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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to schedule the next step. When there's

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Speaker 1: something you need to do but can't do it right now,

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Speaker 1: put it on the calendar so you won't forget it

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Speaker 1: when the right time does roll around. To the extent

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Speaker 1: I can, I like to get things done while they're

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Speaker 1: on my mind. Sometimes, though, we can know what the

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Speaker 1: next step is, but we can't take that step until later.

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Speaker 1: This happens with all kinds of things. Physician visits are

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Speaker 1: a frustratingly common example. The provider recommends that you come

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Speaker 1: back in a year, but then his or her office

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Speaker 1: system only accepts appointments six months out. You don't want

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Speaker 1: to find yourself next March realizing that you need to visit,

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Speaker 1: and then not being able to get a convenient appointment,

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Speaker 1: So best to put a reminder on your calendar for

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Speaker 1: September so you can make the appointment you want. You

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Speaker 1: schedule the next step. I've done something similar when making

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Speaker 1: reservations for dinner at special restaurants or meals with characters

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Speaker 1: at Disney World, which book out exactly a hundred eighty

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Speaker 1: days in advance and Philip Fast. I've even made a

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Speaker 1: note of when appointments for parent teacher conferences at my

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Speaker 1: kids elementary school open up. I have a lot of kids.

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Speaker 1: It is a massive time savings to get the appointments

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Speaker 1: back to back, and I'm not going to get them

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Speaker 1: back to back unless I'm there on the system soon

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Speaker 1: after it opens. And I'm not going to magically wake

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Speaker 1: up Tuesday morning remembering that the system is open. So

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Speaker 1: the note goes on the calendar to take the next step,

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Speaker 1: as do notes to cancel things. If I sign up

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Speaker 1: for a free trial that I'm not intending to keep

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Speaker 1: long term, well, best to cancel before I'm locked in.

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Speaker 1: This is easy to forget, but not if I schedule

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Speaker 1: the next step on the calendar. Scheduling the next step

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Speaker 1: is also important when your next step can't happen until

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Speaker 1: someone else has done their part. If there's a form

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Speaker 1: you need to submit that is being mailed to you,

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Speaker 1: for example, it can be helpful to write a note

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Speaker 1: in your calendar for when the form should arrive. That way,

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Speaker 1: you're reminded of follow up if it hasn't arrived. If

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Speaker 1: it hasn't after you request the form again, you'll want

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Speaker 1: to create a new calendar reminder for the date you're

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Speaker 1: now expecting it. I find that scheduling the next step

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Speaker 1: can be helpful, even for vague aspirations or things without

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Speaker 1: an exact timeline. My husband and I gave our oldest

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Speaker 1: child tickets to a musical for Christmas. Well, actually, we

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Speaker 1: gave him a note saying he could pick the musical

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Speaker 1: and we'd buy the tickets. We plan to go in

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Speaker 1: late spring or summer, so I picked a random week

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Speaker 1: in late winter to check on his musical choice and

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Speaker 1: to figure out a more concrete plan. If this next

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Speaker 1: step doesn't happen that particular, it's okay, but the point

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Speaker 1: is to nudge that promise back up to the front

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Speaker 1: of my brain. Of course, for a calendar reminder to

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Speaker 1: be helpful, you have to actually look at your calendar.

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Speaker 1: I make sure to study upcoming weeks during my weekly

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Speaker 1: Friday planning session. I know that electronic calendars can send

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Speaker 1: you a reminder automatically without you studying the whole calendar,

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Speaker 1: but this doesn't always work. If the reminder is to

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Speaker 1: call a restaurant at ten am on May one, and

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Speaker 1: you don't actively plan that into your model of the week.

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Speaker 1: You might find yourself at that time on May one

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Speaker 1: in a place where you can't easily make a phone call.

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Speaker 1: But if you do build these calendar surveys into your

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Speaker 1: life regularly, the notes on the calendar can make you

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Speaker 1: seem like the kind of person who has his or

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Speaker 1: her act together, or at least you'll be the person

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Speaker 1: eating at Cinderella's Royal table at Disney World because you

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Speaker 1: requested those reservations right on time. How do you keep

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Speaker 1: track of your next steps? You can let me know

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Speaker 1: it Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In

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Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd

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Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

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Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

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Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the

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Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at I

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Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out

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Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

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Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

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Speaker 1: i heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Oh, don't