Why Doesn't More Free Time Make You Feel Better? The Truth About Time Freedom | Ep. 304
episode
PLAN GOAL PLAN | Goals, Transformation for Women, Mindful Time Management, Balance, Working Moms
27 min
2 speakers
5 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
She's a NASA flight surgeon, triple boarded ER physician, and mom of two toddlers. If anyone's earned the right to talk about rest and how hard it is to actually let yourself do it, it's Dr. Ann Sung. And this week, we're getting into it. Let's do this. Welcome to Plan Goal Plan, a podcast where ambition meets balance. I'm Danielle McGue. I'm a professor, speaker, mom, recovering overachiever, and self-leadership coach for high-achieving women. At the intersection of research, practice, and play, I discovered a path to planning and goal-setting that's bold, balanced, and sustainable. Together, we'll reclaim your time, empower your goals, and create a life where you thrive at work and at home. Grab a pen.
Let's get started.
Hey, Anne, welcome. I'm so excited that you're here. Amazing. Thank you, Danielle, of course, for the audience, for your presence and attention today as well.
Absolutely. So I know that right now you are in Greece and you are on a year and a half sabbatical from NASA. I would love to know a little bit about what inspired that decision, what's been shifting for you. What are you learning about rest, about time that maybe you couldn't have learned any other way?
I would say it's been an exponential transformation in just the two months we've been here and even just starting the sabbatical about six or seven months ago. I will say the purpose was that I wanted to teach my kids their emotional intelligence, like their EQ, resourcefulness, the models of the world before they turn seven, because most of it is one before they're seven. My son just turned four, my daughter's two, and actually I found out I was pregnant in Greece, so I have three now. Oh my gosh, congratulations. Thank you. So talk about meeting at rest. But that's the purpose, I guess, for me asking, really, truly having the courage to ask NASA for the sabbatical, which actually took me a year and a half.
Going back and forth, when I asked, I was actually ready to resign if I had to.
I think that a lot of people and women in particular really struggle to ask for the space to rest. I'd love for you to just describe what were some of the things that caused you to hesitate? What was going through your mind? What were you worried that would happen and what actually happened?
Yeah, yeah, for sure. So it took me about 16 years to, from decision to becoming an SFI surgeon. So essentially the decision was, would I give up what I worked for 16 years, the reputation, the title, the external validation that I worked so hard for, to have the experiences with my kids, to shape their world, essentially, to basically, it will affect their kids too. Whatever we do here, I think is going to affect their kids, generational effects. And then finally, after a year later, I think I just took the courage to say that if I don't ask for time with my children now, then nobody else will. So we can work, work, work for a long time. But your children depends on the parents. to really ask and draw boundaries, to really create those experiences for them.
And then finally, I think I just decided it's now because they're going to be five soon, I think quickly, five, six, seven. And I just don't want to wait anymore.
It's amazing. Kids are wonderful motivators and sometimes give us the courage to do the things that we wouldn't have done otherwise. So I'd love to know a little bit about what you're learning about time being in Greece. And I know that this is something that you already learned. think about a lot.
So I love know what's popping. Yeah. So I'll go sequential. The transformation was even within the sabbatical before traveling. And then also during the traveling, there's another exponential transformation for me. What I realized it's basically live testing my five stages to time freedom. That's what it's going on. But two months into the sabbatical, when I was still prepping for the trip, now I have all the time freed up. I don't have meetings anymore.
What motivated Dr. Ann Tsung to take a sabbatical from NASA?
I don't have the Monday to Friday and NASA anymore. So I started saying a lot of yeses to collaborations, conferences, et cetera.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:56
2
What motivated Dr. Ann Tsung to take a sabbatical from NASA?
3:56–21:01
3
How does Ann define the five stages of time freedom?
21:01–21:42
4
What is “fake time freedom” and why does it keep high‑achievers stressed?
21:42–24:10
5
How do the five stages differ between work and family life?
24:10–27:32
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from PLAN GOAL PLAN | Goals, Transformation for Women, Mindful Time Management, Balance, Working Moms
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Why Am I Still Tired After Vacation? The Rest You're Actually Missing | Ep. 302
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