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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to batch small tasks so they don't take

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Speaker 1: over your whole schedule. Like a lot of people who

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Speaker 1: listen to this show, I love to make to do lists,

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Speaker 1: and I really like crossing things off the list. I

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Speaker 1: have been known to put things on my to do

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Speaker 1: list after doing them, just so I can cross them off.

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Speaker 1: I don't know why this feels so satisfying, but I

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Speaker 1: know that it does. Now this might seem harmless, but

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Speaker 1: here's the problem. Everything on the to do list occupies

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Speaker 1: an equal line in terms of space. All feel equally

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Speaker 1: satisfying to cross off, but not all are equally important.

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Speaker 1: Writing the chapter abstracts for a book proposal and spending

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Speaker 1: an hour editing my novel, and ordering a birthday present

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Speaker 1: for a weekend party might all be on the list.

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Speaker 1: The first two are going to require a lot of

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Speaker 1: focused thought and work, the latter not so much. So

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Speaker 1: it's very easy to find myself over on Amazon feeling

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Speaker 1: really good that I cross that item off, and doing

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Speaker 1: other little things on the list, like scheduling an interview

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Speaker 1: or paying a bill. Now, yes, these have to get

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Speaker 1: done at some point, but when I spend too much

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Speaker 1: time on them, I take time and energy away from

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Speaker 1: bigger things. I can definitely order a birthday present off

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Speaker 1: Amazon when my energy is at a level two on

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Speaker 1: a ten point scale, I probably won't dream up those

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Speaker 1: chapter abstracts at that time. So if you truly want

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Speaker 1: to get things done, structure your schedule so you don't

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Speaker 1: get lost in the small stuff. Indeed, i'd suggest not

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Speaker 1: even doing this small stuff until the big stuff is done.

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Speaker 1: Carve out a time in the afternoon when most people's

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Speaker 1: energy dips, for any small tasks that might otherwise derail you.

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Speaker 1: If a small task occurs to you at some other point,

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Speaker 1: put it on the list for that two pm slump,

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Speaker 1: but do not do it until the big stuff is

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Speaker 1: crossed off. I realize some of this is just mental.

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Speaker 1: Like I said, on many to do lists, everything gets

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Speaker 1: one line, which means that calling your biggest client to

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Speaker 1: address a complaint looks equal to printing off the return

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Speaker 1: label for that package that needs to go back to

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Speaker 1: the retailer. So here's a little trick to get around that.

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Speaker 1: When you're making your list, put all of your small

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Speaker 1: things on one line. Just write order present, Comma, print label,

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Speaker 1: Comma pay vendor, Comma email Joe. That way, crossing out

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Speaker 1: one of the big things looks like you've done far

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Speaker 1: more than one of the little things. The little things

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Speaker 1: only get a tiny cross through a small portion of

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Speaker 1: a line, whereas the big stuff gets a full one.

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Speaker 1: Now is this silly, Yes, but putting time and energy

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Speaker 1: into import and stuff is serious business. Anything you can

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Speaker 1: do to nudge yourself in the right direction is smart.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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Speaker 1: That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod. You

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Speaker 1: can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast

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Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. That before Breakfast is spelled out

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Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I look

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Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,