It's About Time | Time Management & Productivity for Work Life & Balance Always Busy? Here's Why You Never Have Time for What Matters
Jan 19, 2026
Feeling perpetually busy but never making progress? Discover why maintenance tasks like laundry and emails can consume your time without moving you forward. Learn about Parkinson's Law and how it relates to daily routines. Anna offers four transformative shifts to free up space for growth and joy, starting with observing your habits. Get tips on batching chores and reframing your mindset to prioritize what truly matters. Plus, experiment with scheduling meaningful activities to escape the cycle of maintenance mode.
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Maintenance Mode Steals Your Time
- Busy maintenance tasks can consume all available time without moving life forward.
- Anna Dearmon Kornick calls this being stuck in maintenance mode where doing feels productive but stalls growth.
Family Examples of Default Maintenance
- Anna describes her grandmother who was always cleaning and couldn't sit still, showing how maintenance becomes default across generations.
- She also notes her husband Scott naturally handles routine maintenance, which sometimes crowds out projects and fun.
Parkinson's Law Applies To Everyday Life
- Parkinson's Law applies beyond projects: maintenance expands to fill available time.
- Without boundaries, pebbles quietly stretch out and take over your schedule.
