WEBVTT - Log your pauses

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to log your pauses when you stop

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<v Speaker 1>work for a little bit, see what you do and

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<v Speaker 1>how you feel. You might get some insights that will

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<v Speaker 1>help you get more done and take better breaks too.

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<v Speaker 1>People who build by the hour are used to noting

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<v Speaker 1>when they start and stop working and how long they

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<v Speaker 1>take for these breaks. When you are logging your work

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<v Speaker 1>day in six minute increments, you are aware of exactly

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<v Speaker 1>how long it takes to run a quick errand to

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<v Speaker 1>grab coffee, to take a call from your spouse to

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<v Speaker 1>coordinate dinner plans, or how long that quick personal email

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<v Speaker 1>check actually was. People who build this way are well

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<v Speaker 1>aware that working from nine to six does not mean

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<v Speaker 1>working nine hours. Most likely it wasn't even eight hours.

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<v Speaker 1>It might have been seven if you are really good

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<v Speaker 1>about focusing and moving like a machine from one thing

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<v Speaker 1>to the next. But if you are not billing in

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<v Speaker 1>six minute increments, you might not be aware of just

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<v Speaker 1>how much time goes to pauses or transitions. Now, let

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<v Speaker 1>me be clear, the goal is not to get rid

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<v Speaker 1>of them, because they are inevitable and in many cases desirable.

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<v Speaker 1>I certainly do not want anyone to feel guilty about

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<v Speaker 1>taking breaks or about chatting with colleagues. Instead, the goal

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<v Speaker 1>is just to be aware of where this time goes,

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<v Speaker 1>so you can ask it is working and what isn't.

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<v Speaker 1>Just as it is valuable to use a time log

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<v Speaker 1>to identify what you are mostly doing during each thirty

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<v Speaker 1>minute block of the day, it is also useful to

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<v Speaker 1>keep a pause log to track what you are actually

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<v Speaker 1>doing within those thirty minute blocks. For a few work days,

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<v Speaker 1>anytime you stop working, jot down the time, then record

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<v Speaker 1>the time when you start working again. Particularly if you

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<v Speaker 1>feel like there is more work then there are hours

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<v Speaker 1>in the work day, a pause log can help you

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<v Speaker 1>figure out whether there is an opportunity to fit more

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<v Speaker 1>in during the work day so you don't have to

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<v Speaker 1>stay late or work on weekends. Maybe you wind up

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<v Speaker 1>making a lot of calls for appointments and such. Could

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<v Speaker 1>you batch these They might need to happen during business hours,

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<v Speaker 1>But would you plan to start work at am some

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<v Speaker 1>day after consciously using nine to thirty for such things? Notice,

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<v Speaker 1>whether you're five minute break to check your personal email

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<v Speaker 1>or social media actually ends up being a twenty minute break,

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<v Speaker 1>and whether it's really worth the time. If your chats

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<v Speaker 1>with your work best friend average fifteen minutes per conversation,

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<v Speaker 1>that's great. But maybe you could coordinate eating your lunches

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<v Speaker 1>together so you get some extended catch up time and

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<v Speaker 1>don't have to keep feeling like you need to cut

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<v Speaker 1>the conversation short because you were in the middle of

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<v Speaker 1>doing something else. By paying attention to your pauses, you

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<v Speaker 1>may be able to reclaim some time for making forward

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<v Speaker 1>progress on your work. You may also get insight into

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<v Speaker 1>the pauses that energize you for the work ahead, as

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<v Speaker 1>opposed to those that just aren't yielding many benefits. After

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<v Speaker 1>a ten minute stretch break or walk around your floor,

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<v Speaker 1>you may feel ready to tackle an important project. On

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<v Speaker 1>the other hand, you may notice that the five minute breaks,

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<v Speaker 1>which are really more like fifteen minute breaks to check

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<v Speaker 1>social media, are almost never followed by much productive output.

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<v Speaker 1>Good to know. When you pay attention to how long

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<v Speaker 1>your breaks take and how your work goes after them,

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<v Speaker 1>you may be in a position to find some time

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<v Speaker 1>for getting more work done without staying late. You'll take

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<v Speaker 1>breaks that energize you, which can make work days feel better,

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<v Speaker 1>however long they happen to be. If you try logging

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<v Speaker 1>your pauses, I'd love to hear what you notice. You

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<v Speaker 1>can reach me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Don't get