Intentional pockets of time

How to find them with Dr. Aegean Chan / Issue 1,194

Oh, hi friends!

You know that antsy feeling you get when you’re flying and watching a good movie…

The plane is descending, but your film has 12 minutes left.

Will you make it?

Can you finish it while the plane taxis or will the seat-back monitors turn off?

I really don’t like that feeling.

(More than once, I’ve had to hunt down the movie when I got home just to watch the final five minutes and close the loop in my brain.)

Misaligned time just…bugs me.

When the pocket of time you have doesn’t match the task.

That’s why I really loved talking with my friend Dr. Aegean Chan on my latest podcast. 

We talk all about creating intentional pockets of time.

She has plotted out her weeks with thought and care—and with a toddler and a newborn, a dermatology practice, a thriving Instagram presence with skincare advice and more, she has a lot to think through.

One of my biggest takeaways was being realistic with what you’re able to accomplish in a day. 

Creating a to-do list with 15 items and crossing off three means you’re not going to feel like you did enough.

Creating a to-do list with three items and crossing off all three means you might be able to take a breath.

Here’s another one of my favorite quotes from the episode: 

“This is especially true once your responsibilities grow and you're taking care of tiny humans, and I can’t remember where I heard this quote, but it’s the idea that all of your responsibilities are either glass balls or plastic balls that are up in the air and you just have to be OK with the plastic balls falling.

Once I took that mentality, I'm like, okay, my job is to keep the glass balls up in the air and if the other non-essential, non-critical things fall to the wayside and somebody has to send me a reminder email…that's OK. It doesn't mean I'm a failure as a person, it doesn't mean I did a bad job. It just is.”

Oh, and she also has a self-imposed 8 p.m. cutoff for checking Instagram. Genius!!!

I’m going to try to be more intentional and realistic with my time today.

I want that feeling of watching the final seconds of a movie with plenty of time to spare up in the air.

I hope you can find intentional pockets of time in your day, too.

Listen to our 20-minute chat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, my needs-an-update website, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a great start to the week, friends.

Don’t forget the sunscreen!