WEBVTT - Second Cup: Be reliable (even when life is complicated)

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is about how to build a reputation for being

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<v Speaker 1>reliable even if life isn't conspiring to help you out

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<v Speaker 1>in that regard. I know many people listening to this

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<v Speaker 1>podcast pride themselves on doing what they say they'll do.

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<v Speaker 1>I also know that this is easier for some people

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<v Speaker 1>than others, in ways that a lot of the productivity

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<v Speaker 1>literature out there doesn't always consider. I recently got a

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<v Speaker 1>note from a listener who asked what I suggested for

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<v Speaker 1>people with unpredictable or chronic medical issues. I know that

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<v Speaker 1>I have come off as unreliable at times due to

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<v Speaker 1>my chronic pain, and I don't like being perceived that way,

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<v Speaker 1>our listener writes, I agree, it's incredibly frustrating to be

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<v Speaker 1>seen as unreliable when it's really not your fault. I

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<v Speaker 1>know I'm fortunate not to be dealing with these specific

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<v Speaker 1>issues of a chronic medical condition, but I do have

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<v Speaker 1>four children, and when you are a caregiver for other people,

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<v Speaker 1>there are so many more logistics that must be dealt

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<v Speaker 1>with that sometimes could make you seem unreliable as well,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is one reason I sometimes get frustrated with

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<v Speaker 1>productivity literature written by people who aren't in that position

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<v Speaker 1>and have never even considered what would happen if a

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<v Speaker 1>babysitter calls in sick, or the nurse calls because your

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<v Speaker 1>kid needs to be picked up at school. Last year,

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<v Speaker 1>I had the experience of getting a note that one

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<v Speaker 1>of my books, one hundred and sixty eight Hours, was

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<v Speaker 1>being included on a list of the best time management

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<v Speaker 1>books of all time. Wow. Very exciting. Literally the next

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<v Speaker 1>minute I was on the phone with our school system's

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<v Speaker 1>bus dispatcher. She told me that the school bus was

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<v Speaker 1>not going to be able to get down our street

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<v Speaker 1>due to some work that was suddenly being done, so

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<v Speaker 1>somebody would need to go stand on a street corner

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<v Speaker 1>A ways a way to go my children. I was

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<v Speaker 1>curious how many other authors on that time management book

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<v Speaker 1>list we're dealing with such issues at that moment. That said,

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<v Speaker 1>I do believe that even if there are parts of

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<v Speaker 1>life you can't control, there are also parts you can,

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<v Speaker 1>and it is possible to build a reputation for being

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<v Speaker 1>reliable even if you are dealing with far more complicated

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<v Speaker 1>circumstances than someone who's major worry is whether he'll make

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<v Speaker 1>it home in time for Monday night football. Anyone dealing

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<v Speaker 1>with major life complications should do a few things. First,

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<v Speaker 1>take care of yourself. Most of us do better when

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<v Speaker 1>we are well rested, well fed, and moving our physical

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<v Speaker 1>bodies in whatever ways we're capable of. Surround yourself with

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<v Speaker 1>positive people who can keep you fully charged and in

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<v Speaker 1>a solution seeking mindset. Second, become aware of your time,

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<v Speaker 1>and even more importantly, of your energy. From my conversations

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<v Speaker 1>with people with chronic health issues, I've learned that there

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<v Speaker 1>are often good days and bad days, and more than that,

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<v Speaker 1>even good hours and bad hours, And if there's any

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<v Speaker 1>sort of pattern you can detect, this is helpful for

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<v Speaker 1>planning your life. In my case, I've certainly found patterns

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<v Speaker 1>with my kids' schedules. I know that we have more

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<v Speaker 1>snow days and sick days in January than insay October,

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<v Speaker 1>so I can try to plan big life projects around that.

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<v Speaker 1>If you know you generally have a reasonable amount of

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<v Speaker 1>energy between say, eight and nine am, you'll want to

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<v Speaker 1>plan important matters for that window. You can leave routine

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<v Speaker 1>stuff for lower energy times. Third, get in the habit

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<v Speaker 1>of working ahead and leaving extra space. The extra space

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<v Speaker 1>can absorb whatever goes wrong, since, as anyone with a

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<v Speaker 1>complicated life knows, stuff can definitely go wrong. If an

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<v Speaker 1>assignment is due Friday, I aim to be done by

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<v Speaker 1>Tuesday or Wednesday. That way, if I lose a work

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<v Speaker 1>day early in the week, I still have time to

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<v Speaker 1>make it up, or maybe I'm already done and then

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<v Speaker 1>I'm still on track. If I lose a day later

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<v Speaker 1>in the week, particularly for longer projects, you can often

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<v Speaker 1>work quite a ways ahead. Book deadlines might be assigned

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<v Speaker 1>a year or so out, so I plan my work

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<v Speaker 1>to be done several months before the deadline. That way,

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<v Speaker 1>anything that happens in the days or weeks before the

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<v Speaker 1>deadline isn't an issue. I also work ahead by taking

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<v Speaker 1>advantage of any found time when things are going well

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm feeling good and nothing's wrong with the kids.

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<v Speaker 1>So if the kids are all happy or doing something

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<v Speaker 1>on the weekend, I'll work then, knowing that I might

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<v Speaker 1>lose time during the week. This recently came in handy

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<v Speaker 1>when I had a major assignment due on a Wednesday.

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<v Speaker 1>I'd blocked out time on Monday and Tuesday to deal

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<v Speaker 1>with it. But some space opened up on the weekend

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<v Speaker 1>when my husband was doing something with all the kids.

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<v Speaker 1>I managed to get about seventy five percent of the

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<v Speaker 1>way done. This turned out to matter when we wound

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<v Speaker 1>up spending the entire latter half of Monday in the

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<v Speaker 1>emergency room, with follow up actor visits then required on Tuesday.

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<v Speaker 1>All is fine, thankfully, but it's nice in these circumstances

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<v Speaker 1>not to add call and explain why I need an

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<v Speaker 1>extension to the to do list. Fourth, while I think

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<v Speaker 1>of myself as a positive person, I assume things will

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<v Speaker 1>go wrong, and because I make this assumption, I make

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<v Speaker 1>plans to address most possibilities, at least the ones I

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<v Speaker 1>can think about. Even though all my children are in

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<v Speaker 1>school at least part time now, we still have full

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<v Speaker 1>time childcare. That way, if my husband and I are

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<v Speaker 1>both nowhere near home and a sudden ice storm means

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<v Speaker 1>school is dismissed three hours early, someone is on call

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<v Speaker 1>to deal with it, and someone with a chronic health

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<v Speaker 1>issue might plan to be at an event. But if

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<v Speaker 1>that becomes impossible because of changing conditions, well, she's already

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<v Speaker 1>trained someone and arrange for that person to be able

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<v Speaker 1>to cover it if needed, with her providing virtual support

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<v Speaker 1>if that's possible. Finally, you might recalibrate what it means

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<v Speaker 1>to be reliable that when you generally do what you

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<v Speaker 1>say you're going to do, people are incredibly understanding in

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<v Speaker 1>the rare circumstances when you can't. I know, if I

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<v Speaker 1>had called my editor and asked for an extension after

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<v Speaker 1>the emergency room incident, it would have been fine. They'd

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<v Speaker 1>built in space too. Those of us who value reliability

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<v Speaker 1>and worry that we might be perceived as unreliable might

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<v Speaker 1>be surprised to learn how many people don't do what

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<v Speaker 1>they say they're going to do. A physician recently mentioned

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<v Speaker 1>that her office's no show rate was about fifteen percent,

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<v Speaker 1>even with calls and texts and email reminders. Fifteen percent

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<v Speaker 1>of people don't show up for an appointment that they

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<v Speaker 1>personally made. And when I researched this, because I was

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<v Speaker 1>surprised by that number, I learned that that's actually pretty good.

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<v Speaker 1>In some specialties, the no show rate is thirty percent.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'm sure that many of these people have really

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<v Speaker 1>good reasons for not showing up. But I'm also sure

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<v Speaker 1>that others probably don't. If you're trying hard and doing

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<v Speaker 1>good work when you can, most people will understand the

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<v Speaker 1>few times when you can't, and over time you can

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<v Speaker 1>make choices to create a life where you work with

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<v Speaker 1>people who do understand. Look for organizations with managers who

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<v Speaker 1>have real lives. Look for organizations that don't just talk

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<v Speaker 1>about flexibility, but actually have people working at different times

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<v Speaker 1>and different places. These places are more likely to value

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<v Speaker 1>talented employees who just need a little extra time and

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<v Speaker 1>a little extra space to do amazing things, so they

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<v Speaker 1>are the ones who deserve you. In the meantime, This

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear

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<v Speaker 1>from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

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<v Speaker 1>number four then Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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