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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of My Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to batch small tasks so they don't

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Speaker 1: take over your whole schedule. Like a lot of people

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Speaker 1: who listen to this show, I love to make to

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Speaker 1: do lists, and I really like crossing things off the list.

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Speaker 1: I have been known to put things on my to

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Speaker 1: do list after doing them, just so I can cross

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Speaker 1: them off. I don't know why this feels so satisfying,

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Speaker 1: but I know that it does. Now this might seem harmless,

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Speaker 1: but here's the problem. Everything on the to do list

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Speaker 1: occupies an equal line in terms of space. All feel

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Speaker 1: equally satisfying to cross off, but not all are equally important.

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Speaker 1: Writing the chapter abstracts for a book proposal and spending

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Speaker 1: an hour editing my novel, and ordering birthday present for

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Speaker 1: a weekend party might all be on the list. The

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Speaker 1: first two are going to require a lot of focused

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Speaker 1: thought and work. The ladder not so much. So it's

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Speaker 1: very easy to find myself over on Amazon feeling really

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Speaker 1: good that I crossed that item off, and doing other

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Speaker 1: little things on the list, like scheduling an interview or

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Speaker 1: paying a bill. Now, yes, these have to get done

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Speaker 1: at some point, but when I spend too much time

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Speaker 1: on them, I take time and energy away from bigger things.

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Speaker 1: I can definitely order a birthday present off Amazon when

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Speaker 1: my energy is at a level two on a ten

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Speaker 1: point scale, I probably won't dream up those chapter abstracts

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Speaker 1: at that time. So if you truly want to get

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Speaker 1: things done, structure your schedule so you don't get lost

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Speaker 1: in the small stuff. Indeed, i'd suggest not even doing

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Speaker 1: this small stuff until the big stuff is done. Carve

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Speaker 1: out of time in the afternoon, when most people's energy dips,

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Speaker 1: for any small tasks that might otherwise derail you. If

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Speaker 1: a small task occurs to you at some other point,

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Speaker 1: put it on the list for that two pm slump,

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Speaker 1: but do not do it until the big stuff is

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Speaker 1: crossed off. I realized some of this is just mental.

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Speaker 1: Like I said, on many to do lists, everything gets

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Speaker 1: one line, which means that calling your biggest client to

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Speaker 1: address a complaint looks equal to printing off the return

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Speaker 1: label for that package that needs to go back to

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Speaker 1: the retailer. So here's a little trick to get around that.

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Speaker 1: When you're making your list, put all of your small

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Speaker 1: things on one line, just right, order present, Comma print label,

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Speaker 1: Comma pay vendor, Comma email Joe. That way, crossing out

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Speaker 1: one of the big things looks like you've done far

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Speaker 1: more than one of the little things. The little things

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Speaker 1: only get a tiny cross through a small portion of

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Speaker 1: a line, whereas the big stuff gets a full one.

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Speaker 1: Is this silly, yes, But putting time and energy into

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Speaker 1: import and stuff is serious business. Anything you can do

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Speaker 1: to nudge yourself in the right direction is smart. In

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Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd

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Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

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Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

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Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's b the

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Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

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Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out

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Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

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Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

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Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows h