My Hair Is on Fire: A Love Letter to Time Management
Right now, I feel like my hair is on fire. 🔥
Not the cute, metaphorical “wow, she’s on fire!” kind. More like the “there are 47 tabs open in my brain and they’re all playing different music” kind. Too many competing priorities. Too many emails. Too many meetings. Too many important things that all seem urgent.
And here’s the thing about time:
You can’t own it, but you can use it.
You can’t keep it, but you can spend it.
And once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.
An hour lost is never found. (Trust me… I’ve looked!)
February is National Time Management Month, which feels fitting. We start the year optimistic, downloading new productivity apps, reorganizing our inbox folders, and swearing this is the year we’ll finally achieve Inbox Zero. By mid-February? We’re negotiating with our calendars like hostage mediators.
Time is precious. It’s also wildly democratic. We all get the same 24 hours. The difference isn’t in how much time we have. It’s in how intentionally we spend it.
When my hair feels aflame, I come back to three simple practices that save me every time.
1. Decide What Actually Matters (Hint: It’s Not Everything)
Not all tasks are created equal. Some move the needle. Some just make noise.
When everything feels urgent, nothing is strategic.
I ask myself: If I could only accomplish three things this week that truly mattered, what would they be? Those become my non-negotiables. Everything else becomes secondary, delegated, delayed, or deleted.
High performers don’t do more things. They do the right things.
2. Schedule Your Priorities – Don’t Prioritize Your Schedule
If it’s not on your calendar, it’s a wish.
We tend to schedule meetings, calls, and other people’s needs first. Then we try to “fit in” the deep work that actually drives results. That’s backwards!
Block time for your most important work when your energy is highest. Protect it like you would a meeting with your CEO. Because in a way, it is. Your future self is counting on you.
Time doesn’t magically appear. It has to be claimed.
3. Stop Multitasking (It’s a Productivity Costume)
Multitasking feels productive. It looks impressive. It is mostly an illusion.
Every time we context-switch – email to spreadsheet to text message to meeting – we burn cognitive energy. We feel busy, but we’re slower and sloppier.
Try this instead: single-task in focused sprints. Twenty-five to fifty minutes of undistracted work. Notifications off. Door closed. Brain fully engaged. Then take a short break.
You’ll get more done in less time – and with far less stress.
When my hair feels like it’s on fire, it’s usually not because there’s too much to do. It’s because I haven’t decided what deserves my time.
Time is not something we manage perfectly. It’s something we steward intentionally.
You can’t own it. You can’t save it. But you can choose how you spend it.
And that choice? That’s powerful.
So in honor of National Time Management Month, here’s your gentle nudge: Protect your hours. Spend them wisely. Because an hour lost is never found.
And none of us has time to waste. 🔥