Episode 177 - How Time Management Coaching Changed Everything for Maev

4 ways to lower your resistance to planning

Have you ever reached the end of a workday feeling exhausted, frustrated, and wondering why time always seems to slip through your fingers, no matter how hard you try?

This week’s episode is a bit different. I’m joined by Dr. Maev Conneely, a client I worked with over the past year through my time management coaching programme. We have a really honest chat about what it’s actually like to work together, and how our coaching changed her relationship with time, without turning her into a productivity robot.

When Maev first came to me, she was constantly stressed about time. She’d over-committed herself (hello, people-pleasing), had zero awareness of how long things actually took, and was convinced there was something fundamentally wrong with her. Sound familiar?

Here’s the thing: most of us who struggle with time aren’t disorganised or lazy. We’re just trying to fit 47 hours of work into a 24-hour day whilst beating ourselves up for not being superhuman. The maths literally doesn’t add up, but we blame ourselves instead of the impossible equation.

Through our work together, Maev learned how to step out of last-minute urgency, stop running on adrenaline, and plan her days in a way that actually feels calm and doable. She shares what shifted for her around perfectionism and productivity, overcoming overcommitment, and letting go of all-or-nothing thinking. Plus, how time blocking methods and calendaring for productivity helped her stop working herself into the ground.

This episode is essentially Maeve’s testimonial if you’re wondering whether time management coaching might work for you, too.

Here’s what I cover:

- What life looked like before coaching (hint: stressful and unsustainable)
- Why “just be more productive” advice completely misses the point
- How time management for professionals is really about changing your relationship with time
- The concept of “does the maths actually add up?” and why this was a game-changer
- Moving from urgency and pressure to calm, intentional planning
- Why work-life balance coaching isn’t about doing less, but about being deliberate
- How perfectionism shows up in how we use our time (and keeps us stuck)
- Practical tools like time blocking and calendaring that actually work
- Creating productivity without burnout by being realistic about what’s possible
- Deciding what “enough” looks like, and giving yourself permission to stop
If you’re constantly exhausted, behind, and frustrated despite working incredibly hard, it’s probably not you. It’s an awareness problem, an expectations problem, and a “no one ever taught me how to do this properly” problem. With the proper support and a few key mindset shifts, you can feel so much calmer and more in control.

If this episode resonates with you, and you’re curious about what working together might look like, pop over to Instagram and say hello @kirstyknightcoaching. I’d genuinely love to hear what stood out for you and where you’re feeling stuck.

Grab a cuppa, settle in, and let this be the nudge you need to rethink how you’re spending your days.