COVER FEATURE
with Justin Fankhauser
It’s all about you Start making time for your number one fan – you. Time styler Kate Christie talks to Get it editor Elizabeth Campbell about how to win back 30 hours a month. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? s you read this, you’re most likely battling an unrealistic deadline, talking to your child/husband/mum/bestie on the phone, updating your Facebook status, emailing yourself a few to dos and thinking about your weekend away with the girls and what you’re going to pack… and that’s just this second. No wonder we are overwhelmed, anxious and stressed out. You’ve probably asked yourself, ‘how on earth do you get more time in the day?’. How does 30 hours a month sound? Time-management expert Kate Christie says she helps women get back precious time to spend on themselves. Thirty. Hours. A. Month. That’s an hour a day just for you.
April 2016
Ask the next person you greet in the street “How are you?” and chances are the response will be “I’m busy!”. Busyness seems to have acquired significant social status, says the Time Stylers’ founder and director. “But don’t be fooled, busyness is not a badge of honour. It’s an insidious, time-sapping disease. I truly believe that busyness is a lifestyle choice and you can choose not to be so out of control. I challenge you to reject being ‘busy’. Stop being constantly accessible. Stop saying ‘yes’ to every request that comes your way. Stop letting your kids have a week full of after-school activities,” she says. In getting back your 30 hours of
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lost time a month, Kate says it’s crucial you spend at least some of that time on yourself. “Put it this way, if you eventually burn out trying to ‘do it all’ you will be replaced by a team of people to pick up where you left off. So, if it takes a team to replace you, how can you honestly maintain the pace of doing it all yourself? ‘Me time’ is critical to your health, happiness and for you to be the best version of you.” Aristotle said, ‘We are what we repeatedly do.’ In other words, we are creatures of habit, says Kate, so it’s crucial to implement and then sustain great time-management habits. “Managing your time well is not about