WEBVTT - Make your calendar your to-do list

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to make your calendar your to do list.

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<v Speaker 1>Many people make to do lists that have little to

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<v Speaker 1>do with reality. Tying your intended tasks to specific times

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<v Speaker 1>on the calendar forces you to figure out what is

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<v Speaker 1>reasonable and what isn't. Today's tip comes from Jamie Sear's

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<v Speaker 1>new book, How to Love Teaching Again. This productivity book

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<v Speaker 1>is specifically aimed at teachers who want to spend more

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<v Speaker 1>time helping kids and less time getting caught up in

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<v Speaker 1>administrative work, but there are tips that people in lots

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<v Speaker 1>of different professions can use. Jamie point it's out that

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<v Speaker 1>for many people, to do lists are not terribly effective.

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<v Speaker 1>People put down everything that they might like to do

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<v Speaker 1>in life, and much of it appears very vague. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean they'll put things like math grading for teachers, or

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<v Speaker 1>maybe think about new clients or staffing problems with a

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<v Speaker 1>question mark what does that even mean? Here is the

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<v Speaker 1>real psychology of to do lists, Jamie writes. The list

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<v Speaker 1>becomes so overwhelming that your brain decides there is no

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<v Speaker 1>way that it can complete everything that's when you end

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<v Speaker 1>up using your plan time to gossip with your teacher bestie,

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<v Speaker 1>or you use your grading time to scroll through social media.

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<v Speaker 1>In other words, your to do list isn't a plan

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<v Speaker 1>for action. Instead, it's an excuse to procrastinate or set

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<v Speaker 1>yourself up to fail. Now, contrast a poorly constructed to

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<v Speaker 1>do list with a calendar. As Jamie notes, a calendar

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<v Speaker 1>is a list of things to do at a specific

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<v Speaker 1>hour or within a defined window of time on a

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<v Speaker 1>teacher's calendar. If it is time for teaching reading, the

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<v Speaker 1>teacher will teach reading. If it is time for a

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<v Speaker 1>meeting with a parent, the teacher will meet with a parent.

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<v Speaker 1>As a general rule, people do these things that are

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<v Speaker 1>on their calendars, whereas there is pretty good evidence that

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<v Speaker 1>people do not do a great many things that they

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<v Speaker 1>put on their to do lists. So why not use

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<v Speaker 1>your calendar as you're to do list? Long time listeners

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<v Speaker 1>know that I advocate carving out time on Friday for

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<v Speaker 1>planning the upcoming week. On Friday, you make your priority

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<v Speaker 1>list for the upcoming week. But then, rather than just

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<v Speaker 1>saying you want to research a potential client, you put

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<v Speaker 1>it on your calendar for eleven to twelve on Tuesday,

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<v Speaker 1>rather than saying you want to reach out to Bob,

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<v Speaker 1>you note that you will do that along with a

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<v Speaker 1>few other exploratory emails on Friday at one p m.

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<v Speaker 1>This habit does a few good things. One it acknowledges

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<v Speaker 1>this truth. Basically, every task takes some amount of time,

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<v Speaker 1>So if you are not willing to give the task

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<v Speaker 1>a specific time, that is a pretty good indication that

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<v Speaker 1>you aren't serious about doing it. So you might migrate

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<v Speaker 1>that to do that you don't intend to actually do

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<v Speaker 1>over to what David Allen calls a some day maybe list.

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<v Speaker 1>It is not an active intention anymore. This also forces

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<v Speaker 1>you to think about how long things will take. If

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<v Speaker 1>you have never managed to write a certain report in

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<v Speaker 1>less than two hours, then you will need to give

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<v Speaker 1>that task two hours now. Of course, at some point

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<v Speaker 1>it might become challenging to find spots for tasks amid

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<v Speaker 1>the other things that are on your calendar, like meetings,

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<v Speaker 1>which turn out to be tasks in and of themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>If these aren't tasks that you value, will maybe take

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<v Speaker 1>a good look and see if they need to be there.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe they do, maybe they don't. But using your calendar

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<v Speaker 1>as you are to do list forces you to see

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<v Speaker 1>that you cannot do eight one hour tasks plus at

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<v Speaker 1>ten three one hour meetings. If you arrive at work

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<v Speaker 1>at nine and need to leave at five pm for

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<v Speaker 1>a daycare pickup, that is not a matter of how

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<v Speaker 1>motivated you are or how good you are at your job.

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<v Speaker 1>It is just a matter of physics. Now to be sure,

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<v Speaker 1>Jamie adds the caveat that you are going to need

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<v Speaker 1>to be somewhat flexible here life happens. A teacher might

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<v Speaker 1>plan to do something before school, but a parent asks

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<v Speaker 1>to meet about a child who is floundering, and the

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<v Speaker 1>teacher wants to take the opportunity to brainstorm together. Or

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<v Speaker 1>maybe the fire alarm goes off during a planning period.

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<v Speaker 1>People in any job can experience the unexpected, So Jamie

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<v Speaker 1>recommends building in a few open slots on the calendar

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<v Speaker 1>thirty minutes here and there to absorb tasks that need

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<v Speaker 1>to move or unexpected ones that come up. She, like me,

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<v Speaker 1>tries to leave Friday's available slots as open as possible.

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<v Speaker 1>I think this idea can work for a great many

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<v Speaker 1>people who have fairly set schedules, like teachers, or many

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<v Speaker 1>people in corporate roles with a lot of meetings. It

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<v Speaker 1>can also be helpful for people in any sort of

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<v Speaker 1>role who have trouble making short to do lists. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>if you are a self employed podcaster who has more

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<v Speaker 1>control over her calendar and who has been tracking her

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<v Speaker 1>time for eight straight years, maybe you can do things

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<v Speaker 1>a little differently. But even if I don't calendar my tasks,

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<v Speaker 1>when I make to do lists for a day, I

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<v Speaker 1>never put anything on there that I do not truly

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<v Speaker 1>intend to do in the hours I have. That is

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<v Speaker 1>the point of using your calendar as a to do list,

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<v Speaker 1>and so we are really all getting at the same thing.

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<v Speaker 1>If you try using your calendar as a to do list,

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<v Speaker 1>let me know how it goes. And if you are

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<v Speaker 1>a teacher or just like productivity strategies in general, please

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<v Speaker 1>check out Jamie Sears's book How To Love Teaching Again,

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<v Speaker 1>which is newly out this month. In the meantime, this

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>moose of our times. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear

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<v Speaker 1>from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p O D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com

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<v Speaker 1>that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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