1 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: tip is about how to build a reputation for being 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:22,479 Speaker 1: reliable even if life isn't conspiring to help you out 5 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: in that regard. I know many people listening to this 6 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: podcast pride themselves on doing what they say they'll do. 7 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,200 Speaker 1: I also know that this is easier for some people 8 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: than others, in ways that a lot of the productivity 9 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: literature out there doesn't always consider. I recently got a 10 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: note from a listener who asked what I suggested for 11 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: people with unpredictable or chronic medical issues. I know that 12 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: I have come off as unreliable at times due to 13 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: my chronic pain, and I don't like being perceived that way, 14 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: our listener writes, I agree, it's incredibly frustrating to be 15 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: seen as unreliable when it's really not your fault. I 16 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: know I'm fortunate not to be dealing with these specific 17 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: issues of a chronic medical condition, but I do have 18 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: four children, and when you are a caregiver for other people, 19 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: there are so many more logistics that must be dealt 20 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: with that sometimes could make you seem unreliable as well, 21 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: and this is one reason I sometimes get frustrated with 22 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: productivity literature written by people who aren't in that position 23 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 1: and have never even considered what would happen if a 24 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: babysitter calls in sick, or the nurse calls because your 25 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 1: kid needs to be picked up at school. Last year, 26 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: I had the experience of getting a note that one 27 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: of my books, one hundred and sixty eight Hours, was 28 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: being included on a list of the best time management 29 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: books of all time. Wow. Very exciting. Literally the next 30 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: minute I was on the phone with our school system's 31 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: bus dispatcher. She told me that the school bus was 32 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: not going to be able to get down our street 33 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: due to some work that was suddenly being done, so 34 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: somebody would need to go stand on a street corner 35 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: A ways a way to go my children. I was 36 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: curious how many other authors on that time management book 37 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: list we're dealing with such issues at that moment. That said, 38 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: I do believe that even if there are parts of 39 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,839 Speaker 1: life you can't control, there are also parts you can, 40 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:18,639 Speaker 1: and it is possible to build a reputation for being 41 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,399 Speaker 1: reliable even if you are dealing with far more complicated 42 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: circumstances than someone who's major worry is whether he'll make 43 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: it home in time for Monday night football. Anyone dealing 44 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: with major life complications should do a few things. First, 45 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: take care of yourself. Most of us do better when 46 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: we are well rested, well fed, and moving our physical 47 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: bodies in whatever ways we're capable of. Surround yourself with 48 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: positive people who can keep you fully charged and in 49 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: a solution seeking mindset. Second, become aware of your time, 50 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: and even more importantly, of your energy. From my conversations 51 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: with people with chronic health issues, I've learned that there 52 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,800 Speaker 1: are often good days and bad days, and more than that, 53 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: even good hours and bad hours, And if there's any 54 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: sort of pattern you can detect, this is helpful for 55 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: planning your life. In my case, I've certainly found patterns 56 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: with my kids' schedules. I know that we have more 57 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: snow days and sick days in January than insay October, 58 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: so I can try to plan big life projects around that. 59 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: If you know you generally have a reasonable amount of 60 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: energy between say, eight and nine am, you'll want to 61 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: plan important matters for that window. You can leave routine 62 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: stuff for lower energy times. Third, get in the habit 63 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: of working ahead and leaving extra space. The extra space 64 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: can absorb whatever goes wrong, since, as anyone with a 65 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: complicated life knows, stuff can definitely go wrong. If an 66 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: assignment is due Friday, I aim to be done by 67 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: Tuesday or Wednesday. That way, if I lose a work 68 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: day early in the week, I still have time to 69 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: make it up, or maybe I'm already done and then 70 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: I'm still on track. If I lose a day later 71 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: in the week, particularly for longer projects, you can often 72 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: work quite a ways ahead. Book deadlines might be assigned 73 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: a year or so out, so I plan my work 74 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: to be done several months before the deadline. That way, 75 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: anything that happens in the days or weeks before the 76 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: deadline isn't an issue. I also work ahead by taking 77 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: advantage of any found time when things are going well 78 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: and I'm feeling good and nothing's wrong with the kids. 79 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: So if the kids are all happy or doing something 80 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: on the weekend, I'll work then, knowing that I might 81 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 1: lose time during the week. This recently came in handy 82 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: when I had a major assignment due on a Wednesday. 83 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 1: I'd blocked out time on Monday and Tuesday to deal 84 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: with it. But some space opened up on the weekend 85 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: when my husband was doing something with all the kids. 86 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: I managed to get about seventy five percent of the 87 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: way done. This turned out to matter when we wound 88 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: up spending the entire latter half of Monday in the 89 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: emergency room, with follow up actor visits then required on Tuesday. 90 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: All is fine, thankfully, but it's nice in these circumstances 91 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: not to add call and explain why I need an 92 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: extension to the to do list. Fourth, while I think 93 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: of myself as a positive person, I assume things will 94 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: go wrong, and because I make this assumption, I make 95 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 1: plans to address most possibilities, at least the ones I 96 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: can think about. Even though all my children are in 97 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: school at least part time now, we still have full 98 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,040 Speaker 1: time childcare. That way, if my husband and I are 99 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 1: both nowhere near home and a sudden ice storm means 100 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: school is dismissed three hours early, someone is on call 101 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,600 Speaker 1: to deal with it, and someone with a chronic health 102 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: issue might plan to be at an event. But if 103 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,799 Speaker 1: that becomes impossible because of changing conditions, well, she's already 104 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: trained someone and arrange for that person to be able 105 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: to cover it if needed, with her providing virtual support 106 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:57,600 Speaker 1: if that's possible. Finally, you might recalibrate what it means 107 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: to be reliable that when you generally do what you 108 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:06,160 Speaker 1: say you're going to do, people are incredibly understanding in 109 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: the rare circumstances when you can't. I know, if I 110 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: had called my editor and asked for an extension after 111 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: the emergency room incident, it would have been fine. They'd 112 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: built in space too. Those of us who value reliability 113 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: and worry that we might be perceived as unreliable might 114 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: be surprised to learn how many people don't do what 115 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: they say they're going to do. A physician recently mentioned 116 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: that her office's no show rate was about fifteen percent, 117 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: even with calls and texts and email reminders. Fifteen percent 118 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: of people don't show up for an appointment that they 119 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: personally made. And when I researched this, because I was 120 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 1: surprised by that number, I learned that that's actually pretty good. 121 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: In some specialties, the no show rate is thirty percent. 122 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: And I'm sure that many of these people have really 123 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: good reasons for not showing up. But I'm also sure 124 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: that others probably don't. If you're trying hard and doing 125 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 1: good work when you can, most people will understand the 126 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: few times when you can't, and over time you can 127 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: make choices to create a life where you work with 128 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: people who do understand. Look for organizations with managers who 129 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: have real lives. Look for organizations that don't just talk 130 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: about flexibility, but actually have people working at different times 131 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: and different places. These places are more likely to value 132 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: talented employees who just need a little extra time and 133 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: a little extra space to do amazing things, so they 134 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: are the ones who deserve you. In the meantime, This 135 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the 136 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear 137 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 138 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook 139 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the 140 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me 141 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. 142 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. 143 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch. 144 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 145 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 146 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,959 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.