1 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: This week we're talking about tips from Gretchen Reuben's new 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,960 Speaker 1: book Outer Order, inter Calm. Today's tip is to assign 5 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 1: each day its own task. Gretchen tells us that I 6 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: love Laura Ingles Wilder's book Little House in the Big Woods, 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: and even as a child, I was fascinated by the 8 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,559 Speaker 1: idea of assigning a particular household chore to each day 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: of the week. According to Laura Ingles Wilder, wash on Monday, 10 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: iron on Tuesday, mend on Wednesday, churn on Thursday, clean 11 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 1: on Friday, bake on Saturday, rest on Sunday. Gretchen notes 12 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: that this approach can be adapted to the work week 13 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: for tasks that are best done periodically. You might update 14 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: spreadsheets on Monday, process expense receipts on Tuesday, work on 15 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: monthly reports on Wednesday, invoice on Thursday, make phone calls 16 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: on Friday. The upside of such rules is that working 17 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: regularly on projects becomes a habit. You know you'll never 18 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: fall too far behind on your expense reports. If every 19 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,199 Speaker 1: Tuesday you take a little bit of time to work 20 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:25,040 Speaker 1: on them. Gretchen cautions, however, that this notion of assigning 21 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: certain kinds of work to certain days might not appeal 22 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: equally to each of the four tendencies. The Four Tendencies 23 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: is a research backed personality framework that Gretchen came up 24 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: with that is about how people respond to different expectations, 25 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: both outer expectations and inner ones. She found that people's 26 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: responses tended to fall into four categories. Upholders respond well 27 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: to both inner and outer expectations. Questionners don't like outer 28 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: expectations but are good with inner ones. Obligers have trouble 29 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: keeping promises to themselves, but would never let anyone else down. 30 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: Rebels don't like expectations in general, whether they come from 31 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: inside or outside. If you'd like to find out your tendency, 32 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: you can take the quiz at quiz dot Gretchen Reuben 33 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: dot com, and of course it's explained in her book 34 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: The Four Tendencies. In case you're curious, eye, this is 35 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: Laura here and an upholder, which was probably obvious to 36 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: anyone who listened to the episode about my nine plus 37 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: day running streak. I'll also fesce up to being the 38 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: person behind the anonymous anecdote in Gretchen's book The Four Tendencies, who, 39 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: despite being deep in labor with her fourth child, insisted 40 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: that her husband observe all traffic laws on the way 41 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: to the hospital and park in the correct lot. Gretchen 42 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: is also an upholder, and as she noted, the idea 43 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: of a daily schedule for tasks fills her with delight. 44 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: But she says, if you think the schedule seems arbitrary, 45 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: you're probably a question er. If you're wondering if you'll 46 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 1: be able to stick to this schedule, you're likely to 47 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: be an obliger. If the very thought of being trapped 48 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: by a schedule makes you want to run out the 49 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: door and into the big woods, you're probably a rebel. 50 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: So do you like the idea of assigning each day 51 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,919 Speaker 1: a task? I do this with my blog, doing certain 52 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: sorts of posts on Monday's, Tuesdays, and Friday's. I generally 53 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 1: planned my weeks on Friday's, and I sent in the 54 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: following week's lineup for the Before Breakfast podcast on Monday's. 55 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: Let me know what you think of the idea and 56 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,239 Speaker 1: which tasks you assigned to which days you could also 57 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: let me know which of the four tendencies best describes you. 58 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: As always, you can email me at Before Breakfast podcast 59 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: at i heeart media dot com. In the meantime, this 60 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making the 61 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear 62 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 63 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook 64 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, 65 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: then breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me 66 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media 67 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all 68 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying 69 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. 70 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i 71 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 72 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.