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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Good Morning. This is Laura.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is to

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Speaker 1: set up recurring tasks for efficiency so they are easier

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Speaker 1: the next time you do them. Many listeners in the

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Speaker 1: US recently filed their income tax returns, or at least

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Speaker 1: filed for an extension until October. If your finances are

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Speaker 1: remotely complicated, this can involve hunting around for a wide

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Speaker 1: variety of documents and then entering numbers on spreadsheets until

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Speaker 1: finally you or an accountant has it all figured out.

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Speaker 1: You then breathe a sigh of relief that it is

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Speaker 1: all done. But now that this chore is in the past,

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Speaker 1: this is a great time to consus whether you could

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Speaker 1: make this process more efficient next year. Once you have

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Speaker 1: filed your taxes a few times, you know what the

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Speaker 1: process entails, and sure, life may throw a few wrinkles

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Speaker 1: into the process, but for the most part, you know

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Speaker 1: what documents you need to provide and how you need

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Speaker 1: to organize them, so you can skip the chaos and

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Speaker 1: go straight to order the next time. No, I am

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Speaker 1: not saying you need to put everything in the spreadsheet

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Speaker 1: as you go. That doesn't actually save time. But if

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Speaker 1: you do keep paper records, why not set up a

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Speaker 1: folder or a gallon sized ziplock for every category you

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Speaker 1: keep documents for. As one comes in over the year,

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Speaker 1: you put it in there, and then when it is

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Speaker 1: tax time again, you don't have to go hunting for anything.

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Speaker 1: If you keep digital records, move them to the right

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Speaker 1: filing place as soon as you get them. Then all

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Speaker 1: that's left to do.

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Speaker 2: Next April is figure out another way to spend those

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Speaker 2: hours that you might have spent tracking them down. You

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Speaker 2: can make it easier next time for more frequent processes too.

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Speaker 2: You likely go to the grocery store about every week

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Speaker 2: or so, so I am guessing that you are familiar

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Speaker 2: with the place. If the lemons are near the limes

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Speaker 2: in your grocery store, why are lemons next to Greek

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Speaker 2: yogurt and cat litter on your grocery list? Put lemons

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Speaker 2: next to limes on the grocery list as well. Use

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Speaker 2: what you know about the grocery store layout to organize

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Speaker 2: your list more efficiently for next time. This can be

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Speaker 2: as simple as folding a sheet of paper to create

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Speaker 2: four quadrants and using one quadjant for let's say, produce,

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Speaker 2: and one for dairy and the freezer, and one for

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Speaker 2: meat and deli, and the other for grocery items on

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Speaker 2: the shelves in the middle of the store. Whatever works

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Speaker 2: for you. It doesn't need to be fancy, but it

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Speaker 2: will be enough to save you some time and annoyance

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Speaker 2: in the grocery store the next time. If you have

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Speaker 2: multiple kids in your family, or cousins or neighbors or

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Speaker 2: friends you share hand me downs with, you may have

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Speaker 2: a system for organizing clothes. A lot of families organize

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Speaker 2: clothes and bins for each size. For instance, you put

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Speaker 2: all the outgrown size eight clothes into a bin labeled

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Speaker 2: size eight, so when the next kid is wearing a

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Speaker 2: size eight, you know just which ben to get out

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Speaker 2: to find clothes that will fit. You have made clothes

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Speaker 2: gathering easier for the next time. When you do a task,

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Speaker 2: ask yourself if you anticipate doing this at some point

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Speaker 2: again in your life. Sometimes the answer is no, and

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Speaker 2: sometimes you will do the task so infrequently that there

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Speaker 2: is really no need to think about it much. If

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Speaker 2: I ever buy another house, I will figure out the

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Speaker 2: process again then. But helping a kid get a driver's

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Speaker 2: license or apply for college. I anticipate doing that five

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Speaker 2: times over the next few years, so it's probably a

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Speaker 2: good idea to take notes so it's easier the next time.

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Speaker 2: If you know you'll be paying some bills with checks

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Speaker 2: by mail every month for quite a while, it's probably

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Speaker 2: a good idea to create a spot for envelopes and

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Speaker 2: stamps near where you keep that checkbook. Make it easier

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Speaker 2: for yourself the next time, and you might just wind

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Speaker 2: up a little happier the next time as well. In

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Speaker 2: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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Speaker 2: to making the.

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Speaker 1: Most of our time. Hey, everybody I'd love to hear from.

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Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then

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Speaker 1: Breakfast Pod. You can also shoot me an email at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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Speaker 1: should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

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Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

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Speaker 1: to your favorite shows,