1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: tip is that when a need comes up urgently once, 4 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: it is an emergency. When it comes up twenty times, 5 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: it is a systems problem, and that is something you 6 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: can address so you can hopefully avoid the apparent emergency 7 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: in the future. Today's tip, like some other recent ones, 8 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: comes from my other podcast, Best of Both Worlds, where 9 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: my co host Sarah Hart Hunger recently interviewed Laura May Martin. 10 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: Martin is Google's in house productivity expert and the author 11 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: of the new book up Time, A Practical Guide to 12 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: Personal Productivity and well Being. Martin noted that some job 13 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: abs are by their nature about responding to urgent things. 14 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: An er doctor, for instance, doesn't really know what injury 15 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:13,399 Speaker 1: or illness she is going to see next. A journalist 16 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: who handles breaking news may also not know what the 17 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,039 Speaker 1: next big story is going to be. But even in 18 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: these jobs, I would point out there are often some 19 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: predictable aspects. An er doctor is probably going to see 20 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: a lot of potential heart attacks. If it is January, 21 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: there are probably going to be a lot of flu cases. 22 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: She can definitely anticipate those things. Journalists know big events 23 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: that are coming up that might have news associated with them. 24 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: Most obituaries for older famous people have been largely written 25 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: long before these people die. All that is left is 26 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: filling in the date. As for the rest of us, 27 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: emergencies truly should be rare. If something urgent is coming 28 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: up often, Martin advises, look at the process. An emergency 29 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: is a one off thing. If the same thing happens 30 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: twenty times, there is likely a problem with the system 31 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: that you need to address. I think this seems relevant 32 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: for our personal and professional lives. If every Friday night 33 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: you have to do an emergency load of laundry so 34 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: your kids have soccer socks on Saturday, that is a 35 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:41,239 Speaker 1: system's problem. Either they don't have enough soccer socks or 36 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: your family needs to adjust the laundry schedule. If every month, 37 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: the night before the monthly report goes to your boss, 38 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: you wind up working till midnight, that is a system's problem. 39 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: Maybe you need to get the constituent parts from your 40 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: team earlier, or maybe the report needs to be due 41 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: the tenth of the month instead of the fifth to 42 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: leave more time for processing. The results. If you are 43 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: late to a team meeting every Wednesday morning because the 44 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: client meeting immediately before it always runs over, that is 45 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: a system's problem. You could consider starting the client meeting 46 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: a little earlier, or booking it for fifty five minutes 47 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: instead of forty five since it always lasts fifty five 48 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,920 Speaker 1: minutes anyway, or maybe the team meeting moves later. But 49 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: this is all unlikely to just magically change on its own. 50 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: If you have an urgent problem that keeps coming up, 51 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: investigate whether there is a way you could adjust your 52 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: systems to be able to handle it routinely and without 53 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: drama in the future. Sometimes emergencies just happen to everyone, 54 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: but if you avoid the avoidable emergencies, you can reduce 55 00:03:55,520 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: your stress and run your life more smoothly. In the meantime, 56 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 57 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. 58 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach 59 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 60 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, 61 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple podcasts, or wherever you 62 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.