WEBVTT - Once is an emergency

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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 that when a need comes up urgently once,

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<v Speaker 1>it is an emergency. When it comes up twenty times,

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<v Speaker 1>it is a systems problem, and that is something you

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<v Speaker 1>can address so you can hopefully avoid the apparent emergency

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<v Speaker 1>in the future. Today's tip, like some other recent ones,

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<v Speaker 1>comes from my other podcast, Best of Both Worlds, where

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<v Speaker 1>my co host Sarah Hart Hunger recently interviewed Laura May Martin.

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<v Speaker 1>Martin is Google's in house productivity expert and the author

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<v Speaker 1>of the new book up Time, A Practical Guide to

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<v Speaker 1>Personal Productivity and well Being. Martin noted that some job

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<v Speaker 1>abs are by their nature about responding to urgent things.

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<v Speaker 1>An er doctor, for instance, doesn't really know what injury

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<v Speaker 1>or illness she is going to see next. A journalist

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<v Speaker 1>who handles breaking news may also not know what the

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<v Speaker 1>next big story is going to be. But even in

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<v Speaker 1>these jobs, I would point out there are often some

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<v Speaker 1>predictable aspects. An er doctor is probably going to see

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of potential heart attacks. If it is January,

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<v Speaker 1>there are probably going to be a lot of flu cases.

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<v Speaker 1>She can definitely anticipate those things. Journalists know big events

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<v Speaker 1>that are coming up that might have news associated with them.

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<v Speaker 1>Most obituaries for older famous people have been largely written

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<v Speaker 1>long before these people die. All that is left is

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<v Speaker 1>filling in the date. As for the rest of us,

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<v Speaker 1>emergencies truly should be rare. If something urgent is coming

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<v Speaker 1>up often, Martin advises, look at the process. An emergency

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<v Speaker 1>is a one off thing. If the same thing happens

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<v Speaker 1>twenty times, there is likely a problem with the system

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<v Speaker 1>that you need to address. I think this seems relevant

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<v Speaker 1>for our personal and professional lives. If every Friday night

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<v Speaker 1>you have to do an emergency load of laundry so

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<v Speaker 1>your kids have soccer socks on Saturday, that is a

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<v Speaker 1>system's problem. Either they don't have enough soccer socks or

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<v Speaker 1>your family needs to adjust the laundry schedule. If every month,

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<v Speaker 1>the night before the monthly report goes to your boss,

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<v Speaker 1>you wind up working till midnight, that is a system's problem.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you need to get the constituent parts from your

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<v Speaker 1>team earlier, or maybe the report needs to be due

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<v Speaker 1>the tenth of the month instead of the fifth to

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<v Speaker 1>leave more time for processing. The results. If you are

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<v Speaker 1>late to a team meeting every Wednesday morning because the

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<v Speaker 1>client meeting immediately before it always runs over, that is

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<v Speaker 1>a system's problem. You could consider starting the client meeting

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<v Speaker 1>a little earlier, or booking it for fifty five minutes

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<v Speaker 1>instead of forty five since it always lasts fifty five

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<v Speaker 1>minutes anyway, or maybe the team meeting moves later. But

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<v Speaker 1>this is all unlikely to just magically change on its own.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have an urgent problem that keeps coming up,

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<v Speaker 1>investigate whether there is a way you could adjust your

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<v Speaker 1>systems to be able to handle it routinely and without

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<v Speaker 1>drama in the future. Sometimes emergencies just happen to everyone,

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<v Speaker 1>but if you avoid the avoidable emergencies, you can reduce

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<v Speaker 1>your stress and run your life more smoothly. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>please visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple podcasts, or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.