Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that time is what you make of it.
Speaker 1: When you know how you are spending your time, now,
Speaker 1: you can take steps to spend more time on what
Speaker 1: you want and less on what you don't. Longtime listeners
Speaker 1: know that I host regular time tracking challenges. If you
Speaker 1: follow my blog Laura vandercam dot com, you can see
Speaker 1: how I am spending my time this week, all one
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty eight hours starting Monday morning to Sunday.
Speaker 1: If you'd like, you can track along with me. I
Speaker 1: know some people find it more motivating to do something
Speaker 1: when others are doing it too. If you have never
Speaker 1: tracked your time before, I encourage you to try it.
Speaker 1: And if you have tried before, why not try again.
Speaker 1: Life isn't static, and September is always a time of change.
Speaker 1: New schedules require new strategies or at least recommitting to
Speaker 1: the old ones. All you have to do is check
Speaker 1: in three to four times per day and write down
Speaker 1: what you did since the last check in. You can
Speaker 1: use a spreadsheet like I do, or a time tracking
Speaker 1: app or just write things down in a little notebook.
Speaker 1: Just go with whatever is easiest for you and whatever
Speaker 1: you think you will stick with. As you are doing this,
Speaker 1: you can start reflecting on your time. One of the
Speaker 1: things I see most clearly in every time log is
Speaker 1: how much control I have over my time. Now. Granted,
Speaker 1: I work for myself, so it makes sense that the
Speaker 1: work hours will reflect some of that autonomy. But even
Speaker 1: when it comes to the time I am spending with
Speaker 1: my family and dealing with the schedules and needs of
Speaker 1: five kids, there is choice. If I want to do
Speaker 1: something fun in the evening, I can make a plan
Speaker 1: and rally some of the younger kids to do it.
Speaker 1: If I want to create some adventure on the weekend,
Speaker 1: I have the power to make that come to be.
Speaker 1: Even during constrained time, like when I am sitting with
Speaker 1: a kid at an activity, I could be bored and
Speaker 1: staring at my phone, or I could have been proactive
Speaker 1: and gotten something fascinating from the library. Then I could
Speaker 1: spend an hour reading that. During low energy times at night,
Speaker 1: I can putter around the house, or I can think
Speaker 1: about what might be rejuvenating, like sitting on the hammock
Speaker 1: outside and looking at the stars or taking a bubble bath,
Speaker 1: or doing a puzzle, or choose some combination of those things.
Speaker 1: Time is what we make of it. Even within the
Speaker 1: very real limits of life as it is, we have
Speaker 1: the power to shift a lot. If a time log
Speaker 1: shows that life is all work and family responsibilities, that
Speaker 1: can be a nudge to text a friend and schedule
Speaker 1: a get together. If life feels like all chores, that
Speaker 1: can be a nudge to schedule in an hour of
Speaker 1: reading and simply do that first on the weekend before
Speaker 1: cleaning anything up at work. A day could be nothing
Speaker 1: but emails and boring meetings that should have been emails.
Speaker 1: Or maybe there can be a twenty minute coffee with
Speaker 1: that young person that you are thrilled to Mentor we
Speaker 1: can build the lives we want in the time that
Speaker 1: we've got. So why not see where your time is
Speaker 1: going now so you can figure out what to celebrate
Speaker 1: and what to change. This week is a good week
Speaker 1: to track, but any week is a good week to track.
Speaker 1: Time is what we make of it, and I promise
Speaker 1: that it is possible to make something really cool in
Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b the
Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com
Speaker 1: that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
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