I really love Laura Vanderkam’s books on time management, and her latest, Tranquility by Tuesday, just might be my favorite. She takes a whole life planning approach that really resonates with me.

In Tranquility by Tuesday, Vanderkam describes nine focused, practical guidelines for managing your schedule to cultivate an interesting and meaningful life.

And, how about this — Laura Vanderkam is also a working mother, with five young kids. She’s tested these principles in her own life.

But when it comes to time use, she does actual research, not just me-search. She validates her methods by testing them over time, with real people.

Does practicing these guidelines actually increase people’s enjoyment of their lives? Well, yes.

She tested that.

In the acknowledgments section, Vanderkam thanks a statistician. Hardworking statisticians deserve our thanks, because they help us know what we know, and how probable it is that we can know it. Vanderkam tested these guidelines with lots of people reporting back about their experiments, and a statistician crunching the numbers to make sure they actually mean something.

I haven’t done any social science studies* on time management, but I can affirm that following her rule to schedule a big adventure and a little adventure each week, has lifted my spirits before, during, and after these outings.

I can’t wait to do it again.

Schedule a Big Adventure and a Little Adventure Each Week

A big weekly adventure is something that takes a few hours to do: think, half a weekend day.

A little adventure is something that you could do on your lunch hour.

Scheduling a couple of things that you look forward to, each week, will almost certainly boost your joy in life.

For a little adventure, you could check out a photo exhibit, or go for a walk someplace new.

For our big adventure tomorrow, my husband and I plan to go to a bird-watching event at a wetland area nearby.

For planning any adventures, this practice means you (okay, maybe not you; but me for sure) have to get out of your rut and find out ahead of time what’s happening in your community. (After I post this, I will be figuring out what my adventures are for next week: I’m also using another Vanderkam guideline, to plan your upcoming week on Fridays.)

If Laura Vanderkam can get herself out the door for Big Adventures with five kids in tow, I think I can also manage to go forth and do stuff.

And last week, I did!

It was such a spectacular late October week, that all my adventures took place outdoors.

I explored a ginkgo grove at an arboretum, hung out at a farmhouse, and visited an old estate with large gardens in the middle of a small city.

Let me share some of this October beauty with you, from my big and small adventures last week!

Here’s the gingko grove:

Views from a farmhouse:

Here is one real bald eagle, plus two metal ones:

I’m sorry the photo of the real eagle is so blurry, but I promise you, that’s a bald eagle. (I’ve been watching this eagle and its mate and their fledglings all year!)

Below are some metal eagles serving as icebreakers on the roof of a historic house:

Here’s an old cemetery, since it’s almost Halloween:

I’ve seen this statue before, but the other day was the first time I noticed the dog:

A garden in the middle of a small city:

Well — it’s about time to plan my next adventures!

Plan some adventures for yourself to look forward to, and check out that book. Lots of good stuff in there.

Copy and share - the link is here. If you’d like to subscribe via newsletter or RSS, you can do that here.

References

Vanderkam, L. (2022) Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 ways to calm the chaos and make time for what matters. New York: Portfolio.

Notes

* I conducted actual academic social science research in the healthcare field, back in the 20th century. We had statisticians then, too. Thus, my enduring admiration for them; my genuine appreciation for Vanderkam’s time studies; and my abiding love of references and footnotes…