1
00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:08,400
Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

2
00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:14,800
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

3
00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:22,080
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to celebrate what you've done, Especially when

4
00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:25,120
Speaker 1: you're working from home and not commuting anywhere. It can

5
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,200
Speaker 1: be easy to feel like you haven't done much of anything,

6
00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:35,840
Speaker 1: but you probably have so best to notice that. When

7
00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,320
Speaker 1: I first began working from home almost twenty years ago,

8
00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:44,760
Speaker 1: I found the switch from an office job disorienting. I

9
00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,320
Speaker 1: was used to getting up and getting into fancy clothes

10
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,880
Speaker 1: and then taking a train and two buses to get

11
00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,120
Speaker 1: to work. As you might imagine, that process had to

12
00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:57,720
Speaker 1: be reversed to get home. Moving myself around so much

13
00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,560
Speaker 1: meant that by evening, whatever else had happened that day,

14
00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:06,480
Speaker 1: I'd feel like I'd done a lot, and then suddenly

15
00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,240
Speaker 1: I wasn't going much of anywhere. Not only that, no

16
00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,120
Speaker 1: one was monitoring when I started working or when I stopped.

17
00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,000
Speaker 1: If I didn't get much done on any particular day,

18
00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:23,640
Speaker 1: there was absolutely no hiding that fact from myself. Eventually

19
00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,640
Speaker 1: I got better at the rhythms of daily life, but

20
00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,240
Speaker 1: one thing that helped me feel productive is learning to

21
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,560
Speaker 1: make challenging but doable task lists for each day and

22
00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,679
Speaker 1: then making sure I ended the day with everything crossed off.

23
00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,200
Speaker 1: If I did something that wasn't on the task list,

24
00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:43,680
Speaker 1: I'd write it after doing it, and then I'd cross

25
00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,959
Speaker 1: it off. I know that sounds silly, and yes it

26
00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,320
Speaker 1: is kind of silly, but the crossing off was important

27
00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,600
Speaker 1: for me mentally. It was my way of celebrating what

28
00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:59,120
Speaker 1: I'd done. Crossing items off a list is one approach,

29
00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:01,960
Speaker 1: but you can also just go straight to the celebration

30
00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,160
Speaker 1: part at the end of the day. Get in the

31
00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:09,240
Speaker 1: habit of listing the tasks you've accomplished. You might call

32
00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:11,639
Speaker 1: this your done lists, or even if you want to

33
00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,000
Speaker 1: be cute, a two done list, not just a to

34
00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,680
Speaker 1: do list. If you've got a supervisor, this would make

35
00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:23,720
Speaker 1: a great end of day email. Your supervisor can't read

36
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,160
Speaker 1: your mind, and it's harder to keep tabs on things

37
00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:31,359
Speaker 1: with remote workers. This done list keeps you accountable. Let's

38
00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,239
Speaker 1: your manager give you feedback and let's be honest. Will

39
00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,560
Speaker 1: likely lead to a great job note that will help

40
00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,359
Speaker 1: you in the day well too. You can share your

41
00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,280
Speaker 1: list with team members as well, not so much for

42
00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,720
Speaker 1: seeking validation as just to keep everyone up to date.

43
00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,760
Speaker 1: They'll probably share what they've done with you, which you

44
00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,600
Speaker 1: can applaud. If you've got direct reports, you might ask

45
00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,120
Speaker 1: them to send you a done list so you can

46
00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,320
Speaker 1: keep tabs on what's going on and give them lots

47
00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,840
Speaker 1: of high fives as well. This habit does a couple

48
00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:10,120
Speaker 1: of good things. First, it keeps everyone focused on what's

49
00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:14,359
Speaker 1: getting done. Sometimes we can measure work days and hours,

50
00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,040
Speaker 1: as in I put in my eight, but honestly, who

51
00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:22,040
Speaker 1: cares about the time. What usually matters is what you

52
00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:27,600
Speaker 1: did with it. A done list keeps you accountable for results.

53
00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:33,400
Speaker 1: It can also make you feel really good. There are

54
00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,680
Speaker 1: always things you've done, even if it's not necessarily what

55
00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,440
Speaker 1: you intended to do at the beginning of the day.

56
00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,240
Speaker 1: Sometimes we can get derailed from our to do lists,

57
00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,960
Speaker 1: but we never get derailed from our done list because well,

58
00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,200
Speaker 1: it's in the past. If you are supposed to do

59
00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:52,240
Speaker 1: eight things and you did five of them but did

60
00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:54,760
Speaker 1: five other things, well you may need to work on

61
00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,119
Speaker 1: your to do list making skills, but there is no

62
00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,200
Speaker 1: reason not to celebrate the ten things that did happen.

63
00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,040
Speaker 1: And finally, creating a done list is a great way

64
00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,560
Speaker 1: to end the day. Once you've listed what you've done.

65
00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:15,360
Speaker 1: You can actually be done when you work from home

66
00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,719
Speaker 1: and don't have an end of day commute, creating a

67
00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,839
Speaker 1: boundary around work. This can be a smart way to

68
00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,600
Speaker 1: create such a boundary. You think back over the day,

69
00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,120
Speaker 1: you celebrate all the good stuff you made happen, and

70
00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,800
Speaker 1: then you can shut down your laptop and move on

71
00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,800
Speaker 1: to the rest of your life. So, if you are

72
00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:39,039
Speaker 1: looking for a way to make work from home days

73
00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:44,000
Speaker 1: feel more productive, try making a done list. You just

74
00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:50,440
Speaker 1: might surprise yourself with how good it feels. In the meantime,

75
00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:55,679
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

76
00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:04,880
Speaker 1: the most of our time. M m Hey everybody, I'd

77
00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,320
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

78
00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:12,000
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

79
00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:17,560
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b the number four,

80
00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,600
Speaker 1: then breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

81
00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:25,279
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

82
00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,000
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

83
00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:30,840
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

84
00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:39,520
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.

85
00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,000
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I

86
00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,599
Speaker 1: heart radio, app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to

87
00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:47,480
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.