WEBVTT - Take back your time 2020 - Create more white space

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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 the fifth in a five part series

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<v Speaker 1>on how to take control of your time in the

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<v Speaker 1>new year. This week, I've been talking about five strategies

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<v Speaker 1>that I know will help you feel less busy and

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<v Speaker 1>get more done because they've definitely helped me. The first

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<v Speaker 1>strategy was to track your time. I hope you're five

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<v Speaker 1>days into that now, but if not, you can start today,

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<v Speaker 1>start on any day. It's always helpful to know where

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<v Speaker 1>the time really goes. The second strategy was to build

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<v Speaker 1>in an extra hour for something you really want to do.

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<v Speaker 1>The third strategy was to treat your priorities as real emergencies.

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<v Speaker 1>The fourth strategy was to try doing things at unorthodox times.

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<v Speaker 1>By being flexible, we can make more space in already

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<v Speaker 1>full lives. And now the final strategy, the fifth one,

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<v Speaker 1>is to create more white space. I know that in

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<v Speaker 1>our society it's almost a badge of honor to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about how busy we are. How is life busy? How

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<v Speaker 1>is your weekend busy? We talk about how much we

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<v Speaker 1>have going on, all the projects at work, The projects

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<v Speaker 1>at home. The implication of all this is that we

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<v Speaker 1>are very, very important, as evidenced by this high demand

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<v Speaker 1>for our time. But in my years of studying how

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<v Speaker 1>people spend their time, I've found something interesting. Many of

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<v Speaker 1>the most important people I've studied have a surprising amount

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<v Speaker 1>of white space in their lives. They do not schedule

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<v Speaker 1>every minute. They consciously use the power they have over

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<v Speaker 1>their time to try to be less busy, which is

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<v Speaker 1>definitely something I've been working on learning to do, and

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<v Speaker 1>there are a lot of practical reasons for building in

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<v Speaker 1>open space. Time tracking has shown me that everything takes

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<v Speaker 1>longer than I think it will. Somebody can ask for

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<v Speaker 1>thirty minutes at ten am, but for some reason, that

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<v Speaker 1>call will start late and something will come up, and

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<v Speaker 1>if I schedule something else at ten thirty, I'll really

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<v Speaker 1>need to force the issue. Or if I'm trying to

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<v Speaker 1>get out the door with my kids, I look at

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<v Speaker 1>the clock as I'm calling for everyone to get shoes on.

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<v Speaker 1>We climb in the car, and I look at the

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<v Speaker 1>clock again and shockingly, some non zero amount of time

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<v Speaker 1>has passed in the interim. Transitions aren't instantaneous, ever, yet

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<v Speaker 1>we often assume they are very few people enjoy being

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<v Speaker 1>late and rushing. Creating white space in a schedule can

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<v Speaker 1>make life feel more calm right there. I also think

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<v Speaker 1>it makes us more productive because white space allows us

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<v Speaker 1>to seize opportunity. If the person on my ten o'clock

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<v Speaker 1>call has some wonderful ideas he wants to discuss, and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm excited about these ideas, it's really nice not to

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<v Speaker 1>be furtively glancing at the clock trying to figure out

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<v Speaker 1>how I can hang up in order to start my

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<v Speaker 1>ten thirty call on time. White space invites these opportunities

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<v Speaker 1>as we linger in good conversations or talk to people

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<v Speaker 1>that we might not talk to when we feel starved

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<v Speaker 1>for time. We've talked in plenty of previous episodes of

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast about how to build in white space, and

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<v Speaker 1>one of my favorites is to be very careful about

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<v Speaker 1>saying yes to things. Don't just ask whether you're free,

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<v Speaker 1>really consider if it's a smart use of your time.

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<v Speaker 1>And one way to gauge this is to ask of

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<v Speaker 1>any request whether you'd be willing to do it tomorrow.

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<v Speaker 1>You know exactly what you have on your plate tomorrow

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<v Speaker 1>and how much energy you're likely to have We have

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely no idea what our answers will be to these

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<v Speaker 1>questions six months from now. Since it's hard to say no,

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<v Speaker 1>the bias is to say yes, and this is what

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<v Speaker 1>leads to our kicking ourselves about being overcommitted. I also

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<v Speaker 1>recommend looking at your calendar once a week, maybe on

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<v Speaker 1>Friday afternoons. As you look at the week ahead, figure

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<v Speaker 1>out what doesn't have to happen. If you're going to

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<v Speaker 1>cancel that Wednesday meeting, it's better to do it on

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<v Speaker 1>Friday when everyone can make other plans versus Wednesday. Five

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<v Speaker 1>minutes before start time, when you realize just how busy

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<v Speaker 1>you are, you might see that a sixty minute in

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<v Speaker 1>person meeting could be handled in a five minute phone call.

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<v Speaker 1>If that's the case, pick up the phone and make

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<v Speaker 1>that call. Or you might see that four people from

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<v Speaker 1>your team are scheduled to be in a meeting. That's

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<v Speaker 1>just about keeping your team informed. Probably one of you

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<v Speaker 1>can do that. A meeting is not the popular kid's

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<v Speaker 1>table in the middle school cafeteria. Do what you can

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<v Speaker 1>to free up space, and please try to create white

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<v Speaker 1>space at home too. As I create our kids activity schedules,

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<v Speaker 1>I try to keep one completely open day with no activities.

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<v Speaker 1>This is harder than it sounds with four and soon

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<v Speaker 1>to be five kids and all sorts of things. But

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<v Speaker 1>it's nice to have one day where we can relax,

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<v Speaker 1>or the kids can put on their jammies at four

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<v Speaker 1>pm if they want, or they can schedule longer homework

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<v Speaker 1>projects or reschedule things that got bumped from other days.

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<v Speaker 1>On weekends, we schedule some family adventures but leave some

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<v Speaker 1>open time too. Life is really about the balance. So

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<v Speaker 1>as you're studying your schedule this week, I challenge you

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<v Speaker 1>to consciously create more white space. Can you create a

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<v Speaker 1>work day with no meetings or appointments. If that's not possible,

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<v Speaker 1>how about an afternoon or morning, or at least two

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<v Speaker 1>hours open per day. You won't wind up twiddling your thumbs.

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<v Speaker 1>Trust me, this time. We'll get filled with something. But

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<v Speaker 1>leaving it open allows you to deal with what comes up,

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<v Speaker 1>rather than being flustered by the unexpected. Because life is unexpected,

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<v Speaker 1>you don't know for sure what will happen, but something will.

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<v Speaker 1>Creating white space allows you to deal with it. I

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<v Speaker 1>hope you've enjoyed this five part series this week on

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<v Speaker 1>making the most of your time in the new year.

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<v Speaker 1>If you do enjoy this podcast, please tell a friend

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<v Speaker 1>and be sure to rate and review Before Breakfast on

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts in

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E

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<v Speaker 1>the number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can

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

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<v Speaker 1>iHeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

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<v Speaker 1>with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

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<v Speaker 1>to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

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<v Speaker 1>I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.