WEBVTT - Know when you won't get much done

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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 to know and acknowledge stretches of time when

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<v Speaker 1>you will not be getting much done. You can plan

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<v Speaker 1>your life more rationally when your expectations match reality. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip comes from the podcast Best Laid Plans, which is

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<v Speaker 1>hosted by Sarah hart unger my co host on my

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<v Speaker 1>other podcast, Best of Both Worlds. On a recent episode,

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<v Speaker 1>Sarah read a note from a listener that described how

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<v Speaker 1>she divided the year. She thought of the year and

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<v Speaker 1>five quintiles, and one of those quinn tiles went from

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<v Speaker 1>Thanksgiving to the end of her children's holiday break. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>if you do the math, that is not going to

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<v Speaker 1>be a very long quintile. There is maybe a week

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<v Speaker 1>in November, and then they had a longish like three

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<v Speaker 1>week holiday break from late December to early January. So

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<v Speaker 1>we are talking a stretch of time that is maybe

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<v Speaker 1>seven to eight weeks in total. This is not mathematically

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<v Speaker 1>a fifth of the year. But the reason this person

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<v Speaker 1>divided her year up this way is that she realized

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<v Speaker 1>she basically never got much done during this stretch of

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<v Speaker 1>time Because her kids were out of school so much,

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<v Speaker 1>they tended to take their vacations then or go visit family.

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<v Speaker 1>The three to four weeks or so that her kids

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<v Speaker 1>were in school between Thanksgiving and Christmas break were often

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<v Speaker 1>stuffed with other activities. The space available to work was limited.

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<v Speaker 1>She could try to play through, or she could acknowledge

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<v Speaker 1>that this was just not going to be a very

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<v Speaker 1>productive time, and she could think of the season accordingly.

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<v Speaker 1>She could have limited expectations for her business and probably

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<v Speaker 1>feel happier when she met these low expectations versus setting

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<v Speaker 1>high expectations that would crash into reality. I think this

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<v Speaker 1>is a smart idea. Many of us have stretches of

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<v Speaker 1>time that are simply not going to be productive. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>you cover for a colleague who tends to take a

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<v Speaker 1>vacation in late June, and then the fourth of July

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<v Speaker 1>causes a series of interruptions to the usual schedule, and

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<v Speaker 1>then you tend to take your vacation in mid July.

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<v Speaker 1>Probably this is just not going to be the stretch

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<v Speaker 1>of time when you can launch some big new speculative project.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have got young kids who to get sick

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<v Speaker 1>like clockwork in February, in March. Then maybe you need

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<v Speaker 1>to take this into account when you plan out your year.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not that you won't get anything done, but the

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<v Speaker 1>odds that you get through all eight to nine weeks

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<v Speaker 1>of February in March without getting sick yourself are low. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>obviously you can't trot out excuses all fifty two weeks

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<v Speaker 1>of the year, though perhaps they would be reasonable for

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<v Speaker 1>much of the time. The woman who didn't get much

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<v Speaker 1>done between Thanksgiving and New Years worked in a tax

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<v Speaker 1>education field. This meant she poured it on from January

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<v Speaker 1>to April and would often make a lot of her

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<v Speaker 1>revenue during this time. If you are going to have

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<v Speaker 1>a slow season, you probably need a fast season at

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<v Speaker 1>some other point. It might even help to note your

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<v Speaker 1>busy seasons for work and set your expectations for your

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<v Speaker 1>personal life accordingly. And we don't acknowledge these stretches that

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<v Speaker 1>lean one way or another, we start to feel perpetually

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<v Speaker 1>behind whatever sphere of life that happens to be in.

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<v Speaker 1>When you acknowledge that you won't be productive for a

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<v Speaker 1>particular chunk of time. On the other hand, you can

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy that time a lot more. You are still getting

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<v Speaker 1>the same amount done, but at least now you don't

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<v Speaker 1>feel bad as well. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

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<v Speaker 1>the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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<v Speaker 1>your favorite shows.