Do you wish you had extra hours in your day to accomplish all the things you have to get done? Or to get to the gym? Or find some “me time”? You’re not alone. There are tools that can help you maximize your time management and avoid decision fatigue. Tune in to hear great tips on utilizing the time you do have and how to schedule your week. This week, Jenn is joined by Time Management Expert, Megan Sumrell. After becoming a mom, Megan realized that her time management needed to change, she had too much to do and never felt like she had enough time to complete it all. She created her 5-step Time Management Solution and is now helping women everywhere restructure their schedules to ease decision fatigue and stress. Megan shares her 5-step planning process during this episode, including how to keep it realistic and not beat yourself up if your schedule doesn’t go according to plan. Her tips help make time management achievable, no matter how busy you are! Tune in to learn more about making your life and schedule a bit easier! The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast is hosted by Jenn Trepeck, discussing wellness and weight loss for real life, clearing up the myths, misinformation, bad science & marketing surrounding our nutrition knowledge and the food industry. Let’s dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store. IN THIS EPISODE: ● [6:14] Where did Megan figure out all the time management skills for productivity? ● [8:45] What are the faults in the typical time management systems?● [11:43] How do we identify our relationship with time?● [19:01] Megan discusses the brain science and physical science behind her management system. ● [22:09] How can people add things into their day to replenish willpower as well as remove things that cause decision fatigue? ● [23:42] Where is the best place to start when organizing your time? ● [28:32] Megan walks through her 5 steps of weekly planning. ● [34:23] What is the best approach to being realistic about how long things take? ● [37:05] How do you stick to your schedule?KEY TAKEAWAYS: ● [19:58] Operating from a to-do list keeps you in a daily state of decision fatigue. By the end of the day, when you are in full decision fatigue mode, your brain cannot make good choices.  ● [23:43] A weekly audit is a great place to start when looking at what you can do differently in your schedule. Look for patterns and understand how much of your life is spent in rapid fire context switching to see where there are some possible efficiencies. ● [29:07] The most transformative thing you can do for your schedule is to acknowledge the unavailable time or busy time in your day and block it off on your schedule. This could be when you are up in the morning making breakfast and getting lunches packed, or time when you kids get home from school and you have things to do. Usually we try to fill this time with other things, but it is a necessity to block it out so those things can be done. QUOTES: [12:33] “When we’re in control, that means we’re deciding how we’re spending our time, what we’re saying yes to, when we’re doing it, and we have really good boundaries with that.” - Megan Sumrell[20:03] “Every time you look at your to-do list, you’re having to make a decision and now your brain - more gas is taken out of it. So by the end of the day, you’re in full decision-fatigue mode and your brain can’t make good choices. This often ties into why at the end of the day, we hit the panty and make bad health choices as well. It’s not because you don’t have willpower, it's not because you’re not a good person, it’s because your brain is done. You’ve maxed it out, it’s in full on decision fatigue.” - Megan Sumrell[25:00] "What's really powerful with this planning system is one of the things you’re looking for in your time audit is this, how much of my time on average each week is spent dealing with things I had no idea was coming had to be dealt with in that week, and I call this planning for uncertainty, and it’s different for everybody and it’s different in different seasons of our life.” - Megan Sumrell[37:06] “Your plan does not confine you, it supports the goals that you have in your life.” - Megan Sumrell"It’s not that there isn’t enough time in the day, it’s not that you’re a poor planner. Rather it’s simply time to shift our relationship with time and adopt an approach to time management that better fits our modern lives." - Jenn TrepeckRESOURCES:Become A Member of Salad with a Side of FriesJenn’s Free Menu PlanA Salad With a Side of FriesA Salad With A Side Of Fries MerchA Salad With a Side of Fries InstagramGUEST RESOURCES:Megan Sumrell's InstagramMegan Sumrell's FacebookWork Life Harmony YouTubeMegan Sumrell's LinkedInMegan Sumrell's WebsiteBIO:Megan Sumrell is a former corporate techie turned entrepreneur.As a business owner, mom, and wife, she knows exactly how hard it is to juggle #allthethings while still maintaining your own sense of self and purpose. When her daughter was born in 2010, life as she knew it completely changed. After struggling to manage work, motherhood, and family, Megan set about a new way to manage her time and organize her calendar. She took her 20+ year career in systems and processes and applied it to one of her favorite things... time management!As a Time Management Expert for women seeking Work+Life Harmony, Megan teaches specific strategies to help women get on top of their time, calendar and goals while getting rid of stress, overwhelm, and exhaustion.Her proprietary planning approach is the only 'feminine' planning system that works from the 'bottom up'. Her courses and planner teach exactly how to plan your weeks and days to maximize productivity efficiently, while still allowing for flexibility and down time.