1 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:10,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:16,800 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:21,599 Speaker 1: tip is to not be minute wise an hour foolish. 4 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: Get the big stuff right, and then you don't need 5 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: to worry as much about the little things. You have 6 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: probably heard the saying to not be penny wise and 7 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,200 Speaker 1: pound foolish, or I guess dollar foolish if we're using 8 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: American currency. The idea is that people often obsess about 9 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 1: small amounts of money while giving the big ones a pass. 10 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: You can spend a lot of time and energy trying 11 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: to find the cheapest gallon of milk or line drying 12 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: clothes to save a few cents per load, But wouldn't 13 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: it be better to spend a slightly smaller percent of 14 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: your income on housing and then buy whatever milk you want. 15 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: Or we might spend a lot of time filling out 16 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: surveys online to make a few dollars when that time 17 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: would have been better spent researching compensation in our industries 18 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: and negotiating wisely for the next gig. There are many 19 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: parallels between time and money. They are both limited resources. 20 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: The equivalent saying with time would be to avoid being 21 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: minute wise and hour foolish, and sadly, we are probably 22 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: all guilty of behaving this way. From time to time. 23 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: We become obsessed with hacks for shaving seconds off unloading 24 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: the dishwasher, but don't stop to question why we are 25 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: driving the kids to a dance studio on the other 26 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: side of town when there are closer ones that are 27 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: very similar. Better to put our energy where we can 28 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: get the best returns. So how do we stop being 29 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: minute wise and hour foolish? A great way to start 30 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: is with time tracking. I'll talk more about this topic 31 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: later this week, but in general, if you want to 32 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: spend your time better, it helps to figure out where 33 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: the time is going. Now, for at least a day, 34 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: but ideally a week or two, keep track of how 35 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: you spend every half hour. This log doesn't have to 36 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: be beautifully presented or even one hundred percent accurate, just 37 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:27,359 Speaker 1: aim for a rough account of where your time went. 38 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: On my website Laura vandercam dot com, you can access 39 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 1: the kinds of spreadsheets that I use to track time, 40 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: but it's pretty easy to make your own. Put the 41 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: days of the week across the top of the spreadsheet 42 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,520 Speaker 1: and half hour blocks down the left hand side. Mine 43 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:48,239 Speaker 1: go from five am to four thirty am. You could 44 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: also use a time tracking app or a notebook or 45 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: an index card or anything you want. Check in three 46 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: times a day and write down what you did since 47 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: the last time you checked in. Then, after you have 48 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: finished time tracking, take out a highlator and see if 49 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: you can identify any instances of being our foolish. Maybe 50 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: you made three trips to the grocery store last week 51 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: and each took about an hour. Could you make a 52 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: better plan and just go once, or go to a 53 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: closer store, or go at a time when the lines 54 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: were shorter. If you drive to lots of kid activities, 55 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: can you set up carpools? It might take an hour 56 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: or two to organize, that's for sure, but that will 57 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: pay off and freed up hours every week, probably for 58 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: months and possibly for years. If you spend a lot 59 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: of time cooking or cleaning, maybe you can enlist other 60 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: family members or do things more simply. Think grilled cheese 61 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: sandwiches and a bagged salad for dinner rather than three 62 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: dishes requiring three pounds apiece. You know what I mean? 63 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: And the key here, let's not let work off the hook. 64 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: This is the equivalent of your house payment when it 65 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: comes to money. If you are contracted for a certain 66 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: number of hours, then you need to work that amount 67 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: of time. But for a lot of knowledge work, and 68 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: particularly in this era of remote work, time is far 69 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: more fluid. There is no point searching for hacks to 70 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: save seconds on email, like typing K instead of okay. 71 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: When you are scheduling yourself into thirty minute meetings that 72 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: could have been handled with a two minute phone call, 73 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: could you check email less often? Do you need to 74 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: work at night after the kids go to bed? Are 75 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: you just doing it out of habit? Do you sit 76 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: at your desk until five pm exactly, even though you 77 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: have accomplished your major tasks for the day and no 78 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: one cares about your exact hours. In any case, one 79 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: of the best reasons to be hour wise is that 80 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: it allows you to be a little minute four if 81 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: you want. One of my favorite parts of working for 82 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: myself is that I am almost never stuck in meetings 83 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: I don't want to be in. That is, ours that 84 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: don't disappear down the hour glass. If I occasionally want 85 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: to make an inefficient trip to the post office during 86 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: the workday. It is totally fine. How are you our 87 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: wise with your time? You can let me know at 88 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this 89 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making the 90 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear 91 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 92 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook 93 00:05:55,200 --> 00:06:00,479 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b the number 94 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: four then breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an 95 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That 96 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks 97 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch. 98 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 99 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 100 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.