#147: Which of the following two attitudes describes you? "I'm crunched for time." -- or -- "I have all the time in the world." I'm guessing your answer is the first, rather than the second. But what if you could feel like your time is expansive and abundant, without drastic changes to your schedule? Most of us want to feel "off the clock," enjoying an existence in which we can linger, without feeling pressure from the demands and stresses on our schedules. According to Laura Vanderkam, even the busiest, most-scheduled people can achieve this feeling. We can live off-the-clock. Laura is a time management expert, but her latest book isn't about *management* in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, it focuses on *time perception* -- getting into the headspace of believing time is abundant, regardless of the demands imposed upon it. The brain stores memories efficiently, which means it vividly recalls novel experiences -- such as the one-week trip to Belize -- while compressing repetitive experiences, like a commute, into a single memory. For that reason, time feels like it passes more quickly when we encounter situations that are routine and familiar, and slows when we experience new situations. That's how a one-week conference feels long, but a routine week at the office flies by. Of course, we can't eschew familiarity; there are many benefits to adopting a routine. But we can slow time by savoring our everyday experiences. The more we engage mindfully in everyday activities -- from savoring each bite of food to noticing the flowers during our commute to work -- the more we're likely to feel relaxed about our time. We create happy memories, rather than compressing our experiences in our minds. Treating our hours with intention can also lengthen our experience of time. We plan and structure our workdays, deciding how to spend our hours between 8 am and 6 pm. But often, we aren't deliberate about how we'll craft the hours from 6 pm to 11 pm, and therefore can feel like we rarely see family, even if we're with them for three to four hours each evening. Deliberately crafting hours doesn't mean jam-packing our schedule in 30-minute increments. Scheduling a two-hour block of time to linger over a long dinner can blend intentionality with the art of savoring. In fact, Laura notes, those who are the most disciplined about their time are also more likely to feel that they enjoy plenty of free time. Structure creates freedom. Today on the podcast, Laura and I talk about how to make time feel abundant. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode147 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#145: When Rand Fishkin was 25 years old, he carried $500,000 in credit card debt. Less than a decade later, Rand was the Founder and CEO of a company that grossed $35 million in annual revenue. In this podcast episode, Rand shares the story of hitting his financial rock-bottom and making the ultimate comeback. _______ The saga began in 2001, when then-22-year-old Rand dropped out of his senior year of college to grow a business with his mom. His mom Gillian owned a small marketing company that helped local businesses with tasks like placing ads in Yellow Pages. (If you don't know what that is, ask someone over 30.) Rand had an early entrepreneurial streak, and had spent the late 1990's and early 2000's working part-time for his mom's business. By his senior year, he was ready to dive in full-time. Gillian and Rand both realized the internet was more than a passing fad. Households were switching from dial-up modems to broadband connections. Clients were more interested in websites than Yellow Pages ads. The mother-son duo decided to start designing websites for local businesses. From 2001 to 2004, they hired contractors, rented office space, hosted booths at conferences, and purchased advertising. They paid for most of this with personal credit cards in Rand's name. By 2004, they'd accumulated $150,000 in credit card debt. Then they defaulted. They couldn't make the minimum payments anymore. The interest and late fees grew this balance to an astronomical $500,000. They decided not to declare bankruptcy. Instead, they took a two-pronged approach: Rand's mom spent the next three years negotiating with creditors, getting big chunks of the interest and late fees waived in exchange for making payments on the principle balance. Meanwhile, Rand focused on growing the business. Several of his clients needed help with a specific aspect of internet marketing called search engine optimization, or SEO. Rand began researching SEO tactics and started a blog to share his findings. This blog attracted new clients, and soon Rand developed a reputation as an SEO expert. He created a company called SEOMoz, later rebranded as Moz, to offer consulting services for businesses. After a few years, his company started developing and selling subscriptions to SEO software tools, as well. By the time Rand stepped down from his role as CEO, the company had raised multiple rounds of funding and was collecting $35 million in annual revenue. But there's a difference between a company's earnings and the personal income of its founders. Today, Rand and his wife still have a liquid net worth that's less than one million. How did Rand transition from carrying $500,000 in debt to becoming the founder and CEO of a successful eight-figure company? Why isn't he a millionaire yet? And what lessons about entrepreneurship and finance can he share with the world? Find out in this podcast episode. ___ P.S. Rand's wife, Geraldine DeRuiter, is a hilarious travel writer and an alumni guest of this podcast. You can listen to her interview in Episode 77. http://podcast.affordanything.com/9-years-nonstop-travel-geraldine-deruiter-everywhereist/ P.P.S. If you'd like to learn more about starting a blog, check out this free tutorial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices