The Truth: Why Time Management Tools Are Failing You

Do you feel like you’re always busy but never actually have enough time? You’ve tried the hacks, planners, apps—and still feel like you’re drowning. In this episode of Love Your Life On Purpose, I go deeper than tools and tips to reveal the real reason most time management strategies fail. Spoiler: It’s not about doing more—it’s about saying “no” more.

I share how boundaries, confidence, and self-worth all impact your ability to manage time meaningfully. Plus, I introduce the “Thoughtful Three” questions to help you shift from overwhelmed to empowered.

Whether you’re juggling meetings, caregiving, or your mission-driven business—this is your invitation to pause and realign.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why surface-level time hacks may not be working for you
• The deeper emotional and energetic root of time mismanagement
• The link between boundaries, self-worth, and time freedom
• How to model sustainability for others through your own life

The “Thoughtful Three” questions to help you become a time management hero

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Transcript

  📍 Do you feel like you need better time management and  what you're doing isn't working? I know time management for me can be.  Such an interesting thing. I feel like oftentimes I'm trying new things and they work sometimes and then they're not always working, and then I'm feeling like I'm falling behind.

I feel like I'm constantly putting out fires and just trying to get one thing done so then I can move on to the next thing. But it's never ending. And maybe you've tried a lot of the different hacks and tips and you still feel like there's not enough time.  In this episode, I'll share with you what most people miss when it comes to time management.

And it's probably not what you think it is unless you know me. Well, you might know what it is, but I am not a time management expert, quote unquote. So  this is not going to be a typical time management type of episode.  I came up with something fancy called the thoughtful three that I'll share at the end of every episode.

And the thoughtful three is three questions to ask yourself so you can become a time management hero    📍  after a lifetime of prioritizing everyone else's needs over your own. Do you feel like you don't know who you are anymore?  You might be moving into this next phase of your life. Going through a life transition, which might look like your kid's getting older, your parents are aging, your career is shifting and changing.

Or maybe your partner relationships are changing and you're saying to yourself, I'm lost. I don't know really who I am anymore. Or maybe you're just feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, and you still wanna make the world a better place. You are not alone. It is time for you to prioritize yourself and power your mission.

It's time for you to love your life on purpose. I'm Michelle Vande. Hey, certified holistic life coach and trauma sensitive yoga facilitator to mission-driven leaders around the world creating more impact without. Burning out. Let's explore who you are and discover who you want to become because you are worth it.    

If you are new to my channel, I put out a new episode every two weeks on Tuesdays for business owners and mission-driven leaders like you, so you can create long-term sustainable impact without burning out. So be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.  Let's talk about time management. Now, when most people talk about time management, this is what we hear.

We hear  the surface level of time management, and it's kind of like I talk about, if you've ever heard me talk about your why in my when stories, I talked about going five layers deep with your why. And this is so similar . When we're thinking about time management, oftentimes we only focus on the surface level issues and the surface level challenges.

And there's nothing wrong with that if that's working for you, but for so many people it's not working. And what I mean by surface level challenges is you're using all of the things to help you with your time management, but yet you still feel like you don't have enough time.

So for me, something that I use. I'm reaching over. That helps me is my timer cubes. I found these on Amazon a little while ago because someone recommended 'em, and I really enjoy them. They have times on each side, and I can pick whatever time, flip it over. It starts the timer, and then it beeps when it's done.

And I really like it because it doesn't require my phone, so I don't get distracted. Anyways, that's not what this episode is about, but this does help me and it only helps me if I'm using it. But so timer cubes or phone reminders, I use my phone for reminders as well to help keep me on task and on track, and then even tracking your time. 

Using AI or using tools that can help you, automations and different things, so you're not doing it all. All of these things are great and there's nothing wrong with any of these things, and I use a lot of these things.  Here's the problem. If you're using things and it's not working for you. That's because you're so focused on the surface level.

What else can I do for my time management? And you're forgetting about the deeper issue at hand. And so what that deeper issue is in regards to time management, it starts with your ability to say no. 

Time management requires boundaries, which requires you to be able to say no.  Boundaries require you to do one of two things, or both.

Either let go of control.  And or have more self-confidence.  And that self-confidence comes from practice and in order to have that confidence that comes from your self-love and your self-worth. So if you are watching and not listening, I'm gonna just pull up  a visual for you, because I'm such a visual person.

So oftentimes we think of time management as this.  Thing that's all on its own. But really what is time management? Oftentimes time management is setting boundaries, boundaries with yourself, boundaries with other people. And yes, for me, especially as someone who is neuro spicy distractions happen easily.

I will oftentimes start doing something and when I go to do something else, I realize, oh yeah, this is something I didn't finish yet,  and I start doing that. So there's all sorts of different. Aspects of time management. This is one of them, especially if you feel like this is an ongoing thing for you.

Boundaries. Not only set, but enforce boundaries one example of this could be meetings when you are on a meeting with someone or you have an appointment that you really stick to the time, and you can do that in a beautiful, gentle way with other people.

You can. Simply start the meeting and say,  I have down that I we're gonna be here for an hour. Is it the same for you? Great. I am going to set a timer for us, or I'll keep track of time so that we know that when our time is up, it is up. Instead of meetings that are supposed to go for an hour, that end up going for an hour and a half or an hour and 15 minutes.

Even that extra 15 minutes, if you're doing that every single day, and let's say you have even. Two meetings a day, and that's an extra 15 minutes. That's an extra half an hour every single day. That's an hour every, every two days. So if I'm doing my math right, that's an extra three hours.

That's three hours that you could've used for somewhere else that you're not all because you're not able to set those boundaries oftentimes in order to set those boundaries, we need to have confidence to be able to do that.  And or to let go of control. So letting go of control is how we set those boundaries or how we have that confidence to set those boundaries.

Oh my gosh, my dog. My dog wants to come up, so come on.  There we go. So we might have a dog for part of this episode, or at least he's gonna be in my lap.  Do you give consent to be on YouTube? Okay, the confidence. We need that confidence and that self-love.

And really, it's that trust in yourself. Trusting your intuition and trusting that you know what's best for you and what's best for you is also oftentimes best. What's best for other people. That it's not either or. Right. It's prioritizing yourself and powering your mission. It's prioritizing your time, and when you're prioritizing your time, you're oftentimes also prioritizing the time of other people.

So I just think that's really important, and most people don't think about this when it comes to time  management. We don't think about,  well, I'm, I'm laughing because if you're listening to this, my dog is just. Apparently wants all, all of me right now, probably because I normally record episodes after a walk with him and it is time for that and I shouldn't even said that word.

So, okay, let's finish up this episode.  That's really what time management comes down to. If you feel like the time management tools that you're using right now aren't working for you.  Now if you're someone who is like, , I want to do this, and I would love to be with other people who are trying to do the same thing, that is one of the reasons why I created the Love Your Life On Purpose community.

For those of you that I, I personally believe building community is so important and so valuable for transformation, for creating change on this planet, and that really we're not. Doing anything alone, we're not meant to do things alone. And so I wanted my podcast to go beyond the podcast and really to have a community for you to also share, especially with these episodes,  if there's something that 

you think that I should add to the episode or you wanna add to the conversation? You can do that within the Facebook group. And I also record these live in the Facebook group. So you're welcome to join the live recording. And as a bonus, when you join the Facebook group I send, you my self-care cheat sheet, which is 20 self-care Habits.

That you can do in five minutes or less. So all you have to do is go to love your life on purpose.com, or you can search on Facebook, love Your Life on Purpose with Michelle and join the community, and we will welcome you with Open Arms.  Okay, so let's get to the thoughtful three questions since we've had a little bit of distraction during this episode. 

These are the three questions to ask yourself to be your own time management hero.  Number one,  how do you want to feel about your time during the week? How do you wanna feel at the beginning of the week? How do you wanna feel at the end of the week? That is so important? How you feel is really important.

And if you're not liking how you're feeling, something needs to shift and change.  Second question, what is one thing you can do this week to start making those shifts?  Not just the surface level tools and tips. What are those shifts that you need to make internally?  And then the third question is, am I willing to feel uncomfortable in a different way?

Not silencing yourself, to make everyone around you comfortable. I'm talking about being uncomfortable with maybe setting boundaries, with maybe saying no. With digging a little bit deeper into why you haven't been able to take care of this so far.  One of my previous episodes that  I shared about how change and transformation aren't the same thing.

 So in order to create the sustainable change that you wanna see on the outside, it requires the transformation on the inside first. , I forgot about this, so I have my book be more like Wonder Woman. 'cause you, if you've been around here at all, you know, I love Wonder Woman and I talk about being Wonder Woman instead of Superwoman. 

And this little chapter or this little page says, lead the way. Wonder Woman wants to live in a perfect world where citizens of earth are treated equally with respect. What kind of world do you want to live in? What can you do to make it happen? Perhaps you want to live in a waste free world or one where pollution is a thing of the past.

These can seem like impossible goals, but know this, we are not powerless. So take responsibility, speak out, and above all. Practice what you preach and that's what I really wanted at that bottom practice what you preach so often if, if you are helping other people , which many of you are. You say these things to help other people.

You wanna help other people with their mental health, their physical health, their wellbeing, and yet you're not taking care of yourself in the same way you're, you're wanting that for the people that you're helping. So make sure that you're practicing what you preach and you are being the model.

For the people that you're serving, for the employees or staff that you have for your volunteers. Be that model. That is the best way to create that change and to do it in a sustainable way.  Feel free if you are watching this or listening to leave a comment. And if you thought of someone who maybe needs to hear this message while you are listening to this, please share this message with them.

And let them know that you were thinking of them, because if you were thinking of them, you were thinking of them for a reason. They may be sending out prayers or saying, universe, send me and this might be the sign that they need. And anytime someone sends me something and says that they were thinking of me,  it makes me feel extra special.

So you're gonna make that person feel special when you share this episode with them.    📍   I always want you to remember. To be gentle with yourself. You are not broken. You are becoming, and you deserve to love your life on purpose because you are worth it.