Time Management for People with a Lot on Their Plate

If you’ve ever said, “There just aren’t enough hours in the day,” you’re not alone. When you’re balancing work, family, school, job applications—or maybe all of the above—it can feel impossible to carve out time for yourself.

That’s why we teach time management in the Career Development Program (CDP) not as a way to “do more,” but as a way to follow through on what matters most—your SMART Goal achieved in a timely manner through your backplan. And just like with any new skill, it starts with having a growth mindset: the belief that you can improve with time, effort, and practice.

SMART Goal → Backplan → Time Management

Let’s connect the dots:

• Your SMART Goal is what you want to accomplish

• Your backplan is the step-by-step path to get there

• Time management is how you stay on track—especially when life gets busy

If you’ve already created your SMART goal and backplan, now it’s about putting your plan into action week by week.

Example: Jasmine’s SMART Goal & Backplan

Jasmine’s SMART Goal:

“I will apply for a shift lead role in one month.”

Her backplan looked like this:

• Week 4 – Submit application

• Week 3 – Finalize resume and cover letter

• Week 2 – Ask for feedback from a current manager

• Week 1 – Take on a new responsibility at work

Here’s how Jasmine used time management to stay on track each week:

• Week 1

  • Reviewed the upcoming week on Sunday night and scheduled a conversation with her supervisor on Wednesday afternoon

  • Chose one new task to take on: learning the opening checklist

  • Set aside 30 minutes on Friday to practice the task independently

• Week 2

  • Followed up with her supervisor to ask for feedback on her performance

  • Wrote down two ways to improve and applied them to her next shift

  • Set a weekend reminder to start updating her resume

• Week 3

  • Scheduled two 30-minute evening sessions to update her resume and write a cover letter

  • Asked a friend to review her drafts and made small edits

  • Saved a final version and practiced describing her experience out loud

• Week 4

  • Blocked off an hour on Monday morning to submit the application

  • Sent a follow-up email to express interest in the role

  • Reflected on what worked well and what she’d do differently next time

Even when things got busy, Jasmine didn’t abandon her backplan. She adjusted. She kept tasks small, used her calendar to stay organized, and reminded herself that staying consistent was more important than being perfect.

What if you fall behind?

It’s normal to miss a task or fall behind. That doesn’t mean you failed—it means it’s time to update your plan.

Here’s how to revise your backplan with a growth mindset:

1. Look at the task you missed
Ask: Why didn’t this happen? Were you overbooked? Did something unexpected come up?

2. Rebuild your timeline
Shift everything forward by a few days or a week. Keep the order of steps the same, but make the timeline more realistic based on what’s going on in your life now.

3. Recommit to just the next step
Instead of worrying about the entire plan, focus on the next action. Put it on your calendar or planner today.

4. Remind yourself: this is part of the process
Missing a step doesn’t mean your goal is out of reach. Every plan changes. What matters is that you keep going.

Growth mindset in action sounds like:
“I didn’t finish it last week, but I’m resetting and trying again this week.”

Time management isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress.

It’s how you turn your backplan into action.

It’s how you build confidence.

And it’s how you practice showing up for yourself—even when things don’t go as planned.

You’ve got a SMART Goal. You’ve mapped out your backplan. Time management is the tool that makes it all happen—one block of time, one task, one step at a time.