WEBVTT - A little planning is better than nothing

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that a few minutes of planning is better

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<v Speaker 1>than nothing. Even if you don't have time for elaborate

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<v Speaker 1>planning for the next day or week, you can get

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<v Speaker 1>a lot done in a few minutes, so you are

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<v Speaker 1>probably best off doing whatever you can. Longtime listeners know

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<v Speaker 1>that I think every busy person needs a designated weekly

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<v Speaker 1>planning time. This is when you think about what is

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<v Speaker 1>most important to you over the next one hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>sixty eight hours. You figure out your responsibilities and any

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<v Speaker 1>logistics necessary to make those things happen. If you do

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<v Speaker 1>this week after week, planning really shouldn't take that much time,

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<v Speaker 1>but sometimes people note that there is a lot going

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<v Speaker 1>on and they worry that planning will take a long time.

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<v Speaker 1>And the problem with being very busy is that you

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<v Speaker 1>probably don't have a lot of time. As we talked

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<v Speaker 1>about in a recent episode, it can be smart to

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<v Speaker 1>have a rain date for your planning ritual. If you

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<v Speaker 1>normally plan for the week on Fridays after lunch, but

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<v Speaker 1>your team is slammed with something that is due at

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<v Speaker 1>five pm Friday, you will probably not get to have

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<v Speaker 1>a nice, leisurely planning session involving washy tape and colored

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<v Speaker 1>markers and the like. Feel like those things. Now, if

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<v Speaker 1>you can see that time will be tight, perhaps you

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<v Speaker 1>should move your planning to earlier in the day, or

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<v Speaker 1>do it Saturday or even at five pm Friday as

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<v Speaker 1>a palate cleanser. But if you want to stick with

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<v Speaker 1>Friday after lunch, even if you can only do a

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<v Speaker 1>few minutes, you will probably be better off then if

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<v Speaker 1>you did nothing. Here's how you might hone in on

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<v Speaker 1>the basics. First, in those few minutes, take a look

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<v Speaker 1>at your calendar for the next week. Make sure you

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<v Speaker 1>are clear on anything big that is happening. In particular,

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<v Speaker 1>you should make sure you've got time built in to

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<v Speaker 1>prepare for anything early in the week. It is best

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<v Speaker 1>not to be caught off guard. You might scan for

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<v Speaker 1>any problems. Are you traveling for work and you're pretty

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<v Speaker 1>sure your spouse mentioned a potential trip too. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>got kids or anyone else who's dependent on you, this

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<v Speaker 1>is going to need to be sorted out. If there

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<v Speaker 1>are any out of the ordinary personal events, you need

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure happen. You should be prepared for those

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<v Speaker 1>as well. See if there's anything you are looking forward to.

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<v Speaker 1>If not, quickly try to put something in. You might

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<v Speaker 1>text a friend about getting together. Then make sure you

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<v Speaker 1>are set for Monday and probably Tuesday. You can always

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<v Speaker 1>spend a little time Sunday updating the rest of the week,

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe a slot on Monday would work better. But

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<v Speaker 1>even if you can't get the whole week planned and

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<v Speaker 1>one fell swoop, you will have part of it and

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<v Speaker 1>so you won't get caught by surprise by much in

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<v Speaker 1>the first part of the week. I know it can

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<v Speaker 1>be hard to find bits of time on a busy day,

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<v Speaker 1>but even in tiny bits of time you can score

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<v Speaker 1>some big wins. If you see you have a huge

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<v Speaker 1>presentation on Tuesday, you are most likely going to want

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<v Speaker 1>some time on Monday to prepare. If you see a

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<v Speaker 1>nice but not critical meeting on Monday, you can go

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<v Speaker 1>ahead and try to move that till later in the week,

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<v Speaker 1>or perhaps turn it into an email. If you do

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<v Speaker 1>this ahead of time, people will be fine. It's when

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<v Speaker 1>you do it right before that people get upset by

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<v Speaker 1>having moved or canceled this thing. You will have freed

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<v Speaker 1>up time and made the week feel a lot like

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<v Speaker 1>us rushed. A little bit of planning is a lot

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<v Speaker 1>better than none. I do promise that if you do

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<v Speaker 1>weekly planning week after week, life will generally get calmer.

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<v Speaker 1>You often won't be racing to do stuff on Friday

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<v Speaker 1>afternoon because you will have assigned everything on your plate

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<v Speaker 1>a spot earlier in the week that said life does happen.

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<v Speaker 1>If all you can do is a few minutes, then

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<v Speaker 1>do a few minutes. You will probably be glad you did.

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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. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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