WEBVTT - Choose interruptible work when you'll be interrupted

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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 that during times when you are likely to

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<v Speaker 1>be interrupted, choose work that is interruptible. We all have

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<v Speaker 1>some sorts of work that are easier to pause and

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<v Speaker 1>pick back up than others. So make smart choices for

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<v Speaker 1>times when you will experience interruptions, and you will avoid

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<v Speaker 1>frustration and probably get more done. So my weekday mornings

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<v Speaker 1>are fairly drawn out. I have five kids at four

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<v Speaker 1>different schools with different start times. I'm usually not managing

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<v Speaker 1>all of this on my own, but even with a

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<v Speaker 1>husband and child care help, I know that until everyone

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<v Speaker 1>is out of the house, I am not going to

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<v Speaker 1>have complete quiet. But that doesn't mean I can't get

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<v Speaker 1>anything done. Ar nanny comes to work at eight a m.

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<v Speaker 1>And leaves with the little boys for school around eight

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<v Speaker 1>forty a m. I am not officially on during those

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<v Speaker 1>forty minutes with the kids, but the odds of a

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<v Speaker 1>kid interrupting me for something are quite high, so I

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<v Speaker 1>choose interruptible work. This means that I answer blog comments

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<v Speaker 1>or emails from readers. I'll fill out my time log

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<v Speaker 1>I'll tackle administrative matters, or maybe work on a content

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<v Speaker 1>calendar for my newsletters or various shows. Then once the

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<v Speaker 1>little boys are in the car and out of the

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<v Speaker 1>house at eight forty, it's time to switch over to

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<v Speaker 1>deeper work. This is when I get going on harder

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<v Speaker 1>writing or editing or recording. I am far less likely

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<v Speaker 1>to be interrupted, so I choose work that I would

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<v Speaker 1>prefer not to have be interrupted. Maybe for you, the

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<v Speaker 1>interruptions aren't kids who can't find their trumpet or water bottle.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it's a junior colleague who always has questions at

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<v Speaker 1>the beginning of the day. Or maybe your interruptions come

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<v Speaker 1>from a contractor who asks a question every five minutes

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<v Speaker 1>for his first hour at your house. Maybe you have

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<v Speaker 1>to transfer from one train line to another before you

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<v Speaker 1>get a nice long stretch where you can sit and focus.

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<v Speaker 1>Whatever the nature of your interruptions, it pays to be

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<v Speaker 1>honest about them and to notice when you are most

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<v Speaker 1>likely to experience interruptions and when you may be able

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<v Speaker 1>to block some time for uninterrupted work. If you know

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<v Speaker 1>a period of time is likely to be full of interruptions,

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<v Speaker 1>choose tasks that you can easily get into and out

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<v Speaker 1>of For most of us, that is stuff like processing email,

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<v Speaker 1>like copy editing, paying bills, filling out forms. You'll be

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<v Speaker 1>able to check these things off your list and be

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<v Speaker 1>free to dive into your most important work at a

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<v Speaker 1>better time. Now, to be sure, we do need to

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<v Speaker 1>be careful about this. If you do have potential deep

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<v Speaker 1>work time, you don't want to spend the first forty

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<v Speaker 1>five minutes of it clearing the decks, So be clear

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<v Speaker 1>that this is interruptible time before you wade into the shallows. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>if you have a life where the interruptions never stop,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe you need to do something about that, like renting

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<v Speaker 1>an office if you are working from home, or establishing

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<v Speaker 1>some office hours for interacting with colleagues. But if your

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<v Speaker 1>day just features the normal mix of interruptible time and

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<v Speaker 1>focus time, then choose the right work for the right time.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are going to be interrupted, choose interruptible work.

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<v Speaker 1>We all have some and it probably does have to

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<v Speaker 1>get done eventually, so better not to choose time for

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<v Speaker 1>it that could have been better spent doing something else

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<v Speaker 1>in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our talk. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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

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<v Speaker 1>from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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