1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: tip is that your head is a lousy office. 4 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,799 Speaker 2: Don't try to remember to do's and where tos and 5 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 2: how tos. Instead, get tasks, scheduled commitments, and other information 6 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 2: out of your head and into something much more reliable 7 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 2: that will help keep you on track and keep your 8 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 2: mind free for other things. Today's tip comes from a 9 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 2: recent article in The New York Times about the use 10 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 2: of professional productivity tools in our personal lives. If you 11 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 2: have ever sent out a doodle poll to find a 12 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 2: date for your book club, used a spreadsheet to coordinate 13 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 2: who's bringing what to Thanksgiving dinner, or if you email 14 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 2: your best friend as often as your boss, you understand 15 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 2: the concept. I actually think it's wise to bring the 16 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,959 Speaker 2: same intentionality to our personal time that we bring to 17 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,400 Speaker 2: our work, and if the tools of your professional life 18 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 2: can help you do that, why not use them. In 19 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 2: the article, productivity guru David Allen is credited with pointing 20 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 2: out that your head is a lousy office, though apparently 21 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 2: he used a more colorful word than lousy. In our 22 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 2: professional and personal lives. It is smart to remember that 23 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:44,199 Speaker 2: humans have a lot of trouble remembering things. We mean well, 24 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 2: but we're busy, we get distracted. Rather than tax our 25 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 2: working memory, it's better to keep track of appointments, to dos, 26 00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 2: priorities and so forth somewhere else that I can consult 27 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 2: when we need to. If you are listening to before breakfast, 28 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 2: you are probably more inclined than the average person to 29 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 2: put your scheduled commitments in a paper or digital calendar. 30 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 2: That's good for work, and it's good for personal commitments 31 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 2: like a date with your partner or your spin class. However, 32 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 2: most of us have responsibilities that are not particularly time bound. 33 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 2: We have tasks we need to remember. True productivity means 34 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 2: getting these vague thoughts out of your head, which remember, 35 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:40,799 Speaker 2: is a lowsy office, and somewhere actionable. For most of us, 36 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 2: that means creating. 37 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: A variety of lists. I make a weekly priority list 38 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: every Friday about the main things that need to get 39 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: done that week. I make daily to do lists, where 40 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: I pull items off the weekly list based on what 41 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,079 Speaker 1: else I have going on. I also keep a Friday 42 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,639 Speaker 1: punch list of little tasks that I need to tackle 43 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: at some point, things like making a hair appointment or 44 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: ordering a gift. I add to this list as I 45 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: think of these things, and then I aim to do 46 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: them all in one fell swoop at a low energy time. 47 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: Hence why I call it a Friday punch list. That's 48 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 1: a pretty good number of lists, but honestly most of 49 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: us should use still more. There's the grocery list, which 50 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: hopefully means you don't spend two hundred and fifty dollars 51 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: at the store and still come home with nothing for dinner. 52 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: There may be lists of desires. I like the idea 53 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: of a list of one hundred dreams of things you 54 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: might want to do someday. You could put restaurants you'd 55 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: like to try, or places to visit, or concerts to 56 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: experience on there. You probably also want some good system 57 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: for nudging yourself to think about things at the right time. 58 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: It turns out that. 59 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 2: June is often too late to be thinking about summer plans, 60 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 2: at least if your kids want to go to popular camps, 61 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 2: or if you enjoy popular vacation destinations. So maybe you 62 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 2: can set a calendar alarm for a date in January 63 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 2: to start thinking of summer. You could set a date 64 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 2: in mid November to think through holiday gifts. If your 65 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 2: school district releases the calendar at a certain time of year, 66 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 2: you could set an alarm for that time to start 67 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 2: putting in PTO requests. The point here is that you 68 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 2: aren't going to remember to do this on your own. 69 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 2: You might think, how could I not remember to start 70 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 2: planning the summer? But life gets busy. You'll have a 71 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 2: huge work project in January, or everyone will get sick, 72 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 2: and it will just slip your mind yet again. You 73 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 2: might not hit some deadlines. You might mean to remember 74 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,719 Speaker 2: your sister's birthday, but you know you forgot it last year. 75 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,840 Speaker 2: Do you really trust your brain to remember this year, 76 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 2: even though it's failed before. Your brain is a lousy office. 77 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:18,479 Speaker 2: The support staff is massively subpar. You need systems that 78 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 2: actually work for you. So get it all out of 79 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 2: your head and you'll be much better off. If you're 80 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 2: interested in the New York Times article I mentioned, you 81 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 2: can find it at ny Times dot com by searching 82 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 2: on its title when did our personal lives get so professional? 83 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 2: In addition to David Allen, I am cited in the 84 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 2: article too. I'd love to hear what you think about 85 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:48,280 Speaker 2: using professional productivity tools and your personal life. You can 86 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 2: reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In 87 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 2: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's 88 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,039 Speaker 2: to making the moose of our tech. 89 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can 90 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just 91 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before 92 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:24,359 Speaker 1: Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then breakfast pod. 93 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 94 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled 95 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I 96 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a 97 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 98 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 99 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:57,479 Speaker 1: favorite shows.