WEBVTT - Take back your time 2020 - Mind your hours

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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 the first in a five part series

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<v Speaker 1>on how to take control of your time in the

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<v Speaker 1>new year. This week, I'll be talking about five strategies

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<v Speaker 1>that I know will help you feel less busy and

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<v Speaker 1>get more done because they've definitely helped me. The first

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<v Speaker 1>strategy is to figure out where the time really goes.

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<v Speaker 1>When people tell me they'd like to spend their time better,

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<v Speaker 1>they often ask what's the first thing they should do,

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<v Speaker 1>and I say, it's to figure out where the time

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<v Speaker 1>is going now, Because if you don't know where the

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<v Speaker 1>time is going now, how do you know if you're

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<v Speaker 1>changing the right thing. Maybe something you thought was a

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<v Speaker 1>problem really isn't. Maybe something you've never even considered is

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<v Speaker 1>taking far more time than you imagined. Like any business decision,

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<v Speaker 1>it's wisest to work from good data, and the best

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<v Speaker 1>way to get that data is to track your time.

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<v Speaker 1>Ideally for a week. This first full week after the

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<v Speaker 1>holidays is an excellent time to start. I'm tracking my

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<v Speaker 1>time this week as our many listeners, and I invite

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<v Speaker 1>you to enjoin us. There are lots of tools you

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<v Speaker 1>can use. You can visit my website Laura Vanderkam dot

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<v Speaker 1>com and sign up to be sent a time tracking

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<v Speaker 1>spreadsheet Excel or PDF versions. You can make your own

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<v Speaker 1>spreadsheet too, with the days of the week across the

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<v Speaker 1>top and half hour blocks down the left hand side.

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<v Speaker 1>Mine runs from five a m. To four thirty a m.

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<v Speaker 1>Because I find that's what I think of as a day,

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<v Speaker 1>but if you're an early riser or a late riser,

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<v Speaker 1>feel free to adjust that as you see fit. There

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<v Speaker 1>are dozens of time tracking apps on the market you

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<v Speaker 1>can use, or you can just jot down stuff in

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<v Speaker 1>a notebook. The tool itself doesn't matter. What matters is

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<v Speaker 1>that you do it. And I know time tracking can

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<v Speaker 1>be a pain, but I promise you, as someone who

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<v Speaker 1>has found it worthwhile to track my time for close

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<v Speaker 1>to five years now, it is worth it. Knowing where

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<v Speaker 1>the time goes has helped me spend more time on

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<v Speaker 1>what I care about while ditching things that I don't.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're listening to this on a Monday, awesome, but

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<v Speaker 1>if not, feel free to start on any day as

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<v Speaker 1>long as you keep going for the next sixty eight hours.

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<v Speaker 1>Make sure you include the weekend too. This is real time,

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<v Speaker 1>and knowing where this time goes helps you get a

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<v Speaker 1>holistic picture of your life. Don't just log work hours.

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<v Speaker 1>There's more to you than your job, and accounting for

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<v Speaker 1>your time outside of work can be the difference between

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<v Speaker 1>a life that feels like it's just work and one

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<v Speaker 1>that's more balanced like anything. Time tracking might feel awkward

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<v Speaker 1>at first. You might have trouble remembering what you did.

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<v Speaker 1>I like to check in three to four times a

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<v Speaker 1>day and write down what I've done since the last

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<v Speaker 1>check in. It might help to set an alarm until

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<v Speaker 1>you get into the habit and you don't need to

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<v Speaker 1>write down everything. I have not recorded every bathroom break

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<v Speaker 1>for the last five years. It's better to have a

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<v Speaker 1>general sense than to account for every minute. Also, if

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<v Speaker 1>you forget and loose track of a few hours, it's okay.

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<v Speaker 1>Just put in what you do remember and pick back

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<v Speaker 1>up where you can. Tracking one d sixty one sixty

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<v Speaker 1>eight hours is going to be more helpful than stopping

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<v Speaker 1>one day in, and some people find it helpful to

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<v Speaker 1>track with a friend. Or if you track for a

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<v Speaker 1>week and want to send me your log, I'd love

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<v Speaker 1>to see it. You can reach me at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i hurt media dot com. But after you've

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<v Speaker 1>done a week, look at the log and see what

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<v Speaker 1>you think. What did you like? Let's celebrate that. What

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<v Speaker 1>didn't you like? Well, don't beat yourself up about it.

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<v Speaker 1>We all waste time, all of us. I know I

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<v Speaker 1>waste tons of time. My time log showed me that.

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<v Speaker 1>But the good news about recognizing this is that I

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<v Speaker 1>no longer tell myself a story that I am so

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<v Speaker 1>busy and have no time for fun. I mean, clearly

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<v Speaker 1>I do. I just need to think about how I

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<v Speaker 1>want to use this time and what kind of leisure

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<v Speaker 1>I would enjoy most. If you like numbers, you might

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<v Speaker 1>try adding up the major categories work, sleep, time in

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<v Speaker 1>the car, housework, Errand's family time, exercise, television, social media, volunteering. Reading.

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<v Speaker 1>What I've heard is you do and you might decide

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<v Speaker 1>that this wasn't a typical week, which is fine. But

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<v Speaker 1>I've learned over the years that there are no typical weeks.

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<v Speaker 1>Are deeming a day or week typical is really a

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<v Speaker 1>value judgment, not necessarily a statement about real life. As

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<v Speaker 1>an example, I used to think I worked about fifty

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<v Speaker 1>hours a week because well, my time log showed that.

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<v Speaker 1>But some of my time log us I only viewed

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<v Speaker 1>my uninterrupted weeks as typical. If I encountered a snow day,

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<v Speaker 1>a sick day, a holiday, a half day because of

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<v Speaker 1>an emergency, dentist visit, a broken furnace, or anything like that,

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<v Speaker 1>well I called those weeks atypical. Except in my life,

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<v Speaker 1>it turns out over the long haul that something will

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<v Speaker 1>happen more often than not. Best to know that so

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<v Speaker 1>we can make plans. Anyway, if you'd like to spend

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<v Speaker 1>your time better in the new year, please do try

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<v Speaker 1>tracking your time for the next seven days and then

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<v Speaker 1>let me know what you find. That email address again

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<v Speaker 1>is Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeart media dot com. And

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<v Speaker 1>in the meantime, this 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 E 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>I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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