1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to keep track of all your responsibilities 4 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 1: somewhere other than you're busy mind, or, as Christina Senby 5 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: put it to me, corral the bouncing balls. Christina is 6 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: a mom of four, an e er doctor and professor, 7 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: and she also coaches med students and faculty on productivity, 8 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: so she is responsible for keeping a lot of balls 9 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,840 Speaker 1: in the air. Earlier this year, she was a guest 10 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: on the Best of Both Worlds podcast, which I co 11 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: host with Sarah hart Onger. Christina described thinking about time 12 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: use by considering the compass are intended direction in life, 13 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: the clock efficient use of time, and the key mental clarity. 14 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: One thing that gets in the way of mental clarity 15 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: and efficiency, all those nagging thoughts that bounce through our 16 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: brains like balls. You know how this goes. I'm almost 17 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: out of allergy medicine. I have to renew my professional license. 18 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: Is there aftercare? When the kids have half days for 19 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: parent teacher conferences? Who's going to handle event registrations while 20 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 1: Phil is out of town? What am I do for 21 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: an eye doctor? Appointment, too much bouncing, and we never 22 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: get anything done. But the problem is that no matter 23 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: what we do, life is going to feature a lot 24 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: of bouncing balls. We simply have to learn to deal 25 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: with them. Shun We recommends figuring out a way to 26 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: offload all the nagging tasks and get them out of 27 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: our minds. That way, she says, we can preserve cognitive 28 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: load for the important work our brains need to focus on. 29 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: One of the best ways to do this is to 30 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: create a categorized master to do list. Now, this is 31 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: not your daily task list, which, as listeners know, should 32 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 1: be a very short list of items. Rather, we are 33 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: talking about a running list of future responsibilities that you 34 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: just don't want to forget. This categorized master list can 35 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: be on paper, such as in a bullet journal, or 36 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: if you prefer digital tools, you could use the notes 37 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: app on your phone. No need to get too specific 38 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: with categories. For most people, categories can be as broad 39 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:39,639 Speaker 1: as Errand's home desk calls. In other words, consider where 40 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: and when you can perform the task. That's important because 41 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: with an uncategorized task list, available time might not match 42 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: up with doable work you may intend to handle. Tasks 43 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 1: after your kids are in bed. But whoops, look at 44 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: the task lists and it says get light bulbs from 45 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 1: home depot, and you can't go to home depot to 46 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,800 Speaker 1: get the hight bulbs and leave the sleeping kids home alone. 47 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:05,640 Speaker 1: But you could do tasks that would go on the 48 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: home or desk lists. Hence the efficiency of the categorized 49 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: to do list. Some people like to attach every to 50 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: do to a specific time, or at least to a 51 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: specific day when they'll get it done. If that is you, 52 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: you can put it on the calendar for then, though. 53 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: Another option is to time block for general bouncing ball crawling. 54 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: You could schedule an administrative time from one to two 55 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: pm two days a week at work, so you've got 56 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: business hours, and for an hour some weekday evening or 57 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: on the weekend each week, choose some tasks from the 58 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: master list to tackle during this time. That way you 59 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: make progress on the list, but even more importantly, you 60 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: aren't trying to deal with these bouncing balls all the time. 61 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: You know there is a time for calling and refills 62 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: and looking at the school after cares edule, and now 63 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: is not that time, So your brain can relax, get 64 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: this stuff out of your head and your mind will 65 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: be free, or at least relatively so. And in the 66 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: world with a lot of bouncing balls, that may be 67 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: the best we can do. In the meantime. This is Laura. 68 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of 69 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. 70 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. 71 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at 72 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four, then Breakfast 73 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email 74 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,799 Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com 75 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. 76 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,039 Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch. 77 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For 78 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart 79 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 80 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 1: favorite shows.