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 a reminder that January comes right after December.
Speaker 1: Things that are happening in January may feel like they
Speaker 1: are a long time off, being in an entirely new
Speaker 1: year and all, but they really aren't. So make sure
Speaker 1: your mental model of the calendar is right. Longtime listeners
Speaker 1: know that I use a paper calendar. Yes, I know,
Speaker 1: but I like it for various reasons we don't need
Speaker 1: to go into now. Paper calendars have their upsides, but
Speaker 1: a downside, at least for my version, is that the
Speaker 1: calendar ends on December thirty first. Anything happening in January
Speaker 1: is happening in a new calendar will Intellectually, I know
Speaker 1: that the week beginning January fifth is the week right
Speaker 1: after the one beginning December twenty ninth, and the week
Speaker 1: beginning January twelfth is a mere two weeks after the
Speaker 1: one beginning December twenty ninth. The calendar break makes it
Speaker 1: feel like a chasm. Something happening on January thirteenth feels
Speaker 1: like it is far in the future. From the perspective
Speaker 1: of late December, even though well it isn't I get
Speaker 1: caught up on this Every year. I have two kids
Speaker 1: with birthdays immediately after Christmas, and I would not think
Speaker 1: to plan their parties, even though I know that getting
Speaker 1: an in demand spot requires booking five to six weeks
Speaker 1: ahead of time. So a public service announcement six weeks before,
Speaker 1: let's say, January seventeenth is December sixth, It is not
Speaker 1: January fifth, when I have come up for air and
Speaker 1: am looking at my calendar again. Likewise, as I think
Speaker 1: about planning my annual time tracking challenges, which tend to
Speaker 1: happen in January, I feel like that is far in
Speaker 1: the future, but I have planned other challenges one to
Speaker 1: two months out. Two months before January twelfth is wait
Speaker 1: for it, November twelfth, but that was in a whole
Speaker 1: different year. It just doesn't seem rgent until, of course
Speaker 1: it is. I am not sure there's a good way
Speaker 1: around this mental block, but fortunately when we know we
Speaker 1: have certain mental blocks, we can build in systems to
Speaker 1: avoid the downsides. For instance, I now put on my
Speaker 1: calendar in late November to plan my post Christmas baby's
Speaker 1: birthday parties. I may scratch my head when I see
Speaker 1: that entry and first think, but that is ages from now,
Speaker 1: and then I remind myself that, nope, it is not.
Speaker 1: If you likewise have something big at work happening during
Speaker 1: the first three weeks of January, do yourself a favor
Speaker 1: and start building it into your mental picture before the holidays.
Speaker 1: If you would normally start thinking about a big thing
Speaker 1: a month in advance, well a month ahead of mid
Speaker 1: January is mid December. There is likely nothing different about
Speaker 1: this big project versus any other big project, and you
Speaker 1: don't have to do everything. But you might be kicking
Speaker 1: yourself on January fifth when you realize how close the
Speaker 1: deadline is. A little knowledge and planning can help you
Speaker 1: get something of a head start in the meantime. This
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.