'You Have More Time Than You Think,' argues author Laura Vanderkam

In the time it took you to log on to Facebook and discover that your high-school friend forgot to put on deodorant that morning, you could have strengthened your core, dashed off a long-overdue thank-you note and read the first few pages of that new time management book.

We, as a nation, are clearly conflicted about time. We work longer hours than any other industrialized country, but we also watch more TV — a lot more. We over-schedule our kids, but they still average more than seven hours of screen time a day.

So are we pressed for time or drowning in it? Maybe both. In her intriguing new book, "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think" (Portfolio, $25.95), Laura Vanderkam argues for keeping a time log for 168 consecutive hours (the number of hours in a week). If you work 50 hours and sleep 56 (eight hours a night), you're left with 62 hours. Sure, some of those are taken up by housework and other drudgery, but it's hard to argue that you can't find a couple of hours to hit the gym.

"We live in a very distracted world," Vanderkam says. "If you don't think through how you want to spend your time, you lose it to things that aren't very meaningful."

We chatted with Vanderkam about time management. In the interest of saving some of yours, we offer this five-step approach.

1. Check your supply. Not unlike budgeting your money, taking control of your time requires first taking stock of it. Vanderkam provides a spreadsheet in her book (and at my168hours.com) to log your hours for a week. If you're really ambitious, she recommends logging your minutes.

"We spend massive amounts of time on things — television, Web surfing, housework, errands — that give a slight amount of pleasure or feeling of accomplishment," Vanderkam writes, "but do little for our careers, our families or our personal lives."

2. Set goals. Vanderkam recommends a "List of 100 Dreams," which can contain everything from "Do a wine tour in Argentina" to "Maintain a stash of Trader Joe's dark-chocolate-covered caramels," both of which are on hers. The important thing is determining your priorities so you know how to spend your newfound time.

3. Decide what goes. We do, in fact, have limited time, so some things have to go. Maybe it's housework, says Vanderkam. "Many people still believe that 'caring for a family' means cooking, scrubbing, vacuuming, lunch packing, weeding and laundry, in addition to the emotional work of nurturing children's brains and souls. ... "

4. Own your downtime. Vanderkam recommends creating two lists: "In 30 minutes, I can ... " and "In 10 minutes or less, I can ... "

5. Reject busyness. Time management, in fact, may mean doing less. "One of the things I got out of interviewing successful people for the book is that I really try to do less with my time," Vanderkam says. "Choose a few things that really matter to you and get rid of as much else as you can."