5 Principles to Effectively Manage Your Time (and Your Sanity)

Especially when you have a lot on your plate

Photo by Sam Moqadam on Unsplash

My plate is typically fuller than a father’s of a family of 6 at the Golden Corral on Tuesday nights.

I have a 40-hour per week job as a project manager at an engineering firm, which usually eats up 40–50 hours of my week.

I co-own an online coffee shop where we handle all the logistics (ie. no drop shipping).

I publish a newsletter every Sunday (recently migrated it to Substack).

I write every day. Usually 30 minutes or more.

I exercise 6 days a week.

I raid two nights a week for 3 hours each night on World of Warcraft Classic with Pals for Life. Yeah, I’m a nerd.

I have a girlfriend.

And I’m committed to eating healthy and sleeping at least 7 hours a night.

How I manage my time, I suspect, is a little less tedious than most others with a buttload of responsibilities on their plate. Instead of being meticulous with schedules and routine, I stick to a few principles and let the rest fall into place.

1. Maintain a calendar.