Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that reminding isn't nagging. It is okay to
Speaker 1: let people know a second time about something, and indeed
Speaker 1: doing so often increases the chances that people actually do
Speaker 1: what both you and they intend. These days, most doctors
Speaker 1: and dentist offices text or email you a few days
Speaker 1: before your appointment to remind you about it. Yes, you
Speaker 1: made the appointment, so theoretically you'd have that written down somewhere.
Speaker 1: But these offices know that people are busy and sometimes distracted.
Speaker 1: No shows can mean lost revenue or delayed healthcare, hence
Speaker 1: the texts. My guess is that you don't mind these texts.
Speaker 1: When your dentist office texts you about thursday's appointment, you
Speaker 1: just think, oh, yes, I have a dentists appointment on Thursday.
Speaker 1: It helps nudge something you vaguely remembered back into the
Speaker 1: forefront of your brain. The reminders are helpful. You don't
Speaker 1: complain about your dentist's office nagging you when all you
Speaker 1: want is some peace and quiet. So probably we should
Speaker 1: adopt the same mindset with the rest of life. If
Speaker 1: you scheduled a meeting a while ago, you should send
Speaker 1: an email the friday before confirming that the other attendees
Speaker 1: are still planning on it. This would also be a
Speaker 1: good time to send a new about what you're planning
Speaker 1: to discuss and ask if there is anything they would
Speaker 1: like you to do to prepare. Why Friday, Well, if
Speaker 1: you are listening to this show, there is a good
Speaker 1: chance you do your weekly planning on Friday, so this
Speaker 1: is when you would see the upcoming meeting on your schedule,
Speaker 1: and if someone does wind up canceling, you know enough
Speaker 1: ahead of time that you can make other plans. If
Speaker 1: you are waiting on something from somebody, you can absolutely
Speaker 1: follow up nicely to inquire about a timeline. If emails
Speaker 1: seem to get buried, you can pick up the phone
Speaker 1: and call in a business context. I'll get to it.
Speaker 1: When I get to it usually doesn't fly, and so
Speaker 1: most likely the person will follow up with an answer.
Speaker 1: Then you will have an answer, and you will have
Speaker 1: nudged your request higher up the list. This isn't nagging.
Speaker 1: This is just project management. Even in our home lives,
Speaker 1: reminding isn't nagging. You might think that the other members
Speaker 1: of your household should remember their responsibilities without you saying anything,
Speaker 1: and perhaps they should, probably for many things they do.
Speaker 1: But if there are certain tasks that keep falling through
Speaker 1: the cracks, you have a couple of choices. First, you
Speaker 1: can do it yourself and be mad about it, or
Speaker 1: you can remind the other person and most likely they
Speaker 1: will do it. The latter sounds like less agitation and
Speaker 1: less work, even if in the abstract it doesn't seem right.
Speaker 1: The key to a helpful reminder is to keep it
Speaker 1: like the text from your dentist office. The dentist office
Speaker 1: text doesn't mention that you canceled your last appointment and
Speaker 1: it's been over a year since you've last been there,
Speaker 1: and clearly you are not taking your dental health seriously.
Speaker 1: It just says the time and maybe the location, and
Speaker 1: a way to confirm or cancel. Similarly, reminding isn't nagging
Speaker 1: if you take the emotion out of it. No need
Speaker 1: to mention how the last project was also delayed, or
Speaker 1: ponder how a child can memorize every lyric in Taylor
Speaker 1: Swift's last album. But keep forgetting to take out the trash.
Speaker 1: Just state the request a timeline if there is one,
Speaker 1: and be done with it. Most likely you will get
Speaker 1: what you want. In the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com That Before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.