1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: Today's tip is the third in a five part series 4 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,119 Speaker 1: on how to take control of your time in the 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: new year. This week, I'll be talking about five strategies 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: that I know will help you feel less busy and 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,560 Speaker 1: get more done because they've definitely helped me. The first 8 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: strategy was to track your time. The second is to 9 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: build in an extra hour for something you'd really like 10 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: to do. The third strategy honor this phrase first things first. 11 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: My fellow productivity types will no doubt recognize this phrase 12 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: from the late Stephen Covey's famous book The Seven Habits 13 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: of Highly Effective People. Noting that people spent a ton 14 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: of time on things that were urgent but not important, 15 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,399 Speaker 1: Covey urged people to spend more time on things that 16 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: were important but not urgent. By putting what he called 17 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: first things into our schedules first, we would massively increase 18 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: the chances that they'd happen. This is pretty much timeless advice. 19 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: Covey's book came out in nineteen ninety, which was before 20 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 1: people had smartphones. Digging all day long with group, text 21 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: comments and push notifications from apps. I'm not sure what 22 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: was urgent and not important in nineteen but it was 23 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: something people have always managed to waste time. But we 24 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: can choose to waste less time by treating what matters 25 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: to us as if it were urgent. If anyone listening 26 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: to this has watched my ted talk, then you've heard 27 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: me tell a story that's an example of this phenomenon. 28 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: I've seen thousands of time logs over the years, but 29 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: this particular one stood out. It was from a very 30 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: busy lady who worked in finance and had two young children. 31 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: She went out for a Wednesday night for something, only 32 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: to come home to find that her water heater had 33 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: broken and there was now water all over her basement. 34 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:12,799 Speaker 1: Anyone who has had this happen to them knows it's 35 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: a huge mess, and her time log showed her dealing 36 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: with it, the aftermath, the plumbers, the cleaning crew. All 37 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: this was recorded on her time log and took about 38 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: seven hours of her week, which is quite a bit 39 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: of time. But when we talked about this afterwards, looking 40 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: at her log and discussed it, we said, well, what 41 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: if we'd had this conversation at the start of the week. 42 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: What if at the start of the week, we'd asked, 43 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: could you find seven hours for something that's a priority 44 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: to you, seven hours to train for a triathlon, seven 45 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: hours to set up those coffee dates with the people 46 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 1: who wanted her to mentor them. Well, no, of course 47 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: she couldn't just find seven hours. I mean, couldn't We 48 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: see how busy she was. But here's the thing. When 49 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 1: she had to find seven hours because was water all 50 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: over her basement, she found her seven hours. Time is 51 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: highly elastic. We cannot make more time, but time will 52 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,639 Speaker 1: stretch to accommodate what we need or want to put 53 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: into it. And so the key to time management is 54 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 1: treating our priorities as the equivalent of that broken water heater. 55 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: We choose to get to them first things first. Now 56 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: I know this is easier said than done, but if 57 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: you think about your schedule this week, I want to 58 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: challenge you to look at it through this framework. If 59 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: something crazy happened, good or bad, you'd probably find the 60 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: time to deal with it. If your biggest client asked 61 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: you to come visit because she was about to drop 62 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: contracts for millions of dollars of work in your lap, 63 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: My guess is that you'd go. So what would you 64 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: not do as a result, Well, maybe that meeting about 65 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: office fridge policies would get rescheduled. So here's an idea. 66 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: If you keep saying you want to focus on client development, 67 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: if only you had the time, how about canceling that 68 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: meeting about fridge policies. Now, look at your schedule and 69 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: figure out what you chuck in an emergency, and then 70 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: ask yourself the hard question of whether it deserves a 71 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: place in your life. Now, you might be surprised how 72 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: much time becomes available when you think about putting first 73 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 1: things first. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, 74 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 75 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 76 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 77 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod 78 00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D. 79 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 80 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled 81 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look 82 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production 83 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,479 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio for more podcasts from I heart Radio, 84 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 85 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.