WEBVTT - What would the butler do?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about one way to think of productivity strategies.

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<v Speaker 1>They are designed to aid your life like a high

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<v Speaker 1>end butler might do. The goal is freeing you up

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<v Speaker 1>to focus on work you choose and on enjoying your life.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip, like some others this week, comes from Chris

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<v Speaker 1>Bailey's new book, How to Calm Your Mind, Finding Presents

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<v Speaker 1>and Productivity in Anxious Times. While much of Chris's book

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<v Speaker 1>is focused on reducing anxiety so you can get more done,

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<v Speaker 1>he had some great thought sun productivity strategies which I

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<v Speaker 1>thought i'd share. Chris suggests doing this thought experiment. Imagine.

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<v Speaker 1>He writes that you have won some one in a

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<v Speaker 1>million contest through a high end house cleaning service that

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<v Speaker 1>provides you with a full time butler for life. Chris

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<v Speaker 1>suggests that this butler's name is Kingsley. The man provides

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<v Speaker 1>you with more free time every day by cleaning up

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<v Speaker 1>after you and your family, cooking meals, managing your calendar,

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<v Speaker 1>which he calls your diary, chauffeuring you around town, and

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<v Speaker 1>more while Kingsley himself might be a pipe dream. The

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<v Speaker 1>best productivity tactics and strategies can confer similar benefits like Kingsley.

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<v Speaker 1>They provide us with more of the most valuable resource

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<v Speaker 1>we have at our disposal time. Chris leaves this thought

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<v Speaker 1>experiment here, but I've been thinking a little bit more

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<v Speaker 1>about what a Kingsley might do in my life and

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<v Speaker 1>the ways in which I have tried to approximate a Kingsley,

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<v Speaker 1>even though I don't have a full time butler. One

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<v Speaker 1>way a Kingsley would provide free time is by cooking meals,

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<v Speaker 1>and part of that is figuring out what the meals

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<v Speaker 1>would be and procuring supplies. One way to approximate that

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<v Speaker 1>is to have a set meal rotation and then automate

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<v Speaker 1>your groceries as much as possible. So in our family

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<v Speaker 1>we tend to use meal kits for two nights per week.

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<v Speaker 1>We also always have make your own pizza on Fridays

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<v Speaker 1>and breakfast for dinner on Wednesdays. Well, we tend to

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<v Speaker 1>go to the grocery store. You could envision putting the

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<v Speaker 1>groceries for the set meals on a recurring delivery. It's

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<v Speaker 1>almost like having a butler. Do the meal planning and shopping.

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<v Speaker 1>Kingsley's duties would also include managing your calendar. A key

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<v Speaker 1>part of this is making sure your time is spent

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<v Speaker 1>on your highest value activities. By taking a few minutes

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<v Speaker 1>on Friday to think through this for the upcoming week

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<v Speaker 1>and to schedule time each day for what's most important,

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<v Speaker 1>you are recreating a Kingsley in your life. You act

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<v Speaker 1>as Kingsley for twenty minutes or so, and then the

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<v Speaker 1>rest of the time you reap the benefits of having

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<v Speaker 1>someone like him managing your calendar. As for chauffeuring us

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<v Speaker 1>around town, well, you can always summon an uber if

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<v Speaker 1>you don't want to drive, but it might be wise

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<v Speaker 1>to think about how you can spend less time in

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<v Speaker 1>the car in general. One thing I've been doing is

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<v Speaker 1>encouraging my kids to take the activity bus home from school.

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<v Speaker 1>Some days, it might be wise to set up car

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<v Speaker 1>pooling where it all possible to Maybe you could even

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<v Speaker 1>car pool on days when you need to go into

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<v Speaker 1>the office. Being able to work or sleep or relax

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<v Speaker 1>half the time you would have been driving could buy

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<v Speaker 1>you back many hours. As ken working from home, working

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<v Speaker 1>from home two days a week is even better than

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<v Speaker 1>relying on Kingsley's chauffeuring. It is a massive productivity gain.

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<v Speaker 1>As for cleaning things up, one of the best ways

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<v Speaker 1>to approximate Kingsley's existence. It's just to have or use

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<v Speaker 1>fewer things and make sure everything has a clear home sheet.

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<v Speaker 1>Pan meals are great because you can eat well, clean

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<v Speaker 1>up one pan, and then pretend you have a Kingsley

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of the time that you would have been cleaning.

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<v Speaker 1>When you always leave your shoes and coat in the mudroom,

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<v Speaker 1>it's as if Kingsley was hunting for them and bringing

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<v Speaker 1>them to you on the way out the door. So

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<v Speaker 1>as you are thinking about how to build more time

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<v Speaker 1>into your life, think about what you can do to

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<v Speaker 1>approximate the existence of Kingsley the Magnificent Butler. If you

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<v Speaker 1>actually have a King's label, that is amazing. But for

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<v Speaker 1>many of us, asking this question of what would free

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<v Speaker 1>up space to do meaningful work and have meaningful leisure

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<v Speaker 1>leads us to wise choices Kingsley or not. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the

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<v Speaker 1>number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast. At i

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<v Speaker 1>heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

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<v Speaker 1>with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I look

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<v Speaker 1>forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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