From a career on Capitol Hill to the face-paced life of crisis communications to time management coach to podcast host and now author, Anna Dearmon Kornick is passionate about helping women bring calm to the chaos and turning busy into productivity. Anna shares her valuable strategies, tips and advice weekly on the It’s About Time Podcast with her audience but also spends her time coaching inside two group programs, It’s About Time Academy and The Next Level Life Accelerator while maintaining 1:1 coaching clients and juggling a full home/mom life. How does she do it all and teach others along the way? 

After years of immersing herself in the world of time management, Anna realized there was a “roadmap” which could help you focus on the things that matter most. She found her passion and purpose and began sharing it with the world. Reading dozens of books on habits, goal setting or productivity hacks, she realized there was no singular book that encompassed it all. One book that would not only give you the tools and concepts but would also teach you what comes next once you have them. Now in her new book, Time Management Essentials, Anna gives you an easy to follow three part process which guides from the foundations to the application and beyond to help you put what you learn into action. 

We talked with Anna all about her journey, her programs, the new book, work-life balance and why she believes “busy is not a badge of honor”.  Listen to our chat below: 

PART ONE: THE ESSENTIALS 

The best way to start any journey (time management or otherwise) is to first know where you are going and why! Having a vision and values are two of the core principles Anna teaches inside her programs. Investing time in making sure these two are in alignment and crystal clear will save you in the long run. When you know what’s most important, making decisions on how to spend your time will be easier.

Next is determining which time management strategies will work for you.Sounds simple right?  What most people don’t realize is that the secret to uncovering the best strategy is knowing yourself. Anna recommends doing some inner work and really finding out what makes you tick. Utilizing  personality assessments (like Myers Briggs or Enneagram) to clarify how you operate in the world will help you avoid productivity pitfalls. 

PART TWO: THE ESSENTIALS APPLIED 

Once you have gotten to know yourself better and determined what is important to you, now it's time to tackle your calendar. This is the step that helps you take your current chaos to calm. Here is where you will identify the boulders, big rocks and pebbles in your schedule to design an ideal week. Anna cautions that an ideal week is not a measuring stick for perfection but more of a guide to follow and keep you on track. If an ideal week seems like too much, maybe try an ideal month for a broader approach and don’t be afraid to change things up depending on your season. 

Anna also stresses the importance of a weekly planning session. Outlining priorities and setting intentions will help keep things in focus as the week gets hectic. Take a bird’s eye view of the week ahead to determine the vibe and allow yourself the time to build in self care, prep things in advance and ask for help/delegate to make sure things run smoothly.  Living “day by day” with a taking life as it comes approach leads to decision fatigue and overwhelm, like drinking from a fire hydrant - it’s exhausting. Even if you plan digitally, a weekly planning session is still essential and Anna recommends writing things down to solidify your game plan on paper and mentally. 

PART THREE: BEYOND THE ESSENTIALS 

Part three takes you to the next level! Once you have mastered one and two - now you can move on to leveling up your productivity. Here, Anna addresses things like focus, peak work times, mental clutter, current work practices and more to arm you with a toolkit for managing your time on a daily basis. 

Working with your unique rhythms and routines will allow for your best performing work as well as rest. This helps supercharge your results and check off that to do list without leading to burnout. 

If you want to learn more from Anna, you can find her in these places:

Time Management Essentials Book

It’s About Time Podcast

It’s About Time Academy

The Next Level Life Accelerator

annadkornick.com

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