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 to try not to give yourself homework. There
Speaker 1: are ways to lighten the burden on future you while
Speaker 1: still being a team player if you are strategic about it. So,
Speaker 1: I am sure many of us have had this experience.
Speaker 1: In a meeting, someone asks you to send them a document.
Speaker 1: You write down a note to yourself to do this.
Speaker 1: Of course, your day is jam packed, so you don't
Speaker 1: wind up getting around to executing on all these little
Speaker 1: meeting follow ups until six pm or later, when you'd
Speaker 1: like to be on your way home. Or maybe you
Speaker 1: agree to an informational meeting with someone agree to help out,
Speaker 1: and then spend time afterwards sending lots of introductory emails
Speaker 1: and information, only to find out that the person hasn't
Speaker 1: used all of this. We want to be team players,
Speaker 1: but there are ways to make being a team player
Speaker 1: easier on ourselves. First, if you are asked to fulfill
Speaker 1: a quick request and you are comfortable doing so, do
Speaker 1: it right then. So, for instance, if you are asked
Speaker 1: during a meeting to send the colleagues the agenda from
Speaker 1: last year's annual meeting. Just find it and do it.
Speaker 1: If someone wants to know the status of the department budget,
Speaker 1: don't say you'll send a note later. Send a message
Speaker 1: to the finance office during the meeting. They may reply
Speaker 1: during the meeting so that you can report the answer,
Speaker 1: but even if they don't, at least you will have
Speaker 1: made the request, so the ball is in someone else's
Speaker 1: court at least for a while. Now. If you are
Speaker 1: sitting with eight people in a conference room, this only
Speaker 1: works for quick requests, you are probably not going to
Speaker 1: pause everything for several minutes so you can do something.
Speaker 1: But if you are meeting individually with a direct report,
Speaker 1: or perhaps someone who is a little less tightly scheduled
Speaker 1: than you are, you could even fulfill more extensive requests
Speaker 1: right then. For example, if you are meeting with a
Speaker 1: person who is interested in your industry and they ask
Speaker 1: for recommendations of professional associations and publications, go ahead and
Speaker 1: find that information, even if it requires a little googling
Speaker 1: to get the names right. Don't find yourself writing a
Speaker 1: lengthy email about the shape of the field at night
Speaker 1: after your kids go to bed. If your direct report
Speaker 1: has a document they want you to review review it
Speaker 1: during your check in time. That way, they get the
Speaker 1: feedback as soon as possible. You can talk through any
Speaker 1: areas of confusion rather than emailing back and forth. This
Speaker 1: is really a win for both of you and there
Speaker 1: is no homework for you after the meeting. Another way
Speaker 1: to avoid giving yourself homework is to make sure the
Speaker 1: other person can take the next step independently. For example,
Speaker 1: if you are talking with your neighbor and she asks
Speaker 1: for the name of that karate studio you joined, tell
Speaker 1: her the name and have her email it to herself.
Speaker 1: You don't need to promise to send the link later
Speaker 1: and take the risk of forgetting. You might also consider
Speaker 1: leaving the ball in the other person's court to decide
Speaker 1: on their own time whether they would like you to
Speaker 1: follow up on anything. That way, you won't be spending
Speaker 1: time following up on something that the other person may
Speaker 1: not actually be all that interested in. For instance, you
Speaker 1: might say, if after you look into this, you decide
Speaker 1: that you'd like me to send you more information on
Speaker 1: one or two of the groups I mentioned, let me
Speaker 1: know and I'll be glad to do it. You may
Speaker 1: have homework later, but only if the other person would
Speaker 1: actually appreciate it if they forget about it or decide
Speaker 1: it wouldn't be helpful after initial research themselves, there is
Speaker 1: nothing more for you to do. Of course, sometimes you
Speaker 1: might not be sure you want to fulfill a request.
Speaker 1: You might want to buy yourself time to think about it,
Speaker 1: and that's fine. Giving yourself homework is better than doing
Speaker 1: something hasty that you will regret. But when you probably
Speaker 1: are going to do something like send your cap that
Speaker 1: old report, then don't let that task make it onto
Speaker 1: your to do list. Do it right away and feel
Speaker 1: as free as a kid who got her homework done
Speaker 1: during study hall. No need to break open the books.
Speaker 1: It can be video games all night in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our times. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.