WEBVTT - Would you swap?

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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 when you feel impatient or irritated with

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<v Speaker 1>another person, consider whether you would want to swap situations

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<v Speaker 1>with them. Often, thinking about what they might be dealing

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<v Speaker 1>with can nudgus toward a little more empathy, or at

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<v Speaker 1>least suggest more effective ways of communicating with them. So

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<v Speaker 1>I recently heard of a person complaining about an interaction

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<v Speaker 1>with a difficult colleague, but then saying I wouldn't want

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<v Speaker 1>to swap inboxes with her. In other words, yes, the

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<v Speaker 1>person is a pain to work with, but she has

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<v Speaker 1>a job that is often tedious and difficult, and her

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<v Speaker 1>inbox is one headache after another, so perhaps she warrants

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<v Speaker 1>a little compassion. I think it is a good mindset

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<v Speaker 1>in general. When someone is behaving badly, think would you

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<v Speaker 1>want to swap with them? I sometimes get irritated when

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<v Speaker 1>someone honks or does something rude while driving, but I

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<v Speaker 1>try to think, well, hey, I am driving back to

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<v Speaker 1>my beautiful family and my beautiful home, and I have

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<v Speaker 1>no idea what that person is so upset with in life.

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<v Speaker 1>But I have no good reason to be wouldn't want

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<v Speaker 1>to swap. When you are frustrated with your interactions with someone,

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<v Speaker 1>it might help to imagine you had their inbox, their

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<v Speaker 1>to do list, their calendar, their irritations, their stresses. That

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<v Speaker 1>person who is kurt at the store may have been

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<v Speaker 1>dealing with rude customers all day. The stressed physician may

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<v Speaker 1>have just been delivering bad news to three patients in

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<v Speaker 1>a row. Rightful for you. That doesn't mean it's okay

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<v Speaker 1>to be grumpy or impatient, but if you pictured yourself

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<v Speaker 1>swapping situations with the person, you might feel pretty irritated

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<v Speaker 1>with the world as well. Even people you know reasonably

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<v Speaker 1>well can have their trials. You might actually know more

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<v Speaker 1>about these when you think about it. It is annoying

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<v Speaker 1>to hear from a former colleague exactly twice a year,

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<v Speaker 1>and always when she needs something from you, But hey,

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<v Speaker 1>it would be frustrating to have gone through a series

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<v Speaker 1>of jobs in rapid succession and to be repeatedly doing

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<v Speaker 1>this networking from a place of need. You wouldn't want

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<v Speaker 1>to swap with that situation. Realizing that will probably nudge

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<v Speaker 1>you to help if you can, if nothing else, Asking

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<v Speaker 1>what it would be like to swap with a person

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<v Speaker 1>might give you ideas for better communication. For instance, if

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<v Speaker 1>your kids are grown up, but a colleague has three

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<v Speaker 1>children ages six and under who need to be delivered

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<v Speaker 1>to separate daycares and before school programs each day, you

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<v Speaker 1>might recognize that swapping your morning routines would make you

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<v Speaker 1>stress too. This is not the time to be texting

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<v Speaker 1>your colleague with last minute requests for your nine am meeting.

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<v Speaker 1>Best to get those in the day before. If you

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<v Speaker 1>know someone gets a ton of email, if you picture

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<v Speaker 1>yourself with that inbox, you'd know that you would want

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<v Speaker 1>six sync messages with the question in the subject line,

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<v Speaker 1>So send those kinds of emails to that person. We

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<v Speaker 1>can never understand another person's experience fully, but when we

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<v Speaker 1>give a little thought to what it could be like

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<v Speaker 1>to swap with them, we may find ourselves being more

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<v Speaker 1>patient and perhaps more effective. Those are always good things.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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