Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to master unexpected free moments.
Speaker 1: Downtime can appear in our lives in many ways, but
Speaker 1: when we learn to view it as an opportunity rather
Speaker 1: than an annoyance, we can build a more resilient schedule
Speaker 1: and have a lot more fun in our lives. I've
Speaker 1: been talking in a few recent episodes about resiliency, and
Speaker 1: I'll continue to do so over the next few months.
Speaker 1: When it comes to time, we need to deal with
Speaker 1: life as it is and not as we wish it
Speaker 1: would be. Now. Of course, we know that we can
Speaker 1: make plans for time we know we'll have, but it's
Speaker 1: harder to make good choices with time we don't know
Speaker 1: we'll have. That makes sense, but the problem is that
Speaker 1: life can feature a lot of unexpected free moments. Sometimes
Speaker 1: this suddenly free time can feel like a relief, like
Speaker 1: when a meeting you know is going to be unpleasant
Speaker 1: is canceled few But other times you get a call
Speaker 1: from the school nurse that a sick child needs to
Speaker 1: be picked up. Now you are home from work, but
Speaker 1: none of your responsibilities changed, and so you need to
Speaker 1: deal with that, which can be stressful either way. Though,
Speaker 1: it might help to view suddenly open time strategically. Make
Speaker 1: a list of things that would either be wise to
Speaker 1: do or enjoyable to do, and when you get some
Speaker 1: open time, see what items you can tackle. Best case scenario,
Speaker 1: you can work ahead, tackle parts of long term projects,
Speaker 1: or have a little more fun than you otherwise would
Speaker 1: for that wise to do list. Well, we all have
Speaker 1: projects that we can see taking shape in the future.
Speaker 1: Each week I need to write and produce five episodes
Speaker 1: of Before Breakfast, I can see that there are future
Speaker 1: weeks when it might be more challenging to write those
Speaker 1: five episodes. So when I've got some extra time, as
Speaker 1: it turns out, I do right now, when I've finished
Speaker 1: something else early, I can write ahead banked episodes become
Speaker 1: part of my time. Emergency fund work done in the
Speaker 1: past opens up time in the future when I might
Speaker 1: really need it. Maybe you know that you will need
Speaker 1: to write up evaluations of all your direct reports next
Speaker 1: month when a two hour meeting is canceled, Well, you
Speaker 1: could start deleting random stuff from your inbox, or you
Speaker 1: could realize that the evaluations will need to get done eventually,
Speaker 1: and you can get a head start future you will
Speaker 1: be a happy you. Of course, we aren't always be
Speaker 1: uber productive with unexpected free time. If you are suddenly
Speaker 1: home with a sick kid, for instance, well that is
Speaker 1: your primary focus, but there might be enjoyable things you
Speaker 1: could do with this unexpected time, like watching a favorite
Speaker 1: movie or starting a series that's on your want to
Speaker 1: see list while you are stuggled up with the kid
Speaker 1: on the sofa. These things can be hard to think
Speaker 1: up in the moment when you get a message that
Speaker 1: your friend is running. When you get a message that
Speaker 1: your friend is running thirty minutes late to meet you,
Speaker 1: the inclination is just to check email or scroll through
Speaker 1: social media. These things are easily accessible, They are easy
Speaker 1: to do. You won't automatically think, hey, I'm going to
Speaker 1: send notes to two former clients that I've been meaning
Speaker 1: to reach out to unless you have already made a
Speaker 1: wise to do list and know that that's on there.
Speaker 1: But if you do know, well, suddenly that late friend
Speaker 1: has created found time for investing in your business. Is growth?
Speaker 1: What an opportunity? When one of those clients replies that, hey,
Speaker 1: I've been meaning to reach out to you because we
Speaker 1: have this project. We're starting well. You might even wind
Speaker 1: up thanking your friend for being late. So today, make
Speaker 1: a list of things you might do with unexpected time.
Speaker 1: Think of small tasks that could help you work ahead
Speaker 1: and create a time emergency fund or little actions that
Speaker 1: could have a big impact. You can also make a
Speaker 1: list of fun activities that you do when time opened up.
Speaker 1: If you had an extra hour in a day, what
Speaker 1: would you do with it? A canceled meeting means you've
Speaker 1: got that hour time to make the most of it.
Speaker 1: In the meantime. This is Laura Uh. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's B the number four then breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. I