Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 2: Today's tip is to.
Speaker 1: Log your pauses when you stop work for a little bit,
Speaker 1: see what you do and how you feel. You might
Speaker 1: get some insights that will help you get more done
Speaker 1: and take better breaks too. People who bill by the
Speaker 1: hour are used to noting when they start and stop
Speaker 1: working and how long they take for these breaks. When
Speaker 1: you are logging your workday in six minute increments, you
Speaker 1: are aware of exactly how long it takes to run
Speaker 1: a quick errand to grab coffee, to take a call
Speaker 1: from your spouse to coordinate dinner plans, or how long
Speaker 1: that quick personal email check actually was. People who bill
Speaker 1: this way are well aware that working from nine to
Speaker 1: six does not mean working nine hours. Most likely it
Speaker 1: wasn't even eight hours. It might have been seven if
Speaker 1: you are really good about focusing and moving like a
Speaker 1: machine from one thing to the next. But if you
Speaker 1: are not billing in six minute increments, you might not
Speaker 1: be aware of just how much time goes to pauses
Speaker 1: or transitions. Now, let me be clear, the goal is
Speaker 1: not to get rid of them, because they are inevitable
Speaker 1: and in many cases desirable. I certainly do not want
Speaker 1: anyone to feel guilty about taking breaks or about chatting
Speaker 1: with colleagues. Instead, the goal is just to be aware
Speaker 1: of where this time goes, so you can ask what
Speaker 1: is working and what isn't. Just as it is valuable
Speaker 1: to use a time log to identify what you are
Speaker 1: mostly doing during each thirty minute block of the day,
Speaker 1: it is also useful to keep a pause log to
Speaker 1: track what you are actually doing within those thirty minute blocks.
Speaker 1: For a few workdays, anytime you stop working, jot down
Speaker 1: the time, then record the time when you start working again.
Speaker 1: Particularly if you feel like there is more work than
Speaker 1: there are hours in the workday, a pause log can
Speaker 1: help you figure out whether there is an opportunity to
Speaker 1: fit more in during the workday so you don't have
Speaker 1: to stay late or work on weekends. Maybe you wind
Speaker 1: up making a lot of calls for appointments and such.
Speaker 1: Could you batch these They might need to happen during
Speaker 1: business hours, But could you plan to start work at
Speaker 1: nine thirty am someday after consciously using nine to nine
Speaker 1: thirty for such things? Notice whether your five minute break
Speaker 1: to check your personal email or social media actually ends
Speaker 1: up being a twenty minute break, and whether it's really
Speaker 1: worth the time. If your chat's with your work best
Speaker 1: friend average fifteen minutes per conversation, that's great. But maybe
Speaker 1: you could coordinate eating your lunches together so you get
Speaker 1: some extended catch up time and don't have to keep
Speaker 1: feeling like you need to cut the conversation short because
Speaker 1: you are in the middle of doing something else. By
Speaker 1: paying attention to your pauses, you may be able to
Speaker 1: reclaim some time for making forward progress on your work.
Speaker 1: You may also get insight into the pauses that energize
Speaker 1: you for the work ahead, as opposed to those that
Speaker 1: just aren't yielding many benefits. After a ten minute stretch
Speaker 1: break or walk around your floor, you may feel ready
Speaker 1: to tackle an important project. On the other hand, you
Speaker 1: may notice that the five minute breaks, which are really
Speaker 1: more like fifteen minute breaks to check social media, are
Speaker 1: almost never followed by much productive output. Good to know.
Speaker 1: When you pay attention to how long your breaks take
Speaker 1: and how your work goes after them, you may be
Speaker 1: in a position to find some time for getting more
Speaker 1: work done without staying late. You'll take breaks that energize you,
Speaker 1: which can make work days feel better, however long they
Speaker 1: happen to be. If you try logging your pauses, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear what you notice. You can reach me
Speaker 1: at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time.
Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can
Speaker 2: send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
Speaker 2: connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before
Speaker 2: Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod.
Speaker 2: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 2: Podcast at iHeartMedia dot com.
Speaker 3: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 3: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
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