WEBVTT - Long day, short day

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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 balance long work days with occasional

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<v Speaker 1>shorter work days. This can feel better than working medium

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<v Speaker 1>long hours day after day. Fall tends to be racing season,

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<v Speaker 1>and so a lot of people are training for marathons

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<v Speaker 1>and half marathons. Training for a marathon naturally requires a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of running, but you don't run the same amount

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<v Speaker 1>every single day. You do a weekly long run with

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<v Speaker 1>increasing mileage up to a point at which point you

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<v Speaker 1>go down again. You do some shorter days focused on

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<v Speaker 1>speed work or what they call tempo, hard but sustained efforts,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course there are rest or cross training days.

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<v Speaker 1>Rest isn't what you do when you are not training.

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<v Speaker 1>Letting your body rest and recover is a part of training.

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<v Speaker 1>This varying rhythm can make even intense training feel more

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<v Speaker 1>doable than running the same amount day after day. We

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<v Speaker 1>can use the same thought process in planning our weeks

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<v Speaker 1>as well. For instance, when I plan out the kids

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<v Speaker 1>activity schedule, I aim to have some days be very

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<v Speaker 1>busy and others be not so busy at all. I

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<v Speaker 1>find It is better to do multiple things on one

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<v Speaker 1>night and then have a night off than to do

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<v Speaker 1>medium amounts of stuff every single day. Long days are

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<v Speaker 1>followed by short days. We know there is a break coming,

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<v Speaker 1>so it is easier to push through a longer evening.

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<v Speaker 1>Same with work. Varying the rhythm can help make work sustainable.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of this is just about building in recovery time.

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<v Speaker 1>When you have a major project or a tight deadline,

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<v Speaker 1>or when you are covering for a colleague who is out,

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<v Speaker 1>you may work some long days. You get in early,

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<v Speaker 1>you stay late. It is amazing how much you can

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<v Speaker 1>get done in a day when you need to, and

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<v Speaker 1>it feels good to work hard and accomplish something important.

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<v Speaker 1>But it is inefficient to work like that long term

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<v Speaker 1>because you wind up getting cranky and making mistakes. So

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<v Speaker 1>when you work a really long day or several long

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<v Speaker 1>days in a row, aim to make the next day shorter.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, if you work several long days in anticipation

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<v Speaker 1>of your company's annual meeting, and then you have the

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<v Speaker 1>high demands of fulfilling your role during the meeting, aim

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<v Speaker 1>to take it easy the next day. Perhaps you get

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<v Speaker 1>in at instead of eight, or go for a long

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<v Speaker 1>walk in the park on your lunch break, or call

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<v Speaker 1>it a day after you wrap up from a one

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<v Speaker 1>o'clock meeting. Or maybe you work eight hours, which is

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<v Speaker 1>theoretically a standard work day, but it's actually a lot

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<v Speaker 1>shorter than your usual. Leaving work at five is very

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<v Speaker 1>different from leaving at eight, so recognize that and make

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<v Speaker 1>the most of those hours. At some companies, working a

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<v Speaker 1>shorter day after a long day may be formalized as

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<v Speaker 1>camp time. At a lot of workplaces, though, and just

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<v Speaker 1>about universally for remote workers and freelancers, you can decide

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<v Speaker 1>on a shorter day for yourself. This is especially true

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<v Speaker 1>if your shorter day is nine to five. It is

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<v Speaker 1>unlikely you need permission for that. Use those extra hours

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<v Speaker 1>to do whatever will energize you. But honestly, as we

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<v Speaker 1>think about our schedules, I find the long day short

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<v Speaker 1>day mix can help us take advantage of time in

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<v Speaker 1>a smarter way, even if we are not thinking about

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<v Speaker 1>rest and recovery. For instance, when people talk about combining

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<v Speaker 1>work and life, they often talk themselves into a corner

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<v Speaker 1>because their young kids go to bed around seven pm,

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<v Speaker 1>and with a full time job in a commute, they

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<v Speaker 1>don't get home until let's say six pm. Life is

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<v Speaker 1>horrible and terrible, and clearly no one can have it

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<v Speaker 1>all right. But if you have some flexibility, which many

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<v Speaker 1>people do to some extent, why not divide the same

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<v Speaker 1>number of work hours into long days and short days.

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<v Speaker 1>Rather than settle for half an hour with the kids

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<v Speaker 1>every night, work really late past bedtime two days per week,

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<v Speaker 1>then leave much earlier on the other days. Come home

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<v Speaker 1>at ten thirty pm two days, and come home at

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<v Speaker 1>four pm three other days, and it's like coming home

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<v Speaker 1>at six thirty pm every day, except you triple your

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<v Speaker 1>evening time with the kids. Now, I know this doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>work for everyone, but it does for some, and working

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<v Speaker 1>until ten thirty pm feels far more doable. If you

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<v Speaker 1>know the next day is going to end at four

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<v Speaker 1>You can do this split even if you don't have children.

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<v Speaker 1>Early nights might allow you to play in a softball league,

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<v Speaker 1>or volunteer, or just bike when it's light out. If

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<v Speaker 1>you have an expectation of long hours, then alternating some

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<v Speaker 1>really late nights with earlier ones might make this all possible.

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<v Speaker 1>So the next time you've worked a lot of long

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<v Speaker 1>hours and are starting to feel exhausted, build in a

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<v Speaker 1>shorter day, and if you are looking for more work

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<v Speaker 1>life balance in general, try alternating the length of your days.

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<v Speaker 1>You will probably find the mix more rewarding. 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. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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<v Speaker 1>dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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<v Speaker 1>in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.

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