WEBVTT - Second Cup: Don't be minute wise and hour foolish

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to not be minute wise an hour foolish.

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<v Speaker 1>Get the big stuff right, and then you don't need

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<v Speaker 1>to worry as much about the little things. You have

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<v Speaker 1>probably heard the saying to not be penny wise and

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<v Speaker 1>pound foolish, or I guess dollar foolish if we're using

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<v Speaker 1>American currency. The idea is that people often obsess about

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<v Speaker 1>small amounts of money while giving the big ones a pass.

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<v Speaker 1>You can spend a lot of time and energy trying

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<v Speaker 1>to find the cheapest gallon of milk or line drying

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<v Speaker 1>clothes to save a few cents per load, But wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>it be better to spend a slightly smaller percent of

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<v Speaker 1>your income on housing and then buy whatever milk you want.

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<v Speaker 1>Or we might spend a lot of time filling out

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<v Speaker 1>surveys online to make a few dollars when that time

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<v Speaker 1>would have been better spent researching compensation in our industries

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<v Speaker 1>and negotiating wisely for the next gig. There are many

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<v Speaker 1>parallels between time and money. They are both limited resources.

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<v Speaker 1>The equivalent saying with time would be to avoid being

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<v Speaker 1>minute wise and hour foolish, and sadly, we are probably

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<v Speaker 1>all guilty of behaving this way. From time to time.

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<v Speaker 1>We become obsessed with hacks for shaving seconds off unloading

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<v Speaker 1>the dishwasher, but don't stop to question why we are

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<v Speaker 1>driving the kids to a dance studio on the other

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<v Speaker 1>side of town when there are closer ones that are

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<v Speaker 1>very similar. Better to put our energy where we can

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<v Speaker 1>get the best returns. So how do we stop being

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<v Speaker 1>minute wise and hour foolish? A great way to start

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<v Speaker 1>is with time tracking. I'll talk more about this topic

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<v Speaker 1>later this week, but in general, if you want to

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<v Speaker 1>spend your time better, it helps to figure out where

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<v Speaker 1>the time is going. Now, for at least a day,

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<v Speaker 1>but ideally a week or two, keep track of how

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<v Speaker 1>you spend every half hour. This log doesn't have to

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<v Speaker 1>be beautifully presented or even one hundred percent accurate, just

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<v Speaker 1>aim for a rough account of where your time went.

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<v Speaker 1>On my website Laura vandercam dot com, you can access

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<v Speaker 1>the kinds of spreadsheets that I use to track time,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's pretty easy to make your own. Put the

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<v Speaker 1>days of the week across the top of the spreadsheet

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<v Speaker 1>and half hour blocks down the left hand side. Mine

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<v Speaker 1>go from five am to four thirty am. You could

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<v Speaker 1>also use a time tracking app or a notebook or

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<v Speaker 1>an index card or anything you want. Check in three

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<v Speaker 1>times a day and write down what you did since

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<v Speaker 1>the last time you checked in. Then, after you have

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<v Speaker 1>finished time tracking, take out a highlator and see if

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<v Speaker 1>you can identify any instances of being our foolish. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>you made three trips to the grocery store last week

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<v Speaker 1>and each took about an hour. Could you make a

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<v Speaker 1>better plan and just go once, or go to a

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<v Speaker 1>closer store, or go at a time when the lines

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<v Speaker 1>were shorter. If you drive to lots of kid activities,

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<v Speaker 1>can you set up carpools? It might take an hour

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<v Speaker 1>or two to organize, that's for sure, but that will

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<v Speaker 1>pay off and freed up hours every week, probably for

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<v Speaker 1>months and possibly for years. If you spend a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of time cooking or cleaning, maybe you can enlist other

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<v Speaker 1>family members or do things more simply. Think grilled cheese

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<v Speaker 1>sandwiches and a bagged salad for dinner rather than three

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<v Speaker 1>dishes requiring three pounds apiece. You know what I mean?

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<v Speaker 1>And the key here, let's not let work off the hook.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the equivalent of your house payment when it

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<v Speaker 1>comes to money. If you are contracted for a certain

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<v Speaker 1>number of hours, then you need to work that amount

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<v Speaker 1>of time. But for a lot of knowledge work, and

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<v Speaker 1>particularly in this era of remote work, time is far

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<v Speaker 1>more fluid. There is no point searching for hacks to

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<v Speaker 1>save seconds on email, like typing K instead of okay.

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<v Speaker 1>When you are scheduling yourself into thirty minute meetings that

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<v Speaker 1>could have been handled with a two minute phone call,

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<v Speaker 1>could you check email less often? Do you need to

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<v Speaker 1>work at night after the kids go to bed? Are

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<v Speaker 1>you just doing it out of habit? Do you sit

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<v Speaker 1>at your desk until five pm exactly, even though you

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<v Speaker 1>have accomplished your major tasks for the day and no

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<v Speaker 1>one cares about your exact hours. In any case, one

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<v Speaker 1>of the best reasons to be hour wise is that

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<v Speaker 1>it allows you to be a little minute four if

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<v Speaker 1>you want. One of my favorite parts of working for

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<v Speaker 1>myself is that I am almost never stuck in meetings

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<v Speaker 1>I don't want to be in. That is, ours that

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<v Speaker 1>don't disappear down the hour glass. If I occasionally want

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<v Speaker 1>to make an inefficient trip to the post office during

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<v Speaker 1>the workday. It is totally fine. How are you our

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<v Speaker 1>wise with your time? You can let me know at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making the

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

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<v Speaker 1>from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b the number

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<v Speaker 1>four then breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an

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<v Speaker 1>email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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