1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: tip is to leave room for opportunity. Why is time? 4 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: Managers know to leave a buffer for things to go wrong, 5 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: but it is also possible that something could go amazingly right. 6 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 1: You want to leave space for that opportunity. So I 7 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: am sure you have had the experience of feeling like 8 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: your calendar is packed absolutely full. Then someone floats a 9 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: vague idea and you're vaguely interested, but there's no real space, 10 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: so you don't pursue it. I am also sure that, you, 11 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: like me, have had the experience of something random turning 12 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: into something really cool. A getting to know you chat 13 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: turns into a full fledged collaboration. An invite to walk 14 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: with a group some morning turns into several close friendships. 15 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: Now I know this is a balancing act. One of 16 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: the most common productivity tips out there is to say 17 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: no more often, and there's definitely something to that, especially 18 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: if you have trouble with boundaries. On the other hand, 19 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: almost every new cool thing in life comes out of 20 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 1: a yes. Sometimes the yes is obvious. Why yes, I 21 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,320 Speaker 1: would like a big raise and a promotion thank you, 22 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 1: But often that yes comes after a few conversations and 23 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: a few follow ups that lead there. So given this 24 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: balancing act, I think the best approach is two part. First, 25 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: be utterly ruthless about saying no to stuff that is 26 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: of zero interest or really doesn't feel like a good 27 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: use of your time. I include regularly scheduled work meetings 28 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: in this. They need to earn their keep on your calendar. 29 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: But then leave some space to be open to opportunity. 30 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,520 Speaker 1: I try to leave Fridays pretty open. If something goes wrong, 31 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: I have room for the overflow. But because I think 32 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: of Fridays as open time, I am also willing to 33 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: put potentially interesting stuff there without viewing it as being 34 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: in competition with everything else I am doing. The upside 35 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: is that then if somebody wants to meet or chat 36 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: about something and it seems like it could be interesting, 37 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: I can set that up on Fridays. I often do 38 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: lunches or coffees on Fridays. Most don't lead to anything. 39 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: Most stuff in life just doesn't, but some does. Perhaps 40 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: you can try to leave a little space open in 41 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: your life for opportunity to On the professional front, maybe 42 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: Fridays would work, or maybe it's some afternoon each week. 43 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: Sometimes you'll need this space for emergencies, but sometimes you 44 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: can use it for being open to randomness. I think 45 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: this can work in our personal lives as well. I 46 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: am a big fan of planning weekends ahead of time, 47 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: but I do get a little concerned when all the 48 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: weekends for the next few months start to look booked up. 49 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: I know that there will be a cool trip, or 50 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: a friend will be visiting town, or someone will throw 51 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: a party that would be fun to go to. Best 52 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: to leave at least a little open space. I will 53 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: be taking a trip in May with a friend that 54 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: she suggested randomly, so I am glad that all my 55 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: May weekends weren't full. Productivity is always about a balance, 56 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: but the truth is that we seldom know before any 57 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: bit of time all the things that we will need 58 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: or want to do by the end of that bit 59 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: of time. We need to leave space for emergencies, because 60 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: we all know that emergencies happen, but good things can 61 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: come up to the good news is that it is 62 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: usually possible to proactively schedule in your priorities and leave 63 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: space for what comes up. Time is vast. A little 64 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: bit of randomness can make your time a lot more fun. 65 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 66 00:04:51,400 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for 67 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:06,280 Speaker 1: listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, 68 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. 69 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts 70 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 71 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:26,600 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.