WEBVTT - Be reliable (even when life is complicated)

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my 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 about how to build a reputation for

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>this 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, A hundred sixty eight Hours, was being

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

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<v Speaker 1>of all time. Wow, very exciting. Literally the next minute

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<v Speaker 1>I was on the phone with our school systems bus dispatcher.

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<v Speaker 1>She told me that the school bus was not going

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to get down our street due to

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<v Speaker 1>some work that was suddenly being done, so somebody would

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

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<v Speaker 1>a way to get my children. I was curious how

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<v Speaker 1>many other authors on that time management book list we're

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<v Speaker 1>dealing with such issues at that moment. That said, I

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>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 in say, 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 planned 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 do 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 sev the way done. This

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<v Speaker 1>turned out to matter when we wound up spending the

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<v Speaker 1>entire latter half of Monday in the emergency room, with

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<v Speaker 1>follow up to doctor visits then required on Tuesday. All

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<v Speaker 1>is fine, thankfully, but it's nice in these circumstances not

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<v Speaker 1>to add call and explain why I need an extension

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<v Speaker 1>to the to do list. Fourth, well, I think of

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<v Speaker 1>myself as a positive person. I assume things will go wrong,

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<v Speaker 1>and because I make this assumption, I make plans to

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<v Speaker 1>address most possibilities, at least the ones I can think about.

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<v Speaker 1>Even though all my children are in school at least

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<v Speaker 1>part time now, we still have full time childcare. That way,

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<v Speaker 1>if my husband and I are both nowhere near home

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<v Speaker 1>and a sudden ice storm means school has dismissed three

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<v Speaker 1>hours early, someone is on call to deal with it,

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<v Speaker 1>and someone with a chronic health issue might plan to

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<v Speaker 1>be at an event. But if that becomes impossible because

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<v Speaker 1>of changing conditions, well, she's already trained someone and arranged

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<v Speaker 1>for that person to be able to cover it if needed,

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<v Speaker 1>with her providing virtual support if that's possible. Finally, you

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<v Speaker 1>might recalibrate what it means to be reliable. I found

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<v Speaker 1>that when you generally do what you say you're going

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<v Speaker 1>to do, people are incredibly understanding in the rare circumstances

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<v Speaker 1>when you can't. I know, if I had called my

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<v Speaker 1>editor and asked for an extension after the emergency room incident,

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<v Speaker 1>it would have been fine. They built in space too.

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<v Speaker 1>Those of us who value reliability and worry that we

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<v Speaker 1>might be perceived as unreliable might be surprised to learn

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<v Speaker 1>how many people don't do what they say they're going

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<v Speaker 1>to do. A physician recently mentioned that her office is

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<v Speaker 1>no show rate was about fifteen percent, even with calls

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<v Speaker 1>and texts and email reminders of people don't show up

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<v Speaker 1>for an appointment that they personally made. And when I

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<v Speaker 1>researched this because I was surprised by that number, I

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<v Speaker 1>learned that that's actually pretty good, and some specialties the

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<v Speaker 1>no show rate is thirty And I'm sure that many

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<v Speaker 1>of these people have really good reasons for not showing up,

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<v Speaker 1>but I'm also sure that others probably don't. If you're

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<v Speaker 1>trying hard and doing good work when you can. Most

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<v Speaker 1>people will understand the few times when you can't, and

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<v Speaker 1>over time you can make choices to create a life

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<v Speaker 1>where you work with people who do understand. Look for

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<v Speaker 1>organizations with managers who have real lives. Look for organizations

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<v Speaker 1>that don't just talk about flexibility, but actually have people

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<v Speaker 1>working at different times and different places. These places are

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<v Speaker 1>more likely to value talented employees who just need a

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<v Speaker 1>little extra time and a little extra space to do

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<v Speaker 1>amazing things, so they are the ones who deserve you.

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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 iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled

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<v Speaker 1>out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look

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<v Speaker 1>forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the i heart Radio app Apple podcasts, or wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.