WEBVTT - Understand your weekly rhythms

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I 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 to understand your weekly rhythms. When you

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<v Speaker 1>know how your energy and commitments EBB and flow, you

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<v Speaker 1>can use this information to plan more effective weeks. Most

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<v Speaker 1>of us have some awareness of our daily rhythms. If

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<v Speaker 1>you are like a lot of people, you may find

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<v Speaker 1>that mornings tend to be a better time for you

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<v Speaker 1>to work on demanding projects. By afternoon, on the other hand,

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<v Speaker 1>you may be rapidly losing steam, or perhaps you know

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<v Speaker 1>that you are on fire at ten pm at night.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why you tell everyone that you are a night owl.

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<v Speaker 1>But you may be less attuned to your weekly of

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<v Speaker 1>them the patterns of mental energy that you experience in

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<v Speaker 1>a typical week. For instance, many folks who work a

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<v Speaker 1>Monday through Friday week find that they are sharpest on

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<v Speaker 1>Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They have a weekend jet lag of

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<v Speaker 1>sorts on Mondays and Friday's feel good for little but

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<v Speaker 1>sliding into the weekend. On the other hand, if you

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<v Speaker 1>plan your weeks on Fridays so you know what you

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<v Speaker 1>need to tackle Monday morning and you plan weekends that

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<v Speaker 1>are rejuvenating and don't involve going to bed past midnight,

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<v Speaker 1>then maybe Monday is go time for you. That is

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<v Speaker 1>important to observe as well. Either way, you want to

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<v Speaker 1>identify your peak days and then plan accordingly. You don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to let those days get packed with low value

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<v Speaker 1>meetings and especially not in the mornings. Make sure any

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<v Speaker 1>peak day morning meeting are about your top priority matters.

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<v Speaker 1>If not, reschedule and try to carve out some peak

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<v Speaker 1>energy time for what productivity expert cal Newport calls deep work.

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<v Speaker 1>As for your lower value days, those might be good

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<v Speaker 1>for batching the little things, scheduling catchups that are nice

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<v Speaker 1>to do but not critical, and getting on top of email. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>not that we will ever be on top of email,

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<v Speaker 1>but if Monday morning is your peak time, you probably

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to spend Monday morning cleaning out your inbox.

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<v Speaker 1>If you haven't answered an email already by Monday morning,

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<v Speaker 1>it can probably wait until Wednesday afternoon. Along with varying

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<v Speaker 1>the kind of work you do during different parts of

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<v Speaker 1>the week, you may decide to vary the length of

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<v Speaker 1>your days based on weekly rhythms as well. If you

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<v Speaker 1>hit Monday morning, ready to go. Maybe you could choose

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<v Speaker 1>to work a longer day, say eight am until seven pm,

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<v Speaker 1>and then nine to five the rest of the week.

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<v Speaker 1>It maybe nine to three on Fridays, or for folks

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<v Speaker 1>who are turbo charged Tuesday through Thursday, Monday and Friday

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<v Speaker 1>could be intentionally shorter days. Another approach is to push

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<v Speaker 1>hard Monday and Tuesday and then have a slightly shorter

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<v Speaker 1>Wednesday to get recharged for the end of the week.

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<v Speaker 1>By being able to anticipate when you'll be at your

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<v Speaker 1>sharpest and when you won't, you can plan your weeks

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<v Speaker 1>in a way that sets you up for success. You

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<v Speaker 1>can manage your energy and manage your workload to make

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<v Speaker 1>more seem possible. In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks

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

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<v Speaker 1>M Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You

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<v Speaker 1>can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then

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<v Speaker 1>breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an

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<v Speaker 1>email at Before Breakfast Podcast at i heeart media dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For

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