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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to recognize that even if you are

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Speaker 1: very efficient, there are limits, So make sure you have

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Speaker 1: enough time allocated for whatever it is that you need

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Speaker 1: to do. As we gain experience in our careers, many

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Speaker 1: of us have the happy realization that we no longer

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Speaker 1: need to work quite as many hours as we once

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Speaker 1: needed to. Even as we're getting more done. We recognize

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Speaker 1: problems so they no longer stump us. We know the

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Speaker 1: right people to call to get answers Quickly clients come

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Speaker 1: to us, which is vastly more efficient for landing work

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Speaker 1: than pitching unsolicited stuff. Happily, these efficiency meanes often correspond

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Speaker 1: with the phases of our lives, when we need to

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Speaker 1: compress work into fewer hours. When I was twenty four,

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Speaker 1: well maybe I could throw hours at a problem. As

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Speaker 1: a forty two year old mother of five, well not

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Speaker 1: so much. However, even the most efficient among us are

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Speaker 1: only so efficient. The work still needs to get done.

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Speaker 1: It may not take fifty hours a week, but it

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Speaker 1: probably doesn't take ten hours either. You want to make

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Speaker 1: sure there is an adequate amount of protected, concentrated work

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Speaker 1: time to meet your expectations. This is true even if

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Speaker 1: you are still working from home because of COVID concerns. Indeed,

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Speaker 1: working from home can sometimes make protecting time a bit harder.

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Speaker 1: It is especially true that you need to protect enough

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Speaker 1: time to work if your kids are home to doing

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Speaker 1: virtual or hybrid learning. So if you have been feeling

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Speaker 1: like you just can't get ahead, maybe it's time to

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Speaker 1: take a hard look at your schedule, track your time.

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Speaker 1: What is your longest stretch of uninterrupted work time? How

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Speaker 1: many hours can you work before everyone starts needing things.

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Speaker 1: Maybe your work is flexible, but just because you can

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Speaker 1: do something doesn't mean you have to do something. Maybe

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Speaker 1: it is time to rediscover the school bus schedule or

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Speaker 1: after school activities that meet at school and hence don't

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Speaker 1: require your driving. Maybe it's time to start getting groceries

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Speaker 1: delivered so you are not shopping during a morning when

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Speaker 1: you could be working. Or maybe you get dinner delivered

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Speaker 1: two nights a week so you're not spending potential work

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Speaker 1: time cooking. Maybe you need more childcare instead of half

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Speaker 1: dealing with the kids and half working at three pm

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Speaker 1: every day. Now you work reliably until six pm, two

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Speaker 1: nights a week, you focus more fully on your little

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Speaker 1: ones after that. I have tracked my time since I

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Speaker 1: know that while I worked on average forty hours a

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Speaker 1: week at the beginning of that window, I have let

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Speaker 1: it drift down, probably to more like thirty five on

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Speaker 1: average these days. Happily, I still seem to be getting

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Speaker 1: stuff done, but I have realized lately that my work

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Speaker 1: hours have been about as optimized as I think they

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Speaker 1: can be, and so I have been reworking the schedule

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Speaker 1: to preserve more available space. There are limits to anyone's efficiency,

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Speaker 1: there are definitely limits to mine, and the work does

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Speaker 1: need to get done. So whatever you are trying to do,

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Speaker 1: make sure you're giving it enough. Hours too few, and

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Speaker 1: it won't happen, not because you lack ambition, but because

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Speaker 1: a four hour task can't fit in a two hour slot.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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Speaker 1: That's b E. The number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Don't get

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Speaker 1: I Get