Take Back Your Time Book Review
Yesterday, (on my pretty close to perfect 32nd birthday solo afternoon in the coffee shop with my freshly painted nails - thanks to my amazing husband!) I read my new favorite book, Take Back Your Time. I HIGHLY recommend this book basically to all adult women, in ANY stage of life. I found it by chance through a mom podcast I listened to a few weeks ago where the guest was talking about “identifying your priorities, decreasing stress and increasing productivity,” I was like, um, YES. Instant add to the amazon cart. From the first page opening, I was hooked. It was a breath of fresh air, after torturing myself with, “I WILL finish Anna Karenia!” over these past few MONTHS, lol!, I finished this within a few hours. Note, ladies: give yourself permission to put a book down that is not filling you up! (more on that after I finish my next book, The Pleasures of Reading in the Age of Distraction). Anyway, I have found myself recently confused over constant decision fatigue. I seem to be doing a million things, but none of them well, or to fruition, or even with joy! The ever changing mom life, and the constantly growing children. My high energy nature has be running into the ground, and crashing on empty, then needing to binging on self-care hours, instead of the constant self-care sprinkled throughout the days. Its almost like leaving my faith for the church on Sunday, and expecting to live a fulfilling faithful life. My prayer and faith grows and strives on structure, on routine. I know these things, I have my Blessed is She planner, but it wasn’t until hearing Morgan’s words that it clicked!! She helps you own your current stage, (which I find myself often wanting to escape!) and then LABEL those million mom decisions, helping you to aim for that peaceful place of knowing "what you should be doing, when you should be doing it." She helps you understanding your moods - why you hit a wall at that time of the day, and how to schedule your life around it!! And then she introduces her ZONE LABELS - I am obsessed. She names the green zone (productive mode-finish this post, intentionally teach the lesson, attend to work related stuff), yellow mode (multitasking, interrupted tasks, listening to a podcast while making dinner), and red zone (stop and refresh, basically your self care, watching a movie, reading a book, socializing, shopping). Yes, I had a basic understanding of the ebs and flows, but it wasn’t until I read her examples and her experiences through mom life stages that it really clicked!!!
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
I now have a different mentality of planning my red zone specifically, AND scheduling margin time around my green zone. This sounds so much better than habitually overbooking and crashing into an emotional mess. She explains why it becomes such a struggle on the days you are “home all day but getting nothing done.” She helps you identify how to put your blue flame into productive timing no matter what stage of mom life you are in! I honestly feel like this is a modern day Mothers Rule of Life! (for anyone not totally loving that one - try this). I can’t rave about it enough. I hope to find my new Morgan friend and thank her! She has answered so many of my recent questions and given me the exact tools I have been looking for. I hope this can bless others as much as me, its the perfect read for the start of the new year! Thank you Morgan! Another book-sister who is one step ahead on this journey. Check her out her other awesome resources here (including a snapshot weekly time block for you to see where your time is really going, just printed mine :) at- Morganize with Me :) Please share & enjoy,