Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is the second in a five part series
Speaker 1: on how to take control of your time in the
Speaker 1: new year. This week, I'll be talking about five strategies
Speaker 1: that I know will help you feel less busy and
Speaker 1: get more done because they've definitely helped me. The first
Speaker 1: tip was to track your time. The second tip is
Speaker 1: to add before you subtract. Here's what I mean when
Speaker 1: it comes to time. We spend a lot of time
Speaker 1: and effort thinking about what we'd like to spend less
Speaker 1: time doing, and it makes sense on some level if
Speaker 1: we can shave bits of time off things that don't matter,
Speaker 1: it seems like we'll have all kinds of time for
Speaker 1: the good stuff. And that's the theory behind the vast
Speaker 1: major already of time hacks I read online. I keep
Speaker 1: looking at these articles hoping I'm going to find some
Speaker 1: life changing strategy that will help me find hours in
Speaker 1: the day I didn't know existed. But then the tips
Speaker 1: are always things like, if you need to microwave something
Speaker 1: for about twenty seconds, you can save time by pressing
Speaker 1: to two instead of to zero. I mean, come on,
Speaker 1: do people think we're really going to build amazing lives
Speaker 1: by saving a few seconds here and there? Is hitting
Speaker 1: to zero on the microwave instead of T two keeping
Speaker 1: you from greatness? I doubt it. I believe this advice
Speaker 1: has it completely backward. We don't build the lives we
Speaker 1: want by saving time. We build the lives we want
Speaker 1: and then time saves itself. So instead I want you
Speaker 1: to focus on addition rather than subtraction. Hopefully this week
Speaker 1: you're tracking your time. But whether you are or you aren't,
Speaker 1: ask yourself this question, what would you like to spend
Speaker 1: more time doing? What isn't in your life that you'd
Speaker 1: like to see there? What are you doing once or
Speaker 1: twice a week, or for a few minutes that you'd
Speaker 1: like to do a lot more of what makes you
Speaker 1: happiest and most energized. Take a few minutes today to
Speaker 1: think about this and make a list. Then choose one
Speaker 1: item on the list that seems doable. Maybe you enjoy
Speaker 1: reading crime novels. Maybe you like to take walks outside
Speaker 1: in the middle of the day. Maybe you enjoy playing
Speaker 1: with your dogs in the backyard. Whatever it is, figure
Speaker 1: this out and challenge yourself to spend one more hour
Speaker 1: in the next few days doing this. When could this happen?
Speaker 1: What logistics do you need to take care of? If
Speaker 1: a whole hour in one chunk isn't appropriate, maybe think
Speaker 1: about smaller chunks. But I'm guessing you can find the
Speaker 1: time somewhere. Maybe you make sure you have a really
Speaker 1: good crime novel and you set non alarm for thirty
Speaker 1: minutes before bed to read it. Do that for two
Speaker 1: days and you've gotten your hour in. Or when you're
Speaker 1: puttering around after work, go grab the dogs and go
Speaker 1: outside with your frisbee. And then as you build in
Speaker 1: this hour, something magical happens. The stuff you don't want
Speaker 1: to do, the stuff we look for life hacks to
Speaker 1: trim just naturally takes less time. When I'm deeply absorbed
Speaker 1: in a writing project, I've spend less time in my inbox.
Speaker 1: I do this regardless of whether I am using some
Speaker 1: email hack like typing k instead of okay in my emails.
Speaker 1: Best to make time for the writing rather than ditch
Speaker 1: the letter. Oh so, what will you add into your life?
Speaker 1: You can let me know before Breakfast podcast at ihart
Speaker 1: media dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening and here's to making the most of our time.
Speaker 1: M Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You
Speaker 1: can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four, then
Speaker 1: Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot
Speaker 1: com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
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