Stop Wasting Your Time: The Scientific Way to Stop Procrastination and Get Control of Your Day
Laura Vanderkam (guest), Mel Robbins (host)
In this episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast, featuring Laura Vanderkam and Mel Robbins, Stop Wasting Your Time: The Scientific Way to Stop Procrastination and Get Control of Your Day explores nine practical rules to reclaim time, energy, and weekly joy Laura Vanderkam reframes time management as creating room for what you want to do, not cramming in more obligations, grounded in the reality that everyone has 168 hours per week.
Nine practical rules to reclaim time, energy, and weekly joy
Laura Vanderkam reframes time management as creating room for what you want to do, not cramming in more obligations, grounded in the reality that everyone has 168 hours per week.
She shares findings from time-diary research and a nine-week experiment (about 150 participants) showing improved “time satisfaction” when people follow nine simple rules.
Key ideas include stabilizing sleep with a consistent bedtime, weekly planning (ideally Friday), using movement to boost afternoon energy, and defining “habits” weekly rather than daily.
The conversation emphasizes shifting your personal narrative from “I have no time” to “I have some discretionary pockets,” then protecting those pockets for effortful, rejuvenating activities and relationships.
Key Takeaways
Replace “no time” with “not as much time as I want.”
Vanderkam argues almost everyone has some discretionary time; the wording shift unlocks practical problem-solving: how to use limited pockets better and gradually expand them.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Use the 168-hour week to stop overreacting to a crunched day.
After 40 hours of work and ~56 hours of sleep, many still have ~72 hours for other responsibilities and choices—enough to find a few hours for reading, friends, or hobbies when viewed across a week.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
A consistent bedtime creates orderly sleep and more energy.
Many people get enough total sleep weekly but feel exhausted due to irregular nights; setting a bedtime (plus a “wind-down alarm”) improved reported adequacy of sleep/energy in her study group.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Plan the week once—preferably Friday—to reduce anxiety and improve follow-through.
Weekly planning should include what must happen and what you want to happen across career, relationships, and self; Friday planning leverages low-stakes time, enables scheduling calls/appointments, and prevents Sunday “scaries.”
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Move before 3:00 PM to prevent the afternoon productivity cliff.
Short bursts of activity (e. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Define habits weekly: three times a week is enough to “count.”
People feel like failures when they miss a “daily” routine; thinking in weeks makes consistency realistic (e. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Create backup slots so life disruptions don’t derail your priorities.
A “rain date” approach (extra flexible time blocks) prevents you from borrowing from next week and reduces overwhelm—miss Tuesday’s plan, move it to Friday’s open space.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Add one big and one little adventure each week to make life feel fuller.
Novel/intense experiences create memories; this reduces the “Where did the time go? ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Protect “one night for you” by making it a commitment to others.
Solo, flexible self-care (like a bath) gets bumped; scheduled commitments (choir, tennis league, volunteering) rise in priority because others depend on you—helping restore identity beyond work/caregiving.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Batch small tasks to reduce mental load and avoid productive procrastination.
Use a “Friday punch list” to capture non-urgent tasks, then complete them in a low-energy window; this keeps deep-work time intact and reduces context switching.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Do effortful fun before effortless fun to escape phone-time traps.
Scrolling is frictionless and expands to fill idle pockets; doing a few minutes of reading/calling/creative hobbies first often pulls you into more meaningful leisure—even if you still choose to scroll afterward.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Notable Quotes
““I want you to make time for the things you want to do.””
— Laura Vanderkam
““There’s a big difference between not as much as I want and none.””
— Laura Vanderkam
““There are 168 hours in a week.””
— Laura Vanderkam
““Exercise doesn’t take time, it makes time.””
— Laura Vanderkam
““We don’t say, ‘Where did the time go?’ when we actually remember where the time went.””
— Laura Vanderkam
Questions Answered in This Episode
If I truly have “some discretionary time,” where do you recommend I look first—mornings, lunch, commute, or evenings—and why?
Laura Vanderkam reframes time management as creating room for what you want to do, not cramming in more obligations, grounded in the reality that everyone has 168 hours per week.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How would you adapt the “plan on Fridays” rule for shift workers, teachers, clinicians, or single parents whose Fridays aren’t predictable?
She shares findings from time-diary research and a nine-week experiment (about 150 participants) showing improved “time satisfaction” when people follow nine simple rules.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What does a good “three-category” weekly plan (career/relationships/self) look like in practice—can you show a filled-in example for a busy week?
Key ideas include stabilizing sleep with a consistent bedtime, weekly planning (ideally Friday), using movement to boost afternoon energy, and defining “habits” weekly rather than daily.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
For someone who can’t leave their job site (hospital floor, classroom, retail), what are realistic ways to apply “move by 3:00 PM” without disrupting responsibilities?
The conversation emphasizes shifting your personal narrative from “I have no time” to “I have some discretionary pockets,” then protecting those pockets for effortful, rejuvenating activities and relationships.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How do you decide what counts as a “big adventure” vs a “little adventure” without it turning into another burdensome to-do?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
You are a productive person. You are getting a lot done. People depend on you. You are doing the things you have to do. I want you to make time for the things you want to do.
Today, you and I are here with the very wise, very practical, and very real Laura Vanderkam, and we're learning how to take control of our free time. For so much of my life, whether it was because I had a really stressful job or taking care of kids or taking care of aging parents, I felt like my entire life were things I have to do.
There are certain phases of life when things feel more crunched, when they feel more intense, when the choices feel a little bit more fraught. But I promise it is possible, even in the middle of a busy Tuesday, even when life seems chaotic, we can enjoy ourselves. We can have moments of fun, and not only that, I think people deserve to have moments of fun. I've seen people's lives transformed by finding an hour to do something that they enjoy in the course of the week, and it changes their narrative. My life is no longer out of my control, at the mercy of everyone else. I am the kind of person who makes space for things that are fun for me. Next week is gonna have its own problems. Uh, next month is gonna have its own crises. We need to figure out strategies that allow us to live a good life now.
You start to feel more empowered.
You start feeling less overwhelmed.
Yes.
Right? Life starts feeling more calm. You feel like you are making progress on your goals, and that's a much better place to be starting from.
Laura Vanderkam, welcome-
Thank you!
... to The Mel Robbins Podcast.
Thanks. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm, I'm so excited to be here.
So here's how I wanna start. I would love to have you speak directly to the person who's with us right now, somebody who doesn't have a lot of time, but they have made the time to learn from you. What could you tell them is gonna be different about their life if they take everything to heart that you're about to share based on your research and your expertise about time?
I am so happy you are here today. Anyone listening to this show, I know you are a productive person. You are getting a lot done. People depend on you. You are doing the things you have to do. I want you to make time for the things you want to do, right? I want everyone listening to this to wake up in the morning knowing there's something exciting and wonderful waiting for you in the day. That is what time management is about, right? It's not about squeezing more in that you have to do. It's about making space for the good stuff.
Laura, already my mouth is on the floor. You, you said something so simple, and I wanna make sure that you got it as you were listening to Laura or watching this right now. There's a big difference between the things you have to do and the things that you want to do, and for so much of my life, whether it was because I had a really stressful job, and jobs always have a lot of have-tos, or taking care of kids or taking care of aging parents, I felt like my entire life were things I have to do. You're going to teach us that there is time available to do things we want to do, even though there's a lot we have to do?
Install uListen to search the full transcript and get AI-powered insights
Get Full TranscriptGet more from every podcast
AI summaries, searchable transcripts, and fact-checking. Free forever.
Add to Chrome