Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to make boundaries positive. There are all sorts
Speaker 1: of things we would prefer not to do for reasons
Speaker 1: of work life balance, But rather than make these sound
Speaker 1: negative and focused on what we won't do, we can
Speaker 1: point out what we still can do, because it's usually
Speaker 1: still a lot. Today's tip, like some others this week,
Speaker 1: comes from Laura May Martin's new book Uptime. Martin is
Speaker 1: Google's productivity guru, and she coaches executives there on how
Speaker 1: to be more efficient. In her book, she notes that
Speaker 1: the bridge between boundaries and approachability is the right communication.
Speaker 1: The best way to communicate boundaries is to frame from
Speaker 1: the positive. You highlight what you will do, not what
Speaker 1: you won't. So, for example, I don't take meetings on
Speaker 1: Fridays becomes I take meetings Monday to Thursday. I don't
Speaker 1: instant message outside my work hours becomes I'm available by
Speaker 1: messaging between seven am and five pm. I'm not taking
Speaker 1: any new clients right now becomes something like I'm taking
Speaker 1: new clients starting in July and I don't have time
Speaker 1: during the week to meet about this topic becomes I
Speaker 1: have office hours every Friday where I can meet on
Speaker 1: this topic. All of these statements get at the exact
Speaker 1: same thing, but they sound so much more positive. Wow,
Speaker 1: this person is available by messaging for ten hours every day.
Speaker 1: That's a lot, so why even call attention to the
Speaker 1: fact that they won't be signed on to the messaging
Speaker 1: system at five point thirty pm. As for the boundary
Speaker 1: that you are not taking new clients immediately but probably
Speaker 1: will in the future, it just sounds like you are
Speaker 1: creating options. How wonderful. The person who wants to work
Speaker 1: with you can decide to wait until you are accepting
Speaker 1: new clients again, or they cannot wait, but that makes
Speaker 1: them feel like they have a choice. You remain approachable.
Speaker 1: I really like this idea. I should note here that
Speaker 1: I personally don't maintain a whole lot of strict work
Speaker 1: in life boundaries in my schedule. I work for myself
Speaker 1: with a lot of flexibility. One result of that is
Speaker 1: that I inevitably wind up doing personal stuff during work hours.
Speaker 1: That means that if the work still needs to get done,
Speaker 1: I do work things what many people consider personal hours,
Speaker 1: and that is fine. With me, but for those with
Speaker 1: more regimented schedules, boundaries can make life feel a lot
Speaker 1: more sustainable. People might feel awkward about setting and sticking
Speaker 1: to boundaries, but when they are framed in a positive light,
Speaker 1: it all feels so much more congenial, and that makes
Speaker 1: people more likely to honor them because these boundaries seem reasonable.
Speaker 1: Maybe they won't honor them all the time, but a
Speaker 1: lot of the time, and that can make all the
Speaker 1: difference in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Bread. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.