1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to tackle multiple projects when 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: they all need to get done. You have a long 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: time to do them, but not a lot of focus time. Recently, 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: I heard from a podcast listener who's a college instructor. 7 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: Over the summer, she noted her workload was lighter, but 8 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: she always had projects she needs to accomplish. By the 9 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: end of August, she had new courses to design, old 10 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: courses to tweak, research projects, and curriculum to write up. 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: Her question, how should she plan her time to complete 12 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,560 Speaker 1: several projects over the course of a few months. Would 13 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: it be better to work on each project simultaneously, putting 14 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: in a bit of time each day to each project, 15 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: or should she focus on one project at a time 16 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,279 Speaker 1: and only start a new one when the others were completed. 17 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: As she noted, many people have this experience of feeling 18 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: like you have plenty of time in her case, three months, 19 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: and then having the season slip away. You end without 20 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: accomplishing as much as you wanted. In her case, she 21 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: also had the situation I know many listeners are coping 22 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 1: with right now two small kids at home all summer, 23 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: so these projects needed to be tackled around whatever time 24 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: she could seize. I think the biggest challenge in this 25 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,759 Speaker 1: case is that you can always feel like you should 26 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: be doing something else. So here was my advice. Make 27 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: a list of exactly what needs to be accomplished over 28 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,759 Speaker 1: the summer. In her case, maybe there would be three 29 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: big projects, designing a new course, completely revamping an old one, 30 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: and doing a research project. Then she could assign each 31 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: of these a portion of the summer. YEP, I believe 32 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: in doing one thing at a time. Maybe she would 33 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: revamp the course during the first three weeks, take four 34 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: weeks to design the new course, and then devote the 35 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: next four weeks to her research project. The reason to 36 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: do one task at a time is that you can 37 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: focus all your energy on its completion. When you do that, 38 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: you can make progress even in interrupted bits of time. 39 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: You can also relax because you're not constantly thinking you 40 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: should be doing something else. When you're working on revamping 41 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 1: one course, you know that there is time to design 42 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: a new course, but that is in July, not now. 43 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,639 Speaker 1: It will get done in turn. As for making progress 44 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: in bits of time around childcare. This two can be 45 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: frustrating if you're unsure what you should be doing, so 46 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: I recommended that this listener break her big projects down 47 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: into small steps and then organize these by what she 48 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: could get done in tiny bits of interrupted time and 49 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: what would require focus. She could aim to do one 50 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: focused thing a day, either during nap time or in 51 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: the morning before the kids got up or after they 52 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: went to bed, or when her partner could cover. She 53 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: could also assign herself a handful of smaller tasks that 54 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: didn't require much time, such as sending an email or 55 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,679 Speaker 1: mailing a form. When she got through those tasks each day, 56 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: she could then relax. There would be time to do 57 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 1: other stuff later, so she could enjoy being with the 58 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: kids instead of constantly thinking she should be doing something else. 59 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: If she did one big project at a time and 60 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: broke each project down into doable steps, with a short 61 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: list of steps assigned each day, I suspect that she 62 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,959 Speaker 1: would feel like she'd had the most productive summer ever. 63 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: And if you do the same, I think you will too. 64 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: You can do a lot in a few minutes, but 65 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: only if you know what you need to do. Plan 66 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: this out fully focus and you'll be unstoppable. In the meantime, 67 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 68 00:03:51,320 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to 69 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 70 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook 71 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the 72 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: number four, then breakfast p o D. You can also 73 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i 74 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out 75 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward 76 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of 77 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, 78 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 79 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.