Summary of "How to Make Time for Everything (Then Actually Do It)"

Key Wellness and Productivity Strategies from "How to Make Time for Everything (Then Actually Do It)"

168 Hours Spreadsheet Method
- Track all weekly hours (168 total) spent on activities like sleep, work, food, chores, childcare, entertainment, and socializing.
- Helps visualize where time is allocated and identify areas for adjustment.
- Available as a free downloadable tool.
Average Time Use Insights (Based on American Time Use Survey & Other Data)
- Sleep: ~56 hours/week (8 hours/night)
- Work (including commute, lunch, prep): ~52.5 hours/week
- Food prep and eating: ~12 hours/week
- Chores (cleaning, laundry, groceries): ~6.5 hours/week
- Childcare: ~18 hours/week (varies widely)
- Fitness: ~2.5 hours/week
- Entertainment (TV, social media, gaming): ~29.5 hours/week
- Socializing & family time: ~4 hours/week
- Result: Average person’s 168 hours are fully allocated, leaving little to no free time for side projects or hobbies.
Key Realization: There Are Physically Not Enough Hours
- The average person’s time is fully used up by basic life needs and leisure.
- Adding side hustles, learning new skills, or extra projects requires sacrifices.
Three Main Strategies to Make Time for Everything
1. Increase Efficiency:
  - Squeeze more productivity out of existing tasks (e.g., study techniques, efficient workflows).
2. Strategic Sacrifice:
  - Decide what activities to reduce or eliminate (e.g., less TV, social media, cooking).
3. Double-Dip Time:
  - Combine activities to maximize time use (e.g., listening to audiobooks/podcasts during commutes or lunch breaks).
Personal Example from Presenter (Medical Doctor & Entrepreneur)
- Slept ~7 hours/night; kept wind-down time minimal.
- Skipped breakfast and mostly ate ready meals or takeout to save cooking time (~2.7 hours/week on food vs. average 12 hours).
- Outsourced cleaning every other week; minimal chores (~1.4 hours/week).
- Limited entertainment: no solo TV watching; social media ~7 hours/week vs. average 29.5 hours.
- Used commute and lunch breaks for learning (audiobooks, podcasts) at 2-3x speed, effectively doubling content intake.
- Resulted in ~31 hours/week free time to grow YouTube channel and business alongside a full-time job.
- Acknowledges sacrifices (e.g., unhealthy eating) and does not recommend all choices for everyone.
Impact of Childcare on Time
- Childcare can consume 20+ hours/week, drastically reducing free time.
- Productivity advice often overlooks the significant time demands of parenting.
Advice on Sacrifices
- Sacrificing sleep or family time is generally not recommended.
- Reducing TV watching and social media use are effective and less harmful ways to free up time.
- Cutting down on cooking or chores can free time but may impact health or lifestyle quality.
- Financial freedom (e.g., quitting or going part-time at work) can free up large blocks of time but requires resources.
Mindset and Realistic Expectations
- It’s normal and okay to struggle with making time for everything.
- Prioritize based on your values and goals.
- Use tools like the 168-hour spreadsheet to audit and plan your time.
- Recognize that “making time” often means making trade-offs.
Additional Resources
- Free quarterly “Summer Reset” workshop for goal setting and reflection.
- Sponsored learning platform Brilliant.org for building skills efficiently through interactive problem solving.

Presenters/Sources:

Main presenter: Unnamed doctor and entrepreneur (likely the YouTuber behind the channel)
Data sources referenced: American Time Use Survey, Nielsen data, ChatGPT and Claude for research assistance
Sponsored by: Brilliant.org (interactive learning platform)