WEBVTT - Don't be minute wise and hour foolish

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's 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 our 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 our 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 accurate, just aim for a

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<v Speaker 1>rough account of where your time went. On my website

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<v Speaker 1>Laura Vanderkam dot com, you can access the kinds of

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<v Speaker 1>spreadsheets that I use to track time, but it's pretty

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<v Speaker 1>easy to make your own. Put the days of the

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<v Speaker 1>week across the top of the spreadsheet and half hour

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<v Speaker 1>blocks down the left hand side. Mind, go from five

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<v Speaker 1>am to four thirty am. You could also use a

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<v Speaker 1>time tracking app or a notebook or an index card

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<v Speaker 1>or anything you want. Check in three times a day

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<v Speaker 1>and write down what you did since the last time

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<v Speaker 1>you checked in. Then, after you have finished time tracking,

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<v Speaker 1>take out a highlighter and see if you can identify

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<v Speaker 1>any instances of being our foolish. Maybe you made three

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<v Speaker 1>trips to the grocery store last week and each took

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<v Speaker 1>about an hour. Could you make a better plan and

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<v Speaker 1>just go once, or go to a closer store, or

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<v Speaker 1>go at a time when the lines were shorter. If

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<v Speaker 1>you drive to lots of kid activities, can you set

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<v Speaker 1>up carpools? It might take an hour or two to organize,

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<v Speaker 1>that's for sure, but that will pay off and freed

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<v Speaker 1>up hours every week, probably for months and possibly for years.

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<v Speaker 1>If you spend a lot of time cooking or cleaning,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe you can enlist other family members or do things

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<v Speaker 1>more simply. Think grilled cheese sandwiches and a bagged salad

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<v Speaker 1>for dinner rather than three dishes requiring three pans apiece.

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<v Speaker 1>You know what I mean? And the key here, let's

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<v Speaker 1>not at work off the hook This is the equivalent

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<v Speaker 1>of your house payment when it comes to money. If

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<v Speaker 1>you are contracted for a certain number of hours, then

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<v Speaker 1>you need to work that amount of time. But for

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of knowledge work, and particularly in this era

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<v Speaker 1>of remote work, time is far more fluid. There is

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<v Speaker 1>no point searching for hacks to save seconds on email,

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<v Speaker 1>like typing K instead of okay. When you are scheduling

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<v Speaker 1>yourself into thirty minute meetings that could have been handled

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<v Speaker 1>with a two minute phone call, could you check email

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<v Speaker 1>less often? Do you need to work at night after

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<v Speaker 1>the kids go to bed, or you're just doing it

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<v Speaker 1>out of habit? Do you sit at your desk until

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<v Speaker 1>five pm exactly, even though you have accomplished your major

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<v Speaker 1>tasks for the day and no one cares about your

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<v Speaker 1>exact hours. In any case, one of the best reasons

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<v Speaker 1>to be our wise is that it allows you to

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<v Speaker 1>be a little minute lush if you want. One of

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<v Speaker 1>my favorite parts of working for myself is that I

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<v Speaker 1>am almost never stuck in meetings I don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>be in. That is ours that don't disappear down the

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<v Speaker 1>hour glass. If I occasionally want to make an inefficient

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<v Speaker 1>trip to the post office during the work day. It

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<v Speaker 1>is totally fine. How are you our wise with your time?

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<v Speaker 1>You can let me know at Laura at Laura Vanderkam

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>listening and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's b E number four then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled

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<v Speaker 1>out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I

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<v Speaker 1>look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yea