Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to schedule the next step. When there's
Speaker 1: something you need to do but can't do it right now,
Speaker 1: put it on the calendar so you won't forget it
Speaker 1: when the right time does roll around. To the extent
Speaker 1: I can, I like to get things done while they're
Speaker 1: on my mind. Sometimes, though, we can know what the
Speaker 1: next step is, but we can't take that step until later.
Speaker 1: This happens with all kinds of things. Physician visits are
Speaker 1: a frustratingly common example. The provider recommends that you come
Speaker 1: back in a year, but then his or her office
Speaker 1: system only accepts appointments six months out. You don't want
Speaker 1: to find yourself next March realizing that you need to visit,
Speaker 1: and then not being able to get a convenient appointment,
Speaker 1: So best to put a reminder on your calendar for
Speaker 1: September so you can make the appointment you want. You
Speaker 1: schedule the next step. I've done something similar when making
Speaker 1: reservations for dinner at special restaurants or meals with characters
Speaker 1: at Disney World, which book out exactly a hundred eighty
Speaker 1: days in advance and Philip Fast. I've even made a
Speaker 1: note of when appointments for parent teacher conferences at my
Speaker 1: kids elementary school open up. I have a lot of kids.
Speaker 1: It is a massive time savings to get the appointments
Speaker 1: back to back, and I'm not going to get them
Speaker 1: back to back unless I'm there on the system soon
Speaker 1: after it opens. And I'm not going to magically wake
Speaker 1: up Tuesday morning remembering that the system is open. So
Speaker 1: the note goes on the calendar to take the next step,
Speaker 1: as do notes to cancel things. If I sign up
Speaker 1: for a free trial that I'm not intending to keep
Speaker 1: long term, well, best to cancel before I'm locked in.
Speaker 1: This is easy to forget, but not if I schedule
Speaker 1: the next step on the calendar. Scheduling the next step
Speaker 1: is also important when your next step can't happen until
Speaker 1: someone else has done their part. If there's a form
Speaker 1: you need to submit that is being mailed to you,
Speaker 1: for example, it can be helpful to write a note
Speaker 1: in your calendar for when the form should arrive. That way,
Speaker 1: you're reminded of follow up if it hasn't arrived. If
Speaker 1: it hasn't after you request the form again, you'll want
Speaker 1: to create a new calendar reminder for the date you're
Speaker 1: now expecting it. I find that scheduling the next step
Speaker 1: can be helpful, even for vague aspirations or things without
Speaker 1: an exact timeline. My husband and I gave our oldest
Speaker 1: child tickets to a musical for Christmas. Well, actually, we
Speaker 1: gave him a note saying he could pick the musical
Speaker 1: and we'd buy the tickets. We plan to go in
Speaker 1: late spring or summer, so I picked a random week
Speaker 1: in late winter to check on his musical choice and
Speaker 1: to figure out a more concrete plan. If this next
Speaker 1: step doesn't happen that particular, it's okay, but the point
Speaker 1: is to nudge that promise back up to the front
Speaker 1: of my brain. Of course, for a calendar reminder to
Speaker 1: be helpful, you have to actually look at your calendar.
Speaker 1: I make sure to study upcoming weeks during my weekly
Speaker 1: Friday planning session. I know that electronic calendars can send
Speaker 1: you a reminder automatically without you studying the whole calendar,
Speaker 1: but this doesn't always work. If the reminder is to
Speaker 1: call a restaurant at ten am on May one, and
Speaker 1: you don't actively plan that into your model of the week.
Speaker 1: You might find yourself at that time on May one
Speaker 1: in a place where you can't easily make a phone call.
Speaker 1: But if you do build these calendar surveys into your
Speaker 1: life regularly, the notes on the calendar can make you
Speaker 1: seem like the kind of person who has his or
Speaker 1: her act together, or at least you'll be the person
Speaker 1: eating at Cinderella's Royal table at Disney World because you
Speaker 1: requested those reservations right on time. How do you keep
Speaker 1: track of your next steps? You can let me know
Speaker 1: it Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the
Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at I
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: i heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Oh, don't