Beyond the Clock: Time Management for Nonprofit Leaders

Wendy Kidd: 00:00:00

Time management isn't about control.

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It's about freedom.

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Freedom to focus on what matters most.

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Freedom to rest without guilt and

freedom to lead with clarity and purpose.

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As nonprofit leaders, we give so much

of ourselves to others, but your mission

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needs you healthy, rested, and present.

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Wendy: Welcome to The NonProfit

Nook, the podcast for nonprofit

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leaders, board members, and community

change makers who want to build

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stronger, smarter organizations.

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I'm your host, Wendy Kidd, a longtime

business owner and nonprofit leader,

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and I'm here to bring you real talk,

real tools and real stories to help

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you thrive in the nonprofit world.

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I'll be talking with local nonprofit

leaders, community change makers

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and experts in everything from board

development to fundraising and digital

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tools, sharing real stories and

simple strategies you can actually use

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because running a nonprofit is hard,

but you don't have to do it alone.

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Let's get started.

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Wendy Kidd: Hey friends, Wendy here.

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Welcome back to The Nonprofit Nook.

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This is my first solo pod, so welcome

to this little experiment of mine.

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I have so many topics that I've

thought about doing for this podcast,

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but what really keeps resonating

for me right now is time management.

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It's one of my favorite things.

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I know I'm a nerd.

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But before you roll your eyes and

think, oh, great, another person telling

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me how to do something that doesn't

work, stick with me for a minute.

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Because this isn't about cramming more

into your day or about telling you how to,

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you need to take things off your plate.

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It's about creating space

for what matters most to you.

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So many of my friends and colleagues

say to me, you're so organized, or

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How do you have time for everything?

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And I always respond with,

you have to make time.

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But what does that really mean?

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The reality of non-profit

leadership is we are always on.

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We're expected to be there for everyone.

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Our staff, our volunteers,

our board, our community.

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We're the ones holding things together,

but if we don't take care of ourselves,

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we can't hold anyone else up.

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It's like they always say when

the oxygen masks drop down,

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you have to put yours on first.

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But the reality is that doesn't

just apply to emergencies.

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When we don't manage our time

intentionally, we end up accessible

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to everyone all the time, calls,

texts, emails, at all hours.

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You know what I mean?

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That late night message from a board

member who's catching up after work or

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that early, early morning volunteer call.

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It's also all the meetings, last

minute meetings, pick up meetings

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when someone walks in, someone

always just wants to check in.

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It's not that they're trying to interrupt

you, they're just working when they can,

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but it can be overwhelming and in my

opinion, is the fastest way to burnout.

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Have you ever just felt like you wanted

to disappear so no one can find you?

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Yep.

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Been there, felt that?

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Here's the thing.

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We as leaders have to set boundaries.

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We need rest.

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We need time for our families.

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We need space to breathe so

we can keep showing up for

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others in a sustainable way.

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We even need to take time to be

creative and think outside the box.

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So we can keep leading.

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So how do we manage with intention

and not guilt because that's

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what we end up doing so often.

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First things first.

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You can't manage what you don't measure.

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If you've never done this before,

I want you to start by tracking

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how you actually spend your time.

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Do it for a week, or

better yet, two weeks.

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You can jot notes in a notebook,

use your calendar, or even

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download a fancy time tracking app.

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Whatever works for you and is easy,

something that's doable and manageable.

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Okay?

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Not something that adds a bunch of

time to your schedule, because we

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wanna capture your schedule as is.

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The key is to capture as

much detail as possible.

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Seriously, things like, I spent 45

minutes checking you email, or I spent

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30 minutes scrolling social media,

or an hour prepping for a meeting, or

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20 minutes trying to find that sign

I had made, and even the personal

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stuff, like 20 minutes getting my kid

dressed, or 30 minutes driving my kid

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back and forth to a school activity.

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45 minutes researching recipes and

creating a meal plan or an hour

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grocery shopping, whatever it is.

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Take note, make sure it's on your list

and at the end of that week or the two

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weeks, I want you to look at it honestly.

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I'm betting you're gonna be surprised.

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I know every time I do this, there's

always something that surprises me.

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And do yourself a favor.

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Don't judge yourself over what you see.

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It is no one's business.

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How much time you spend on social media

or watch tv or do anything else you

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might feel like you shouldn't be doing.

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Don't fall for the negativity trap.

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Just observe what's happening.

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You'll start to see patterns like when

you're most productive, where time slips

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away or even patterns on what your most

common interruptions or emergencies are.

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And yes, I'm using air quotes for

those not watching this on video

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because we all know how someone else's

emergency can affect your schedule.

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Now this is where most people

start using the word delegate when

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it comes to things on your plate.

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But I, uh, that's another podcast.

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In my opinion right now I'm

focused on how to make time.

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So let's just go with

what you're doing now.

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Now that you see where time

really goes, you can start making

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intentional choices about it, right?

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But let's not jump the gun.

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Next, I want you to write down

and say out loud your priorities

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for how you wanna spend your time.

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It sounds simple, but it's actually

really powerful because saying

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it out loud gives it weight.

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Putting in writing gives

it even more weight.

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So I want you to ask yourself,

what do I want more time for?

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What gives me energy, what drains

me, but I still have to get it done?

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Maybe your priorities are family dinners

or personal time for learning, or even

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just a dedicated space for strategy

work, not just putting out fires.

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When you know what truly matters,

it's easier to say yes with

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purpose, and no with confidence.

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And that's how you make time.

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Saying no will feel very weird at

first, but trust me, just just go

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with it a few times, see what happens.

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I bet you'll find it works wonders

on your schedule and you might

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find it becomes a little addictive.

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Don't worry.

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The freedom it gives you will feel good,

but I doubt you'll go overboard with this.

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Knowing what's important to you is

empowering, and honestly, once you

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realize it, you'll see that that's

what real time management is all about.

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Now, let's take those priorities that

you wrote down and that you said out loud

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and start building structure around them.

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This is where time blocking comes in.

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Time blocking means grouping similar

tasks together and assigning specific

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blocks of time to focus on them.

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For example, Mondays could be

for planning and staff check-ins.

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Tuesdays could be for

donor outreach or meetings.

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Wednesday nights, maybe those are

always for school activities, and

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maybe Fridays are for your creative

work or your long-term strategy.

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You might even block personal

time, which I hope you do for

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reading or exercise or just rest.

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And here's the trick.

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You have to treat those

blocks like appointments.

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I know it's hard, but you wouldn't

skip a board meeting, right?

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So don't skip your own

protected time either.

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This is how you create a week that

aligns with your values instead of

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reacting to everyone else's urgency.

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Once you've built your time block

calendar, I want you to commit

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to trying it for one month.

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I know sounds like a long time, but I

promise you you're gonna need that time.

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You wanna put it in your calendar

and you wanna really live in it.

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See what works, see

what doesn't take notes.

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And at the end of the month, I want

you to reflect not with judgment, but

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curiosity, and I want you to ask yourself

what felt easy about this new calendar?

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What was really hard to make work and

what would make this more realistic?

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And then I want you to tweak it.

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Now's the time to adjust because

good time management isn't rigid.

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It evolves as you do.

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The goal isn't perfection,

it's awareness and progress.

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This is gonna be one of those things

that just changes over time as your life

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changes, as your roles change, as your

commitments and your relationships change.

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And feel free to do this exercise over

and over because things just might change.

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This year has been a full year

of change for me, and I'm still

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in the works of figuring out my

new rhythm, my new time block.

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I'm gonna be honest with you, when you

start making these changes, you might

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also get some pushback from people.

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They're gonna notice, and

people don't love change.

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I'm one of the weirdos that does, but

most people don't love change, especially

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if your new boundaries make things

a little less convenient for them.

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Your board might need to adjust

how they communicate with you.

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Your staff might need more planning time

just to get on your calendar, and your

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family might notice the shift at first.

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But this isn't about them.

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It's about creating the

life you want and you need.

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And the best way to manage that

pushback is through clear communication.

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Communication solves most of the

world's problems, in my opinion.

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So you need to tell people what

you're doing and why you're doing it.

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You know, you could say things

like, I realized I need focus time

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to work on strategy, so I'm gonna

limit my meetings on certain days.

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I'm turning off notifications after

six o'clock so I can recharge, so I'll

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respond to any text to the next day.

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You don't owe anyone a big explanation.

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Just be confident in your

choices and they'll respect that.

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The more intentional you are

about your time, the more others

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will learn to respect it, even

if they didn't at the beginning.

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In the long run, they are also going

to notice how great it is for everyone.

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When you are stronger because of your

calendar, you'll probably feel less

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anxious and more put together, which is

gonna come across to those around you.

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It's a win-win.

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Now if you wanna nerd out like me and go

deeper into the how of time management,

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there are two books I absolutely love

and I recommend them to anyone who

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wants to learn more about this stuff.

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The first one is one that I

read, I don't know, decades ago.

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Uh, it's called Time Management

From The Inside Out by Julie

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Morgan Stern, Julie Shares.

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This really great story about

when she had her first kiddo and

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she was going to take them to the

park and she realized, oh wait.

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I'm gonna need this and I'm gonna

need that, and I'm gonna need this.

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And by the time she figured up all the

things that she needed to get outta

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the house with this kiddo and put

together her diaper bag, she realized

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she'd run outta time to go to the park.

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And she realized she needed

to change what was important.

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Her story about becoming a mom

and realizing she needed a plan

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for her time changed how I thought

about my time management and

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relating it back to my priorities.

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And the second one that I love

is Atomic Habits by James Clear.

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Now, this one's all about how to make.

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Habits and how to make small

and consistent changes that are

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gonna transform your daily life.

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So it fits really well with

the time management from Julie.

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And if you struggle like me sometimes

to stick with routines or you just

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wanna build better habits around

your time, this one's a game changer.

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I'll, of course, make sure to link both in

the show notes so you can check 'em out.

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So with all that said, here's

what I want you to remember.

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Time management isn't about control.

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It's about freedom.

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Freedom to focus on what matters most.

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Freedom to rest without guilt and

freedom to lead with clarity and purpose.

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As nonprofit leaders, we give so much

of ourselves to others, but your mission

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needs you healthy, rested, and present.

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So take the time, protect your time, plan

for your time, and make sure it reflects

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the life you actually want to live.

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I hope this helps you guys.

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That's it for today's episode

of The Nonprofit Nook.

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If this resonated with you, I'd

love to hear what changes you're

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planning to make this month.

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I'd love to have conversations about

this stuff, so reach out and remember,

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managing your time isn't about doing

more, it's about doing what matters most.

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Wendy: Thanks for listening

to The NonProfit Nook.

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We're building better nonprofits together.

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If you found today's episode

helpful, please subscribe.

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Leave a review and share it with other

nonprofit leaders who need support.

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Follow the nonprofit Nook on

social media and sign up for

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our email list for extra tips.

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And.

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You can also visit the nonprofit nook.com

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to see the show notes and leave a comment

telling me what topics you want next.

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Your feedback shapes the show.

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See you next time.