WEBVTT - Is time management dehumanizing?

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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 about how to make plans without feeling

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<v Speaker 1>too restricted by your plans. So the title I gave

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<v Speaker 1>this episode is time management Dehumanizing, came from an interesting

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<v Speaker 1>letter I got from a Before Breakfast listener named in Yes.

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<v Speaker 1>She wrote that after listening to the podcast, she always

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<v Speaker 1>felt encouraged to plan things out and schedule her life

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<v Speaker 1>because she believed this would help her set priorities and

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<v Speaker 1>build the life she wants. But then she continued, However,

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<v Speaker 1>calculating in advance what I am going to do in

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<v Speaker 1>my personal and professional life feels a bit overwhelming and

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<v Speaker 1>dehumanizing because everything stops being spontaneous and every single hour

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<v Speaker 1>is planned out. Is your perspective on this any different, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>in a word, yes. First, I'd point out that when

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<v Speaker 1>people talk about time management being dehumanizing, usually they mean

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<v Speaker 1>that it's actually too human controlled. Some parts of time

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<v Speaker 1>are purely natural phenomenon days, years. People tend not to

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<v Speaker 1>feel too restricted by the fact that the sun keeps

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<v Speaker 1>rising and setting over and over again. It's other smaller

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<v Speaker 1>time units, such as hours and minutes that are human inventions.

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<v Speaker 1>These smaller inventions became very important and standardized during the

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<v Speaker 1>Industrial Revolution, when it suddenly mattered when the trains came

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<v Speaker 1>into a station or what time factory workers came for

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<v Speaker 1>their shifts. The idea of scheduling in these small human

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<v Speaker 1>increments is what can sometimes feel alienating and restricting. But

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<v Speaker 1>I don't believe this has to be the case. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>to me, time management is about freedom. Because I know

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<v Speaker 1>my priorities for any given week, I know that I

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<v Speaker 1>can still make progress even if everything falls apart. If

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<v Speaker 1>I plan my work out well, I won't be rushing

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<v Speaker 1>to meet deadlines. And as I've learned over the years,

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<v Speaker 1>no one likes to feel rushed. Because I think about

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<v Speaker 1>how I'll spend my time on weekends, I tend to

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<v Speaker 1>have pretty good ones with various adventures. I don't feel

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<v Speaker 1>like I lose my weekends to mindless scrolling or chores

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<v Speaker 1>and errands. I also think that there is a huge

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<v Speaker 1>gap between planning every minute or every hour and planning nothing.

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<v Speaker 1>I actually don't recommend that people plan every minute. That's

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<v Speaker 1>because stuff you haven't considered is going to come up always.

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<v Speaker 1>If every minute of a day is booked. When an

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<v Speaker 1>emergency happens, all that other stuff has to be chucked.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why people feel overwhelmed and behind. But if you've

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<v Speaker 1>only booked about fifty percent of your day, then you've

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<v Speaker 1>got room for a whole half day of emergencies before

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<v Speaker 1>you're any worse for wear. So you have my permission

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<v Speaker 1>not to plan every hour. Please don't leave as much

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<v Speaker 1>open space as you can. And then I think you

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<v Speaker 1>can still get the benefits of planning without the feeling

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<v Speaker 1>of restriction by setting some limited intentions for any given day.

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<v Speaker 1>For a week day, what are three professional intentions that

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<v Speaker 1>will help advance me toward my goals? Then what one

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<v Speaker 1>to two things could I do in my personal time

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<v Speaker 1>that would be meaningful or enjoyable for me and the

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<v Speaker 1>people I care about. A weekend might feature three to

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<v Speaker 1>five intentions. That's really not a whole lot. There are

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<v Speaker 1>sixty hours between that six pm Friday beer and that's

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<v Speaker 1>six am Monday morning alarm clock. Five intentions is basically

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<v Speaker 1>a rate of one intention every twelve hours. That can

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<v Speaker 1>leave a lot of open space and no real sense

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<v Speaker 1>of restriction. But then you can also do cool stuff

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<v Speaker 1>that does require planning ahead, such as eating at restaurants

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<v Speaker 1>where it's wise to make a reservation, or going on

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<v Speaker 1>a hike with friends who probably have a busy schedule too,

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<v Speaker 1>or volunteering somewhere that shockingly enough wants their volunteers to

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<v Speaker 1>commit to showing up to me, that's not dehumanizing. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>it's really the best of both worlds, open space plus

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<v Speaker 1>stuff that you know will make memories. Now, I suspect

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<v Speaker 1>many people who listened to a time management podcast probably

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<v Speaker 1>already agree with me. But if you're the sort who

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<v Speaker 1>finds planning to feel restrictive, I would love to learn

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<v Speaker 1>how you've reached a balance in your life. Feel free

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<v Speaker 1>to email me at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart

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<v Speaker 1>media dot com. 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. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch, but for Breakfast

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