Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of My Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to batch small tasks so they don't
Speaker 1: take over your whole schedule. Like a lot of people
Speaker 1: who listen to this show, I love to make to
Speaker 1: do lists, and I really like crossing things off the list.
Speaker 1: I have been known to put things on my to
Speaker 1: do list after doing them, just so I can cross
Speaker 1: them off. I don't know why this feels so satisfying,
Speaker 1: but I know that it does. Now this might seem harmless,
Speaker 1: but here's the problem. Everything on the to do list
Speaker 1: occupies an equal line in terms of space. All feel
Speaker 1: equally satisfying to cross off, but not all are equally important.
Speaker 1: Writing the chapter abstracts for a book proposal and spending
Speaker 1: an hour editing my novel, and ordering birthday present for
Speaker 1: a weekend party might all be on the list. The
Speaker 1: first two are going to require a lot of focused
Speaker 1: thought and work. The ladder not so much. So it's
Speaker 1: very easy to find myself over on Amazon feeling really
Speaker 1: good that I crossed that item off, and doing other
Speaker 1: little things on the list, like scheduling an interview or
Speaker 1: paying a bill. Now, yes, these have to get done
Speaker 1: at some point, but when I spend too much time
Speaker 1: on them, I take time and energy away from bigger things.
Speaker 1: I can definitely order a birthday present off Amazon when
Speaker 1: my energy is at a level two on a ten
Speaker 1: point scale, I probably won't dream up those chapter abstracts
Speaker 1: at that time. So if you truly want to get
Speaker 1: things done, structure your schedule so you don't get lost
Speaker 1: in the small stuff. Indeed, i'd suggest not even doing
Speaker 1: this small stuff until the big stuff is done. Carve
Speaker 1: out of time in the afternoon, when most people's energy dips,
Speaker 1: for any small tasks that might otherwise derail you. If
Speaker 1: a small task occurs to you at some other point,
Speaker 1: put it on the list for that two pm slump,
Speaker 1: but do not do it until the big stuff is
Speaker 1: crossed off. I realized some of this is just mental.
Speaker 1: Like I said, on many to do lists, everything gets
Speaker 1: one line, which means that calling your biggest client to
Speaker 1: address a complaint looks equal to printing off the return
Speaker 1: label for that package that needs to go back to
Speaker 1: the retailer. So here's a little trick to get around that.
Speaker 1: When you're making your list, put all of your small
Speaker 1: things on one line, just right, order present, Comma print label,
Speaker 1: Comma pay vendor, Comma email Joe. That way, crossing out
Speaker 1: one of the big things looks like you've done far
Speaker 1: more than one of the little things. The little things
Speaker 1: only get a tiny cross through a small portion of
Speaker 1: a line, whereas the big stuff gets a full one.
Speaker 1: Is this silly, yes, But putting time and energy into
Speaker 1: import and stuff is serious business. Anything you can do
Speaker 1: to nudge yourself in the right direction is smart. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's b the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
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