WEBVTT - Why you should spring clean your calendar

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that every calendar needs a good spring. Cleaning

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<v Speaker 1>Your closets and freezer aren't the only things that need

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<v Speaker 1>airing out. A smart schedule requires some maintenance as well.

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<v Speaker 1>So I hear all the time from people that their

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<v Speaker 1>lives feel too busy. And there's nothing wrong with having

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of good things going on, But when people

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<v Speaker 1>complain of being too busy, it's often because their lives

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<v Speaker 1>feel stuffed with things that they are not so excited about.

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<v Speaker 1>Workdays feature tedious meetings stacked back to back. There might

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<v Speaker 1>be various volunteer committee meetings or kid activities taking up

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<v Speaker 1>evenings and weekends. Some things are what they are for

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<v Speaker 1>most people. It's going to be hard to create a

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<v Speaker 1>schedule where every moment feels blissful. But just as even

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<v Speaker 1>a generally clean house can build up clutter over time,

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<v Speaker 1>so a schedule can start to feel a little heavy.

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<v Speaker 1>In general, it is easier to add activities than to

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<v Speaker 1>get rid of things. Consequently, things accumulate, so just as

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<v Speaker 1>even a well run house might need a big clean out,

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<v Speaker 1>from time to time, it's wise to think about whether

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<v Speaker 1>everything that exists on your calendar should be there, even

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<v Speaker 1>if it theoretically fits. When we're scrambling to fit in

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<v Speaker 1>the essentials in between everything else, you can wind up

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<v Speaker 1>with a few problems. First, you might be spending time

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<v Speaker 1>on the wrong stuff. If you compare your current needs

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<v Speaker 1>and priorities to scheduled commitments, you may realize they no

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<v Speaker 1>longer a line. Perhaps you agreed to things years ago

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<v Speaker 1>for very good reasons, but life is different now. The

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<v Speaker 1>weekly boot camp that used to provide structure for getting

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<v Speaker 1>cardio may be less necessary now that you have a

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<v Speaker 1>treadmill at home and a strongly ingrained exercise habit. Or

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<v Speaker 1>maybe your business has held on to a long term

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<v Speaker 1>client even though you've mostly gone in a different direction

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<v Speaker 1>and they're not really paying what you are charging new folks.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything needs to end at some point. If your calendar

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<v Speaker 1>is full with your past priorities, you may be giving

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<v Speaker 1>inadequate attention to what you care most about now. Another

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<v Speaker 1>issue with being too tightly scheduled is that stuff comes up.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe everything fits during a perfect week, but what if

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<v Speaker 1>you break a tooth? What if you get a last

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<v Speaker 1>minute request from an important client. When there is no

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<v Speaker 1>open space in your schedule, anything unusual will leave you scrambling.

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<v Speaker 1>But maybe most important, if you don't have open space

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<v Speaker 1>in your schedule, you end up missing out on opportunities.

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<v Speaker 1>That's because open space invites opportunities in a way that

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<v Speaker 1>a cluttered calendar can't. If you don't have to race

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<v Speaker 1>off to the next thing, you might spend a little

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<v Speaker 1>longer chatting with people at that conference and wind up

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<v Speaker 1>landing an important new client. Or maybe open space might

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<v Speaker 1>mean the opportunity to think about things like why did

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<v Speaker 1>your company have such high utility bills last year? And

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<v Speaker 1>some open space you might come up with a way

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<v Speaker 1>to save a big chunk of cash. Or maybe with

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<v Speaker 1>white space, you accept a spontaneous invitation to go out

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<v Speaker 1>to lunch with a senior colleague and you get some

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<v Speaker 1>helpful mentoring. If your calendar is too cluttered, you might

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<v Speaker 1>push these things off because, well, you're busy, but you

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<v Speaker 1>don't have to be busy, so this spring, let your

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<v Speaker 1>calendar be part of your spring cleaning. In an upcoming episode,

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<v Speaker 1>i'll talk about how to do that, but I think

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<v Speaker 1>this is a helpful tip in general, life is not

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<v Speaker 1>a set it and forget it phenomenon. Everything requires maintenance.

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<v Speaker 1>That is true for physical objects, but it's true for

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<v Speaker 1>more nebulous things like relationships and of course, a schedule.

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<v Speaker 1>It is wise to build in a regular time to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure that you are spending your time on what

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<v Speaker 1>makes sense. Spring cleaning a schedule creates an opportunity to

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<v Speaker 1>do just that. In the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,

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