WEBVTT - Stay in your sphere

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to focus on one sphere of your work

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<v Speaker 1>at a time. Today's tip, like another this week, comes

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<v Speaker 1>from psychologist Tessa West. She is a professor at New

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<v Speaker 1>York University and author of the book Job Therapy, Finding

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<v Speaker 1>Work that Works for You. West explains that jobs have

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<v Speaker 1>different spheres, that is, different areas that require different sorts

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<v Speaker 1>of tasks. For instance, the spheres of my work are

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<v Speaker 1>my two podcasts, Before Breakfast and Best of Both Worlds,

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<v Speaker 1>my blog and newsletters, speaking and writing books. For a teacher,

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<v Speaker 1>the spheres of work might be less in planning, grading,

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<v Speaker 1>providing extra support tailored to students' needs, and other things.

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<v Speaker 1>A freelance graphic designer's spheres might be design administrative matters

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<v Speaker 1>like billing and marketing, or she might think of the

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<v Speaker 1>spheres of her work as each of her major clients.

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<v Speaker 1>Wes says that people are more productive and interruptions are

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<v Speaker 1>less costly when they generally stay within a sphere for

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<v Speaker 1>a while, rather than switching among different spheres of their work.

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<v Speaker 1>This makes sense to me if I am spending the

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<v Speaker 1>morning on before breakfast. There is an elegance and efficiency

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<v Speaker 1>to writing scripts, then reviewing audio files from a previous

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<v Speaker 1>batch of recordings, then brainstorming topics for future episodes. If

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<v Speaker 1>I need to let in the plumber to fix a leak,

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<v Speaker 1>it is fairly easy to get back in the zone

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<v Speaker 1>of before breakfast once he's gone, because I was so

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<v Speaker 1>focused on it before the interruption. On the other hand,

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<v Speaker 1>if I had spent the morning writing before breakfast scripts,

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<v Speaker 1>making notes for my next book, and working out travel

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<v Speaker 1>arrangements for a speech i'm giving, I would have been

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<v Speaker 1>less efficient to start with, and recovering from the plumber's

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<v Speaker 1>interruption would have taken longer because I might not be

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<v Speaker 1>so sure what to work on after. Given that we

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<v Speaker 1>can be more productive and less vulnerable to interruptions when

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<v Speaker 1>we're working within one sphere of our work, West suggests

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<v Speaker 1>planning each day by identifying the spheres you'll work in

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<v Speaker 1>that day and the tasks you'll do within each sphere.

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<v Speaker 1>Then she advises working in one sphere at a time,

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<v Speaker 1>not switching back and forth among the spheres planned for

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<v Speaker 1>the day. She suggests doing the miscellaneous tasks associated with

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<v Speaker 1>a given sphere, like emails right after you complete the

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<v Speaker 1>other work within that sphere. It could also be helpful

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<v Speaker 1>to plan work within a given sphere around the same

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<v Speaker 1>time that you will have meetings related to that sphere.

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<v Speaker 1>West suggests using physical cues like a whiteboard with color

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<v Speaker 1>coded tasks or post it notes on your desk to

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<v Speaker 1>remind you of your spheres and your tasks within itach.

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<v Speaker 1>I think working within one's sphere at a time could

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<v Speaker 1>work well for many people. Much like time blocking, working

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<v Speaker 1>in one sphere at a time will make you as

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<v Speaker 1>focused as possible and will probably lead to some insights

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<v Speaker 1>because your brain is in one particular space. What's more,

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<v Speaker 1>I suspect that planning which spheres you'll work on in

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<v Speaker 1>a given day also helps ensure that you actually work

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<v Speaker 1>in all the intended spheres of your core work. Over time,

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<v Speaker 1>it is easy to realize you have spent a whole

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<v Speaker 1>day on email and meetings, or a whole day in

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<v Speaker 1>reactive mode dealing with what's urgent without even touching a

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<v Speaker 1>particular aspect of your work or a major project that

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<v Speaker 1>you know is due soon. Planning which spheres you'll work

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<v Speaker 1>in lets you avoid that you probably won't work in

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<v Speaker 1>every sphere every day, particularly if you have a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of spheres, but you can be sure that over the

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<v Speaker 1>course of a week or so, you will invest time

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<v Speaker 1>in all of them. So if it feels like your

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<v Speaker 1>workdays are all over the place, consider planning your days

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<v Speaker 1>to stay in your sphere. You may just find yourself

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<v Speaker 1>feeling much more effective 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. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia. Or more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

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<v Speaker 1>the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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<v Speaker 1>your favorite shows.