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 to consider what you would like to see
Speaker 1: in a time log for the coming week. When you
Speaker 1: know how you hope to have spent your time, you
Speaker 1: are more likely to actually do the things you want
Speaker 1: to have done. Longtime listeners know that I often host
Speaker 1: a time tracking challenge in January. This year is no exception.
Speaker 1: Thousands of us will track our time together for a
Speaker 1: week from January twelfth to January nineteenth. If you would
Speaker 1: like to sign up, just go to Laura vandercam dot
Speaker 1: com and enter your email address to get a time
Speaker 1: log and daily motivational emails from me. Knowing where the
Speaker 1: time goes can help us spend time better. Now, if
Speaker 1: you do the time tracking challenge, I imagine you would
Speaker 1: want to figure out how to make the most of
Speaker 1: the opportunity. One of the biggest benefits is accountability. When
Speaker 1: you know you're going to write down how you spend
Speaker 1: your time, you may be more likely to make choices
Speaker 1: with your time that you are proud of. But this
Speaker 1: doesn't even have to be an in the moment, good
Speaker 1: versus bad angel or devil kind of thing? Do I
Speaker 1: want to read? Or do I want a doom scroll
Speaker 1: for the next hour? What do I want to write
Speaker 1: on my log? I think that, But before you even
Speaker 1: start tracking, you can ask what you would like to
Speaker 1: see on your time log at the end of the week.
Speaker 1: By asking what you would like to see, you can
Speaker 1: make plans and choices that increase the amount of time
Speaker 1: spent on those things. So, for instance, if you would
Speaker 1: like to know that you spent some time connecting with
Speaker 1: your partner, you might propose that the two of you
Speaker 1: bundle up and go for an evening walk on Tuesday
Speaker 1: when you are both home, instead of just collapsing in
Speaker 1: front of the TV. If you want to spend more
Speaker 1: of your work hours investing in your relationships with colleagues,
Speaker 1: you might reach out to a few about grabbing lunch
Speaker 1: or coffee over the next week. Of course, these intentions
Speaker 1: might also then inform your choices during the week. If
Speaker 1: you know you want to see connection with your colleagues
Speaker 1: and somebody suggests happy hour, you know that you would
Speaker 1: be well served by arranging your life to make it happen.
Speaker 1: You reach out to your spouse to see if they
Speaker 1: can cover daycare pickup and you offered to do it
Speaker 1: on another night to make up for it. Perhaps knowing
Speaker 1: what you'd like to see on your time log will
Speaker 1: even help you get creative. If a friend wants to
Speaker 1: get together on Saturday morning and you are planning to
Speaker 1: get groceries, then maybe you will try grocery delivery for
Speaker 1: the first time, or you'll suggest your friend go grocery
Speaker 1: shopping with you, call it a shop and schmooze. Either way,
Speaker 1: knowing what you wanted to have in your log can
Speaker 1: help ensure you get it there. I know lots of
Speaker 1: people want to spend less time on things they don't
Speaker 1: want to do, and I get that keeping track of
Speaker 1: your time next week or any week might help you
Speaker 1: see some possibilities for being more efficient. But just as important,
Speaker 1: we should ask what we want to spend more time doing.
Speaker 1: We should ask what we want to see reflected in
Speaker 1: our time, because that empowers us to plan these things
Speaker 1: in or to make choices that increase these activities in
Speaker 1: the moment. In fact, even if you don't track your time,
Speaker 1: it can be helpful to ask yourself a version of
Speaker 1: this question, what do I want to have done this
Speaker 1: week or what experiences would I be happy to look
Speaker 1: back on today. When you involve your remembering self in
Speaker 1: making decisions about how to spend your time, you are
Speaker 1: more likely to spend your time in ways your remembering
Speaker 1: self will be happy with. I would love to hear
Speaker 1: how you would like to say you have spent your time.
Speaker 1: You can email me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.