Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to think of your to do list
Speaker 1: as a ferris wheel. Yes, you have a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff going on in life, but only a few things
Speaker 1: can be at the top at any given point. By
Speaker 1: addressing those and then spinning the wheel, you will eventually
Speaker 1: get to everything. I'm taking this tip from my friend
Speaker 1: Anne Bogel, who is the creator of the Modern Missus
Speaker 1: Darcy website and the host of the podcast What Should
Speaker 1: I Read Next. When I interviewed her from my book
Speaker 1: The New Corner Office, she mentioned that she thought of
Speaker 1: her work life as everyone's favorite fair ground staple, the
Speaker 1: ferris wheel. She'd have a couple of long term projects going,
Speaker 1: but she'd only focus on a limited number at a time.
Speaker 1: Those are the cars at the top of the ferris wheel.
Speaker 1: If she addressed each in turn and then spun the wheel,
Speaker 1: she would eventually spend time on everything. I love this
Speaker 1: image for a lot of reasons. I often advise people
Speaker 1: to limit their daily to do lists. No one is
Speaker 1: going to get through a fifty item to do list
Speaker 1: in a day. That's just ridiculous. Aiming for three to
Speaker 1: five consequential activities around your various appointments is about all
Speaker 1: you can expect. There is no virtue in putting something
Speaker 1: on a to do list and then not doing it.
Speaker 1: But of course, whenever I mentioned the virtue of brevity
Speaker 1: when it comes to to do lists, someone will point
Speaker 1: out that, hello, I have more than three to five
Speaker 1: things going on in my life at any given point.
Speaker 1: How can I expect a to do list to be
Speaker 1: so limited? The ferris wheel analogy answers this question. Of course,
Speaker 1: you have more than three to five things going on.
Speaker 1: Everyone does, But you can't put fifteen cars on top
Speaker 1: of a ferris wheel at the same time. That really
Speaker 1: wouldn't be much of a ride. Instead, you focus on
Speaker 1: a few each day, and then spin the wheel and
Speaker 1: focus on different ones tomorrow. You accomplish those, then spin
Speaker 1: again and focus on different ones the next day too.
Speaker 1: Perhaps some projects come up again frequently once a week
Speaker 1: or so you can devote a day to them. For instance,
Speaker 1: I often dedicate a day to writing podcast episodes for
Speaker 1: a whole week or more. Then I spend the wheel again.
Speaker 1: You can get to lots of things by focusing on
Speaker 1: a few things. In turn, the Ferris Wheel analogy can
Speaker 1: help you make your peace with this idea. I know
Speaker 1: it's been helpful for me, so maybe it will be
Speaker 1: for you too. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. We talk