explains that you just need to be chasing after the parts that are most important to you. She shares that once you define what is essential, that becomes your all. You shouldn’t have to choose between an amazing career and being a mom because of want of time. Her book offers practical suggestions and outlines how you control your time and have what is most important to you. Kate says you really can have it all!
How To Get Control Of Your Time
Stats show that moms carry more of the burden. To get control of your time, you need to figure out who can help you in your household. And this includes your children; having them help in the home teaches your child to be an independent person.
As Kate explains, your first step is that you need to identify everything you can outsource and everything you can reject to manage your time. We all have habits that rob us of time, so it’s about shining the light on those things and working out what you don’t need to do and what you can do differently.
Kate goes on to describe that there are two types of outsourcing. The traditional outsourcing of hiring an expert who can do it faster, better, and cheaper than you. And the other is insourcing. Insourcing requires you to identify everything you currently do for the people you live with and what they can do for themselves that you don’t have to pay them for. You need to get everyone engaged and involved as young as possible. Family is a team sport, and establishing those habits and patterns helps empower and create independence for your children. And best of all, it frees up more of your time.
How To Handle Interruptions
Interruptions generally cost us time and productivity. According to Kate, every time we are interrupted, we have to multitask, decreasing productivity by up to 40%. She discusses strategies that parents can use to reduce those interruptions. Kate tells us that we have to start pushing back, but part of this can be letting them make choices and being part of the process.
One strategy I’m going to try with my family is batching your time into 30-minute bursts of work. Kate shares how you get your child to set the oven timer for 30 minutes; you explain that everyone will work quietly until the timer goes off. Once the timer goes off, your child is rewarded with 15 minutes of your time to do something fun together of their choosing.
Does Work-Life Balance Exist?
As high achieving women, we are very focused and driven. Kate explains that we have a lot of confidence around our careers, but we feel we have no idea what we are doing when the baby comes along. Everyone has an opinion on how we are mothering, and it erodes our confidence. Imposter syndrome starts to creep in. We take our career drive back into the home and want to be the best mom and be present for our children. We want to do it all and we feel we have to do it all across all aspects of our lives.
In her book, Kate describes work as our drug of choice. It’s like an addiction; you get a high and feel validation from your work. The concept of work-life balance is an aspiration that we are set up to achieve, but you can not perfectly balance work and your life. Work is a part of your life.
You shouldn’t have to give up what you love because you have a family and you shouldn’t feel guilty about that. Kate explains that it’s not about balancing it out. You have to give yourself permission to love all those elements of your life and give yourself permission to focus on yourself from time to time. Remember, you are in charge of your time and future, so go make it happen!
How are you implementing more self-care for yourself with your extra 30 hours?
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