Time scarcity is a story you're telling yourself, with Laura Vanderkam | Ep. 85 | Working Moms Movement

Time scarcity is one of the most common struggles working moms face, but what if the feeling of never having enough time is less about your workload and more about how you’re framing time itself? In this episode, I sit down with time management expert and bestselling author Laura Vanderkam to unpack the shift from time scarcity to time abundance and what that looks like in a full, complex life.Most of us are trapped in 24-hour thinking. The day always loses to the to-do list. But zoom out to 168 hours - the full week - and the math looks very different.If you’ve been searching for answers to any of these questions, this episode is for you:Why do I always feel behind even when I’m working all the time?What is time abundance and how do working moms get there?Is weekly planning actually worth the effort?How do I make my evenings feel less like survival mode?🎙️ Inside this episode, I sit down with Laura Vanderkam, time management expert, bestselling author, and creator of the 168 Hours framework, to discuss:Why time scarcity is a mindset problem (not a math problem) and how expanding your time horizon changes everythingThe 168-hour framework and why thinking in weeks instead of days is the smallest shift with the biggest payoffWhat time tracking actually reveals and why most people find things aren’t as dire as they thoughtWhy planning feels restrictive but actually creates more freedom to say yesHow to become the ringmaster of your own circus balancing career, relationships, and selfThe concept of “golden hours” and why weekday evenings are your most overlooked opportunitySystems that run without you, not because of youHow to stop waiting for “someday” and make big goals fit inside the life you already have💡 Key reframes from this conversation:Time scarcity is not a fact about your life…it’s a story your brain tells when you’re only looking at 24 hours at a timePlanning is not about restriction - it’s the thing that makes spontaneity possible, because your priorities are already protectedYour evenings are not a write-off…they’re golden hours, and one intentional 30-minute choice shifts how your whole day feelsLaura’s research across thousands of time diaries keeps pointing to the same conclusion: we have more time than we think. We’re just measuring it wrong.Take the 3-minute Boundary Self-Check Quiz to see where your time and energy are leaking. 🔗 Resources mentioned:📚 Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance by Laura Vanderkam 🌐 Laura Vanderkam’s official website🎙️ Laura’s podcasts: Before Breakfast and Best of Both Worlds🎙️Episode 72: How I Designed My Corporate Workweek to Protect My Energy. 🧭 3-Minute Boundary Self-Check Quiz🧠 FREE TRAINING (hosted bi-annually): How to go from Surviving to Thriving as a Working Mom📱 Connect with Courtney on Instagram🌐 Learn more about The Life Management System⚡️ This episode was sponsored by Apollo Neuro Wearable: code COURTNEYCECIL for $99 off📈 Keywords:time scarcity, working moms, time abundance, 168 hours, Laura Vanderkam, value-based time management, working moms time management, weekly planning for moms, mental load working mothers, golden hours evenings, time tracking working moms, sustainable performance, burnout working moms, life management system, intentional scheduling, working moms movement💠 About the host:I’m Courtney Cecil, founder of Working Moms Movement and host of The Life Management System podcast, based in Charlotte, North Carolina and serving working moms and organizati