WEBVTT - When you work while others play 

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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 use time when you're working but

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<v Speaker 1>others aren't for deeper work. Make the most of time

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<v Speaker 1>when you'll have few meetings or requests to make progress

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<v Speaker 1>on projects requiring more concentration, and you will be amazed

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<v Speaker 1>by what you can get done. Many of us have

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<v Speaker 1>had the experience of working on a day when a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of other people are not working. Maybe it's that

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<v Speaker 1>you've decided not to take time off between Christmas and

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<v Speaker 1>New Year's or another common vacation day like the day

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<v Speaker 1>after Thanksgiving. Sometimes people choose to work a half day

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<v Speaker 1>on a weekend or offset hours. Back when I used

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<v Speaker 1>to travel for work, I've noticed that every time I

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<v Speaker 1>flew to the West Coast, I'd wake up around four

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<v Speaker 1>thirty in the morning, Since it felt like seven thirty

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<v Speaker 1>to me, I could work for three to four hours

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<v Speaker 1>before my first meeting and feel like I was getting

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<v Speaker 1>all kinds of stuff done. In any case, working at

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<v Speaker 1>times when others aren't creates prime conditions for focus. Most

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<v Speaker 1>people aren't going to schedule a meeting for Saturday morning

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<v Speaker 1>or four five am. Most people aren't even going to

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<v Speaker 1>be sending new messages at this time. And while I

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<v Speaker 1>can tell you to just ignore your inboxer phone, many

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<v Speaker 1>people have trouble doing that. If you work in an office,

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<v Speaker 1>using these off hours means you won't have folks stopping

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<v Speaker 1>by or distracting you with background noise. Now I am

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<v Speaker 1>not saying you should always work on weekends or early

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<v Speaker 1>mornings just to get some quiet, but on the days

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<v Speaker 1>when you do get some of this time, well use it.

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<v Speaker 1>Figure out which projects most deserve of these uninterrupted stretches

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<v Speaker 1>of time. Which projects will get more traction when you

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<v Speaker 1>can devote longer to them than the fifteen minutes of

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<v Speaker 1>quiet time you usually get. Maybe you want to focus

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<v Speaker 1>on something strategic, developing ideas or plans for a new project,

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<v Speaker 1>or figuring out how to refine an existing service or

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<v Speaker 1>reconfigure your team. Extended chunks of time are great for

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<v Speaker 1>long format writing as well a presentation, a book proposal,

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<v Speaker 1>performance reviews for your direct reports that feel well thought through.

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<v Speaker 1>All of these are great ideas. I know it's tempting

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<v Speaker 1>to think, Hey, I have fewer messages coming in so

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<v Speaker 1>I can finally clean out my inbox. But the truth

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<v Speaker 1>is you can process email and edit a deck of

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<v Speaker 1>slides or organize your desk anytime, so you are probably

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<v Speaker 1>better off handling those activities when your workplace sis a

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<v Speaker 1>buzz and your schedule is tightly packed. Reserve times that

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<v Speaker 1>you're working and others aren't for those things that usually

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<v Speaker 1>don't happen but should now. Of course, it's not always

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<v Speaker 1>possible to anticipate when you'll get this time. Maybe, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>you've got child care on a snow day when many

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<v Speaker 1>other people don't, so you'll get this time, but you

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<v Speaker 1>might not know that more than a day ahead. But

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<v Speaker 1>if you and your spouse, for instance, decide to each

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<v Speaker 1>give each other three hours to work every other weekend, well,

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<v Speaker 1>you know you will be getting this time, so plan

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<v Speaker 1>for it. Figure out what qualifies as high priority deep

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<v Speaker 1>work for you, and then don't put anything in there

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<v Speaker 1>that would interrupt this time. Even a quick phone check

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<v Speaker 1>in with someone might distract your brain if you're watching

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<v Speaker 1>the clock for the appointed time, stopping deep work before

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<v Speaker 1>and then cycling in after. Best to keep the schedule

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<v Speaker 1>clear an open span of time when you know you'll

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<v Speaker 1>be able to concentrate is awesome. So if you are

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<v Speaker 1>working while others play, commit to making the most of it,

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<v Speaker 1>you might start looking for other opportunities to make this

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<v Speaker 1>quiet time happen to in the meantime. This is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four, then breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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<v Speaker 1>at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media 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, I look forward to staying in touch. Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For more

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