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 log your pauses when you stop
Speaker 1: work for a little bit, see what you do and
Speaker 1: how you feel. You might get some insights that will
Speaker 1: help you get more done and take better breaks too.
Speaker 1: People who build by the hour are used to noting
Speaker 1: when they start and stop working and how long they
Speaker 1: take for these breaks. When you are logging your work
Speaker 1: day in six minute increments, you are aware of exactly
Speaker 1: how long it takes to run a quick errand to
Speaker 1: grab coffee, to take a call from your spouse to
Speaker 1: coordinate dinner plans, or how long that quick personal email
Speaker 1: check actually was. People who build this way are well
Speaker 1: aware that working from nine to six does not mean
Speaker 1: working nine hours. Most likely it wasn't even eight hours.
Speaker 1: It might have been seven if you are really good
Speaker 1: about focusing and moving like a machine from one thing
Speaker 1: to the next. But if you are not billing in
Speaker 1: six minute increments, you might not be aware of just
Speaker 1: how much time goes to pauses or transitions. Now, let
Speaker 1: me be clear, the goal is not to get rid
Speaker 1: of them, because they are inevitable and in many cases desirable.
Speaker 1: I certainly do not want anyone to feel guilty about
Speaker 1: taking breaks or about chatting with colleagues. Instead, the goal
Speaker 1: is just to be aware of where this time goes,
Speaker 1: so you can ask it is working and what isn't.
Speaker 1: Just as it is valuable to use a time log
Speaker 1: to identify what you are mostly doing during each thirty
Speaker 1: minute block of the day, it is also useful to
Speaker 1: keep a pause log to track what you are actually
Speaker 1: doing within those thirty minute blocks. For a few work days,
Speaker 1: anytime you stop working, jot down the time, then record
Speaker 1: the time when you start working again. Particularly if you
Speaker 1: feel like there is more work then there are hours
Speaker 1: in the work day, a pause log can help you
Speaker 1: figure out whether there is an opportunity to fit more
Speaker 1: in during the work day so you don't have to
Speaker 1: stay late or work on weekends. Maybe you wind up
Speaker 1: making a lot of calls for appointments and such. Could
Speaker 1: you batch these They might need to happen during business hours,
Speaker 1: But would you plan to start work at am some
Speaker 1: day after consciously using nine to thirty for such things? Notice,
Speaker 1: whether you're five minute break to check your personal email
Speaker 1: or social media actually ends up being a twenty minute break,
Speaker 1: and whether it's really worth the time. If your chats
Speaker 1: with your work best friend average fifteen minutes per conversation,
Speaker 1: that's great. But maybe you could coordinate eating your lunches
Speaker 1: together so you get some extended catch up time and
Speaker 1: don't have to keep feeling like you need to cut
Speaker 1: the conversation short because you were in the middle of
Speaker 1: doing something else. By paying attention to your pauses, you
Speaker 1: may be able to reclaim some time for making forward
Speaker 1: progress on your work. You may also get insight into
Speaker 1: the pauses that energize you for the work ahead, as
Speaker 1: opposed to those that just aren't yielding many benefits. After
Speaker 1: a ten minute stretch break or walk around your floor,
Speaker 1: you may feel ready to tackle an important project. On
Speaker 1: the other hand, you may notice that the five minute breaks,
Speaker 1: which are really more like fifteen minute breaks to check
Speaker 1: social media, are almost never followed by much productive output.
Speaker 1: Good to know. When you pay attention to how long
Speaker 1: your breaks take and how your work goes after them,
Speaker 1: you may be in a position to find some time
Speaker 1: for getting more work done without staying late. You'll take
Speaker 1: breaks that energize you, which can make work days feel better,
Speaker 1: however long they happen to be. If you try logging
Speaker 1: your pauses, I'd love to hear what you notice. You
Speaker 1: can reach me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
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