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 invest time in planning, because planning
Speaker 1: doesn't take time, it makes time. I hear from a
Speaker 1: lot of people that they would like to plan, but
Speaker 1: they just don't feel like they have the time. With
Speaker 1: work and family demands coming at them from all directions.
Speaker 1: They feel too busy or overwhelmed to think long term,
Speaker 1: even if long term just means a week at a time,
Speaker 1: so they never truly take stock of what they need
Speaker 1: to accomplish. They just keep showing up for scheduled appointments,
Speaker 1: scrambling to meet deadlines, and dealing with a never stream
Speaker 1: of urgent tasks. It can feel like putting out one
Speaker 1: fire after another, but it doesn't have to be that way.
Speaker 1: Planning can help you get a handle on what you
Speaker 1: need to do so you can get it done in
Speaker 1: less time and with less stress. If you are worried
Speaker 1: that you just don't have time to plan, then please
Speaker 1: keep in mind two things. One is that it really
Speaker 1: doesn't take much time if you do it right, probably
Speaker 1: less than twenty minutes a week, maybe fifteen. If you're
Speaker 1: speedy for a quick planning session, and second planning actually
Speaker 1: makes time. You will free up so much time and
Speaker 1: energy that you are going to come out massively ahead.
Speaker 1: I usually plan my upcoming weeks on Friday afternoons, which
Speaker 1: tends to be a low energy time for many people.
Speaker 1: You weren't doing anything else big when you were sliding
Speaker 1: into the weekend, so you are probably minimizing the opportunity
Speaker 1: cost of planning right there. Start by identifying your top
Speaker 1: priorities for the upcoming week. What is it that you
Speaker 1: want to accomplish before next Friday. Be sure to consider
Speaker 1: your work priorities and your relationship and personal priorities too.
Speaker 1: For instance, maybe your top priorities are to draft a
Speaker 1: quarterly report, prepare a presentation, and send out invitations for
Speaker 1: your son's birthday party schedule in specific blocks of time
Speaker 1: when you will work on each of these priorities. Maybe
Speaker 1: you'll gather the information and make an outline of the
Speaker 1: quarterly report Monday morning and write it Wednesday morning. Presentation
Speaker 1: prep might happen Tuesday afternoon, and you might address those
Speaker 1: birthday party invitations while you watch The Bachelor on Monday
Speaker 1: day night. Then look at the appointments you have next week,
Speaker 1: any preparation you need to do, if so, get it
Speaker 1: on the calendar. Any appointments you can cancel or opt
Speaker 1: out of. Maybe you see a meeting that you know
Speaker 1: has been rescheduled four times, Please go ahead and put
Speaker 1: it out of its misery. Get that time back. What
Speaker 1: about recurring or smaller tasks that need to get done?
Speaker 1: Schedule times for handling these tasks, either individually or in batches.
Speaker 1: For instance, every week I need to write, record and
Speaker 1: send in five before breakfast podcasts, so I might block
Speaker 1: off Tuesday morning and Thursday morning for that work. You
Speaker 1: may realize that some of the tasks you identify are
Speaker 1: low priority and can be put off till a rainy day,
Speaker 1: or maybe they can be delegated to someone on your team,
Speaker 1: or maybe they don't need to be done at all.
Speaker 1: Once you know when you'll accomplish your top priorities and
Speaker 1: you're recurring or smaller tasks and what scheduled commitments you
Speaker 1: have and what you need to do to prepare for these,
Speaker 1: you are able to work purposefully planning prompts prioritization, so
Speaker 1: you start your week knowing what your most important work
Speaker 1: is and when you're going to get it done. Planning
Speaker 1: also lets you delegate what you can, minimize or defer
Speaker 1: activities that don't add much value, and group similar activities
Speaker 1: together for efficiency. In addition, planning lets you avoid losing
Speaker 1: time to transitions. If you know what you need to
Speaker 1: accomplish each morning and each afternoon, you don't spend thirty
Speaker 1: minutes between projects spinning your wheels. You move elegantly from
Speaker 1: task to task. Once you get in the habit, you
Speaker 1: can do this all quite quickly, and then you start
Speaker 1: to see the results. Those twenty minutes spent planning can
Speaker 1: literally free up hours for productive output. You gain efficiencies
Speaker 1: by making intentional choices about what to do when, so
Speaker 1: this Friday, even if you are busy, especially if you
Speaker 1: are busy, invest twenty minutes in planning the week ahead.
Speaker 1: If you do, you will prioritize your most important work,
Speaker 1: maximize your productivity, and streamline your schedule. It will get
Speaker 1: more done and feel less trust And that sounds like
Speaker 1: a great plan to me. In the meantime, this is Laura,
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four, then
Speaker 1: Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot
Speaker 1: com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
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