1
00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,560
Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

2
00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:15,280
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

3
00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:21,600
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to not be minute wise an hour foolish.

4
00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:24,600
Speaker 1: Get the big stuff right, and then you don't need

5
00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,000
Speaker 1: to worry as much about the little things. You have

6
00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,800
Speaker 1: probably heard the saying to not be penny wise and

7
00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,120
Speaker 1: pound foolish, or I guess dollar foolish if we're using

8
00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,960
Speaker 1: American currency. The idea is that people often obsess about

9
00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,440
Speaker 1: small amounts of money while giving the big ones a pass.

10
00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:46,960
Speaker 1: You can spend a lot of time and energy trying

11
00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,240
Speaker 1: to find the cheapest gallon of milk or line drying

12
00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:53,880
Speaker 1: clothes to save a few cents per load, But wouldn't

13
00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,960
Speaker 1: it be better to spend a slightly smaller percent of

14
00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,280
Speaker 1: your income on housing and then buy whatever milk you want.

15
00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:03,480
Speaker 1: Or we might spend a lot of time filling out

16
00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,040
Speaker 1: surveys online to make a few dollars when that time

17
00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,360
Speaker 1: would have been better spent researching compensation in our industries

18
00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:16,000
Speaker 1: and negotiating wisely for the next gig. There are many

19
00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,720
Speaker 1: parallels between time and money. They are both limited resources.

20
00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,920
Speaker 1: The equivalent saying with time would be to avoid being

21
00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:30,120
Speaker 1: minute wise and our foolish, and sadly, we are probably

22
00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,040
Speaker 1: all guilty of behaving this way. From time to time.

23
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,640
Speaker 1: We become obsessed with hacks for shaving seconds off unloading

24
00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,000
Speaker 1: the dishwasher, but don't stop to question why we are

25
00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,520
Speaker 1: driving the kids to a dance studio on the other

26
00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:46,759
Speaker 1: side of town when there are closer ones that are

27
00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,800
Speaker 1: very similar. Better to put our energy where we can

28
00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,640
Speaker 1: get the best returns. So how do we stop being

29
00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:59,160
Speaker 1: minute wise and our foolish? A great way to start

30
00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,040
Speaker 1: is with time tracking. I'll talk more about this topic

31
00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,560
Speaker 1: later this week, but in general, if you want to

32
00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,640
Speaker 1: spend your time better, it helps to figure out where

33
00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,840
Speaker 1: the time is going. Now, for at least a day,

34
00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,519
Speaker 1: but ideally a week or two, keep track of how

35
00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,720
Speaker 1: you spend every half hour. This log doesn't have to

36
00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:25,280
Speaker 1: be beautifully presented or even accurate, just aim for a

37
00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:29,560
Speaker 1: rough account of where your time went. On my website

38
00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,960
Speaker 1: Laura Vanderkam dot com, you can access the kinds of

39
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,960
Speaker 1: spreadsheets that I use to track time, but it's pretty

40
00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,679
Speaker 1: easy to make your own. Put the days of the

41
00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,799
Speaker 1: week across the top of the spreadsheet and half hour

42
00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,200
Speaker 1: blocks down the left hand side. Mind, go from five

43
00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,840
Speaker 1: am to four thirty am. You could also use a

44
00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,880
Speaker 1: time tracking app or a notebook or an index card

45
00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,919
Speaker 1: or anything you want. Check in three times a day

46
00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:58,839
Speaker 1: and write down what you did since the last time

47
00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:03,160
Speaker 1: you checked in. Then, after you have finished time tracking,

48
00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,240
Speaker 1: take out a highlighter and see if you can identify

49
00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:11,519
Speaker 1: any instances of being our foolish. Maybe you made three

50
00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,359
Speaker 1: trips to the grocery store last week and each took

51
00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,320
Speaker 1: about an hour. Could you make a better plan and

52
00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:21,160
Speaker 1: just go once, or go to a closer store, or

53
00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,440
Speaker 1: go at a time when the lines were shorter. If

54
00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:26,760
Speaker 1: you drive to lots of kid activities, can you set

55
00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,320
Speaker 1: up carpools? It might take an hour or two to organize,

56
00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,280
Speaker 1: that's for sure, but that will pay off and freed

57
00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:39,600
Speaker 1: up hours every week, probably for months and possibly for years.

58
00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,600
Speaker 1: If you spend a lot of time cooking or cleaning,

59
00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:45,760
Speaker 1: maybe you can enlist other family members or do things

60
00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:50,040
Speaker 1: more simply. Think grilled cheese sandwiches and a bagged salad

61
00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:54,280
Speaker 1: for dinner rather than three dishes requiring three pans apiece.

62
00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:59,360
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? And the key here, let's

63
00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:04,160
Speaker 1: not at work off the hook This is the equivalent

64
00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,640
Speaker 1: of your house payment when it comes to money. If

65
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,839
Speaker 1: you are contracted for a certain number of hours, then

66
00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,080
Speaker 1: you need to work that amount of time. But for

67
00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,680
Speaker 1: a lot of knowledge work, and particularly in this era

68
00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:21,479
Speaker 1: of remote work, time is far more fluid. There is

69
00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,520
Speaker 1: no point searching for hacks to save seconds on email,

70
00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:29,279
Speaker 1: like typing K instead of okay. When you are scheduling

71
00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:31,920
Speaker 1: yourself into thirty minute meetings that could have been handled

72
00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,080
Speaker 1: with a two minute phone call, could you check email

73
00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,280
Speaker 1: less often? Do you need to work at night after

74
00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:40,080
Speaker 1: the kids go to bed, or you're just doing it

75
00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,120
Speaker 1: out of habit? Do you sit at your desk until

76
00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,799
Speaker 1: five pm exactly, even though you have accomplished your major

77
00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:50,560
Speaker 1: tasks for the day and no one cares about your

78
00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:55,240
Speaker 1: exact hours. In any case, one of the best reasons

79
00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,520
Speaker 1: to be our wise is that it allows you to

80
00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,719
Speaker 1: be a little minute lush if you want. One of

81
00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:05,200
Speaker 1: my favorite parts of working for myself is that I

82
00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:08,800
Speaker 1: am almost never stuck in meetings I don't want to

83
00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:13,919
Speaker 1: be in. That is ours that don't disappear down the

84
00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,920
Speaker 1: hour glass. If I occasionally want to make an inefficient

85
00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,719
Speaker 1: trip to the post office during the work day. It

86
00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:26,279
Speaker 1: is totally fine. How are you our wise with your time?

87
00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,080
Speaker 1: You can let me know at Laura at Laura Vanderkam

88
00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:36,400
Speaker 1: dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for

89
00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:47,520
Speaker 1: listening and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

90
00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:49,800
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

91
00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:53,479
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

92
00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,920
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod

93
00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,920
Speaker 1: that's b E number four then Breakfast p o D.

94
00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,640
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

95
00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,599
Speaker 1: podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled

96
00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,080
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I

97
00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:21,200
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

98
00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,440
Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my

99
00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:28,360
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

100
00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:36,159
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yea