WEBVTT - Look at the syllabus

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my 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 look at the syllabus literally if

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<v Speaker 1>you are a student, and metaphorically if you are not.

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<v Speaker 1>By knowing what's coming up and what we will be

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<v Speaker 1>responsible for knowing, we can plan our time in a

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<v Speaker 1>far more rational fashion. Looking back, I've realized that I

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<v Speaker 1>am really lucky that I did as well in school

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<v Speaker 1>as I did. It took me a long time into

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<v Speaker 1>college to realize that teachers often distributed a syllabus at

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<v Speaker 1>the start of the year, and that this was a

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<v Speaker 1>useful document. If I thought about it much, then I

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<v Speaker 1>probably just viewed it as a way to know what

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<v Speaker 1>was assigned week to week or see when the term

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<v Speaker 1>paper would be due. Only several years in did I

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<v Speaker 1>realize that I could look at the syllabus at the

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<v Speaker 1>beginning of the semester and plan out my reading and studying,

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<v Speaker 1>making sure I understood what would be expected of me

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<v Speaker 1>at any given point. I could plan my time to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure that the heavy weeks had the space to

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<v Speaker 1>absorb what they needed to, or that I worked ahead

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<v Speaker 1>during lighter weeks. Now perhaps you were a better, more

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<v Speaker 1>organized student than I was. But as we go into

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<v Speaker 1>back to school season, I am continually amazed at how

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<v Speaker 1>many people don't look at what is coming up and

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<v Speaker 1>make a plan to deal with it. We don't look

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<v Speaker 1>at the syllabus. For instance, we might know vaguely that

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<v Speaker 1>there is a big work deadline in November, and also

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<v Speaker 1>that one of our kids will want to visit college then,

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<v Speaker 1>and another will have a big sports season, and Thanksgiving

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<v Speaker 1>is going to happen in there too, so a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of our colleagues will be requesting addition all days off.

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<v Speaker 1>But we wait until November to acknowledge all this, and

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<v Speaker 1>then we see this all crashing down and inevitably drop

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<v Speaker 1>the ball on something now. To be sure, we don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to spend our lives thinking about upcoming logistics. In

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<v Speaker 1>a recent episode, I mentioned remembering that things won't be

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<v Speaker 1>perfect on day one. You do not need to solve

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<v Speaker 1>all problems ahead of time. That said, there is a

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<v Speaker 1>difference between recognizing that you will be able to solve

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<v Speaker 1>things as they come up and not even knowing what

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<v Speaker 1>is coming up. So take some time each week to

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<v Speaker 1>think about your life holistically. I like to plan on

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<v Speaker 1>Friday afternoons, I look at the upcoming week. My primary

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<v Speaker 1>goal is to plan the next week, but then I

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<v Speaker 1>also look forward in my calendar over the next few

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<v Speaker 1>weeks too. If I see, for instance, that I'm going

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<v Speaker 1>to be giving a speech on a topic I have

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<v Speaker 1>not spoken about before, and I'm off from work for

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<v Speaker 1>three days the week before that speech, well best to

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<v Speaker 1>give that speech sometime before the vacation week. Otherwise I

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<v Speaker 1>am going to feel crunched. I'll either need to work

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<v Speaker 1>on the speech during vacation, which is kind of problematic,

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<v Speaker 1>or I won't do a good job. That's not a

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<v Speaker 1>good idea either, and the scenario would be entirely avoidable

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<v Speaker 1>by thinking about what's coming up and planning ahead. In

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<v Speaker 1>any case, if you are a student, do yourself a

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<v Speaker 1>huge favor and look at the syllabus. Don't let this

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<v Speaker 1>take you sixteen years to figure out. Do it now.

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<v Speaker 1>Look ahead, get a calendar for the school year and

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<v Speaker 1>write down when assignments will be due and what you'll

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<v Speaker 1>need to read each week, and figure out when you

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<v Speaker 1>can plan these things in. Look at when anything big

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<v Speaker 1>is happening in your personal life too, so you can

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<v Speaker 1>figure that out. If your cousin's wedding is the same

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<v Speaker 1>weekend as a big paper, it's going to be due

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<v Speaker 1>on Monday. That doesn't mean that you either need to

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<v Speaker 1>skip the wedding or do a bad job. You just

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<v Speaker 1>have to work on the paper ahead of time during

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<v Speaker 1>a lighter week so you will get to do both.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you are an adult who is not in school,

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<v Speaker 1>you can look at the syllabus metaphorically. Take some time

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<v Speaker 1>this week to review what is coming up in your life.

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<v Speaker 1>Some stuff might be in your calendar already and some

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<v Speaker 1>stuff you just know because it always happens that your

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<v Speaker 1>work is busy in the beginning of February. If you

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<v Speaker 1>know this, you can plan ahead. If you see that

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<v Speaker 1>your child's musical at school is also during the first

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<v Speaker 1>week of February, you know that you'll have to juggle

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<v Speaker 1>your busy season stuff and push things forward a day

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<v Speaker 1>or two, or you'll need to work ahead. Either could work,

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<v Speaker 1>but when you have a plan, you can get to

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<v Speaker 1>everything you want to do. That makes work life balance

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<v Speaker 1>feel far more possible. 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 i heeart media dot com

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<v Speaker 1>that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For

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