WEBVTT - Why time matters

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, I'm Laura Vanderkim. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Every weekday morning, I'll be sharing a productivity strategy that

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<v Speaker 1>will help you make the most of your time at

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<v Speaker 1>work and at home. My mission is to help you

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<v Speaker 1>take your day, your week, maybe your life from great

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<v Speaker 1>too awesome. I value your time, so normally we'll dive

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<v Speaker 1>right into the tips, but since this is the first episode,

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself

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<v Speaker 1>and talk about why time matters to me. Professionally, I

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<v Speaker 1>write and speak on time management. I'm the author of

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<v Speaker 1>several books, including A hundred sixty eight Hours, What the

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<v Speaker 1>Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast and Off the Clock.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm also the author of a brand new book that's

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<v Speaker 1>out this week called Juliette's School of Possibilities, A little

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<v Speaker 1>Story about the power of Priorities. It's a time management fable,

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<v Speaker 1>the story of a young consultant whose life is falling

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<v Speaker 1>apart on various dimensions until she learns from her mentor, Juliette,

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<v Speaker 1>about the difference between business and a successful, well lived life.

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<v Speaker 1>I also co host another podcast called Best of Both Worlds.

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<v Speaker 1>My co host Sarah Hart Unger is a practicing physician,

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<v Speaker 1>and she and I talk about how people successfully combine

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<v Speaker 1>work and family. On the personal side, I definitely spend

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of time thinking about how best to combine

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<v Speaker 1>work and my family. My husband Michael, and I are

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<v Speaker 1>raising four spirited children. They are currently eleven, nine, seven

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<v Speaker 1>and four. You'll be hearing more about our adventures and

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<v Speaker 1>future episodes as we navigate everything from middle school to

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<v Speaker 1>preschool and the logistics of two career family life. As

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<v Speaker 1>for hobbies, I run every day and I sing soprano

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<v Speaker 1>in my church choir. People often ask me how I

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<v Speaker 1>came to this topic of time management. Unfortunately, it is

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<v Speaker 1>not because I am always on time everywhere I do

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<v Speaker 1>try to be. But I was once late to my

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<v Speaker 1>own speech on time management. Quite the ironic moment for

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<v Speaker 1>all involved. That said, there wasn't some moment when life

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<v Speaker 1>was falling apart. I'm not the normal self help narrator

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<v Speaker 1>who hit rock bottom and had some epiphany that everything

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<v Speaker 1>must change. That makes for good reading, but my life

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<v Speaker 1>is just not that interesting. Instead, it was more gradual.

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<v Speaker 1>I've long enjoyed reading and discussing people's schedules, and this

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<v Speaker 1>interest became more urgent when I became apparent for the

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<v Speaker 1>first time twelve years ago. Anyone who's been through that

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<v Speaker 1>transition knows that a lot of the literature about work

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<v Speaker 1>and life is pretty negative. We need to just throw

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<v Speaker 1>up our hands and declare that no one can have

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<v Speaker 1>it all. As you can imagine, I found this literature

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<v Speaker 1>fairly depressing. But I'm also a curious person. I've worked

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<v Speaker 1>as a journalist in the past, and so I wondered,

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<v Speaker 1>is this leak picture true. I began studying people's schedules,

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<v Speaker 1>not just how people talk about their time, but actually

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<v Speaker 1>having them keep track of their time half hour by

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<v Speaker 1>half hour, usually for a week. I've found some interesting things.

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<v Speaker 1>As I've studied thousands of time logs over the past

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<v Speaker 1>ten years, I've learned that there truly is space for

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<v Speaker 1>what matters to us in all spheres of life. People

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<v Speaker 1>like to talk about dark moments, but time is vast

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<v Speaker 1>enough for good moments too. Plenty of people are successfully

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<v Speaker 1>combining rewarding careers with fulfilling personal lives, whether that's raising

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<v Speaker 1>happy families, being involved in their communities, doing some sort

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<v Speaker 1>of crazy athletic endeavor on the weekends, or all of

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<v Speaker 1>the above. After all, there are a hundred sixty eight

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<v Speaker 1>hours in a week. If you work forty hours, so

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<v Speaker 1>that's a full time job, and sleep eight hours per night,

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<v Speaker 1>so that's fifty six per week. That leaves seventy two

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<v Speaker 1>hours for other things. If you work fifty hours, that

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<v Speaker 1>leaves sixty two hours for other things. If you work

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<v Speaker 1>sixty hours, that leaves fifty two hours for other things.

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<v Speaker 1>And it turns out that very few people consistently average

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<v Speaker 1>more than sixty hours of work per week over the

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<v Speaker 1>long haul, something we'll talk about in future episodes. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>in forty to fifty hours of focused work, you can

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<v Speaker 1>get a lot done. In sixty two to seventy two

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<v Speaker 1>hours a week of waking, non working time. You can

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<v Speaker 1>spend quality time with your family and enjoy personal pursuits too.

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<v Speaker 1>Making time for what matters might involve some creativity, but

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<v Speaker 1>I promise you the time is there. This is why

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<v Speaker 1>I find time management such a hopeful topic. I know

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<v Speaker 1>that time management might sound a bit boring or maybe

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<v Speaker 1>even small minded. Here we are spinning on an improbable planet,

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<v Speaker 1>in the middle of cold space. Around the globe, violence, cruelty,

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<v Speaker 1>and disaster is up in people's lives. Yet here I

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<v Speaker 1>am talking about how to turn a sixty minute meeting

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<v Speaker 1>into a forty five minute one. I get this, and

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<v Speaker 1>I also get that the best moments of life I

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't we pay no attention to time, like a dinner

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<v Speaker 1>with old friends that makes an evening pass in the

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<v Speaker 1>blink of an eye. But none of this is inconsistent

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<v Speaker 1>with wanting to use time. Well, we only get so

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<v Speaker 1>much time on that planet in cold space. Economists preach

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<v Speaker 1>the virtue of optimizing any scarce resource. When people feel

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<v Speaker 1>in control of their time and their lives, they have

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<v Speaker 1>the mental space to help people facing violence, cruelty, and disasters.

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<v Speaker 1>They can use their talents to keep some of these

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<v Speaker 1>things from happening in the first place. As for that

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<v Speaker 1>dinner with old friends, well they probably won't just show

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<v Speaker 1>up at a restaurant you happen to like. You have

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<v Speaker 1>to decide to get together and arrange when that will happen,

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<v Speaker 1>and maybe book a babysitter too. Even feeling off the

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<v Speaker 1>clock requires thinking about time. I care about time because

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<v Speaker 1>life is lived in hours. What we do with our

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<v Speaker 1>lives will be a function of how we spend our hours.

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<v Speaker 1>In particular, I want to help people see that life

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<v Speaker 1>is not either or you can throw yourself into work

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<v Speaker 1>you love, doing what you can to make the world

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<v Speaker 1>a better place and nurture your relationships with the people

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<v Speaker 1>you love, and take care of yourself, to be thoughtful

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<v Speaker 1>about your time, and you can do all of this.

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<v Speaker 1>Time is precious and time is plentiful. There is no

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<v Speaker 1>contradiction here. I hope you'll join me on this journey

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<v Speaker 1>of making the most of the time we've been given.

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<v Speaker 1>Every weekday morning, I'll be here sharing a tip or

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<v Speaker 1>a strategy that's worked for me or for someone else.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got a question or a strategy, you can

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<v Speaker 1>write me at Before Breakfast Podcast at i heeart media

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. Just indicate if you'd be willing to have

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<v Speaker 1>your note read on Before Breakfast. I plan to share

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<v Speaker 1>many listener questions and tips over the next few months.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's B the number four.

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<v Speaker 1>Then Breakfast p O D you can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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<v Speaker 1>dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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<v Speaker 1>in touch, y