WEBVTT - Be ready, not crazy busy

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I 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 be ready, not crazy busy. A

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<v Speaker 1>ready state allows you to deal with life as it comes,

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<v Speaker 1>without over complicating things or making yourself anxious and fearful

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<v Speaker 1>in the process. Today's tip comes from a TED talk

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<v Speaker 1>by emergency room Dr Daria Long. She discourages people from

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<v Speaker 1>describing themselves as crazy busy. As Dr Long explains, you

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<v Speaker 1>cannot afford to use crazy to describe your busy because,

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<v Speaker 1>she says, in crazy busy mode, we are simply less

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<v Speaker 1>capable of handling the busy. That's because when we are stressed,

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<v Speaker 1>our brains don't work as well. The anger and anxiety

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<v Speaker 1>areas of our brain are activated, while our judgment and

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<v Speaker 1>impulse control weaken. We can't function at our best under

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<v Speaker 1>those circumstances. So how do you avoid being crazy busy

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<v Speaker 1>own the busy? She advises To do that, she proposes

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<v Speaker 1>ready mode. Like in the e R. She identifies three

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<v Speaker 1>ways we can move from crazy busy mode to this

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<v Speaker 1>ready mode. First, triage in an e R, red is

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<v Speaker 1>immediately life threatening, Yellow is serious, and green is minor.

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<v Speaker 1>People who work in the e R absolutely know the difference.

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<v Speaker 1>They do not treat minor issues before major ones, even

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<v Speaker 1>if the person with the minor issue is not exactly

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<v Speaker 1>happy to be waiting in the e R. When you

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<v Speaker 1>are stressed, a Long explains, you respond to everything as

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<v Speaker 1>though it's eminently life threatening, but it probably isn't. In

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<v Speaker 1>ready mode, you don't mistake greens or yellows for reds.

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<v Speaker 1>As doctor Long says in her talk, know your reds

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<v Speaker 1>and do not let your non reds distract you from them.

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<v Speaker 1>The second way to move from crazy busy mode to

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<v Speaker 1>ready mode is to design your life to make your

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<v Speaker 1>life easier. In a busy e R, it wouldn't make

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<v Speaker 1>sense for supplies to be located in different places in

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<v Speaker 1>each room, or to be hidden away and inaccessible. Likewise,

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<v Speaker 1>you should make what you need readily available. You should

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<v Speaker 1>figure out ways to use less mental bandwidth in general,

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<v Speaker 1>such as automating meal planning. Taco Tuesday and pizza Friday

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<v Speaker 1>means you are ready for anything. And finally, when you

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<v Speaker 1>are confronted with a red need, get out of your

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<v Speaker 1>head focus on what needs to be done. As an

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<v Speaker 1>e R doctor, doctor Long focuses on the patient, and

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<v Speaker 1>when she has focused on the patient, she is not

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<v Speaker 1>stressed by her own performance anxiety. Likewise, if you need

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<v Speaker 1>to deal with something, don't overthink it, dive in and

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<v Speaker 1>get it done. Focus on it until the problem is stabilized.

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<v Speaker 1>Then you can deal with everything else. I really found

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<v Speaker 1>this an interesting way of thinking about life as I

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<v Speaker 1>am going through a rather intense phase. Launching a book,

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<v Speaker 1>which I'm doing next week, involves a lot of publicity

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<v Speaker 1>activities that have taken a lot of time over the

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<v Speaker 1>last few months. Fall is usually a full season for work.

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<v Speaker 1>Travel plus five kids in four different schools creates a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of moving parts, and so there is a reasonable

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<v Speaker 1>amount of triaging. The other day, I was scheduled to

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<v Speaker 1>be on a six am flight home from somewhere, and

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<v Speaker 1>we then sat on the tarmac for three hours. Unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>we kept thinking we would take off, so I wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>able to have my laptop out to use those three

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<v Speaker 1>hours in a better way. All this meant I arrived

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<v Speaker 1>at my desk at eleven am instead of eight am.

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<v Speaker 1>I had various things that had to happen before my

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<v Speaker 1>first scheduled publicity interview at two pm. And there was

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<v Speaker 1>a hard stop with the kids after school, so as

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<v Speaker 1>that available windows shrank from eight am to two pm,

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<v Speaker 1>two eleven am to two pm. I had to figure

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<v Speaker 1>out what were my reds. The yellows and greens were

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<v Speaker 1>just going to have to happen over the weekend or

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<v Speaker 1>get pushed to the next week. But when you are

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<v Speaker 1>clear on the reds and focus on them until they're stable,

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<v Speaker 1>they do get done and then you can figure out

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<v Speaker 1>everything else. So how can you be ready instead of

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<v Speaker 1>crazy busy? How can you make sure that even when

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<v Speaker 1>things are crunched you are able to react rationally. Thinking

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<v Speaker 1>of a busy e er might help. At least you

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<v Speaker 1>will probably stay more calm 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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<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah