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 make space for possibility conversations. Even if
Speaker 1: you are very busy, and even if you have a
Speaker 1: lot of people seeking you out, it is worth making
Speaker 1: some space in your schedule for new things. After all,
Speaker 1: new things are where the breakthroughs really come. In my
Speaker 1: new book, Big Time, I talk about the idea of
Speaker 1: being thoughtfully accessible. A lot of productivity literature is about
Speaker 1: saying no to more things, and there's something to that,
Speaker 1: but we also want to say some strategic yeses as well.
Speaker 1: If you knew about something great, you would already be
Speaker 1: doing it. It's saying yes to things that we don't
Speaker 1: know about that allows new opportunities, relationships, and adventures to
Speaker 1: come into our lives. So how do we strike the
Speaker 1: right balance? This is particularly challenging for people who are
Speaker 1: in positions of power or who have the ability to
Speaker 1: do big things for people. After all, there are a
Speaker 1: lot of demanding people and a lot of bad ideas
Speaker 1: in this world. How can you have good boundaries and
Speaker 1: also leave open the possibility that a good idea will
Speaker 1: make its way to you. One option I like is
Speaker 1: to make space in your schedule for possibility conversations. The
Speaker 1: idea is that you carve out a set amount of
Speaker 1: time each week or so for conversation where you don't
Speaker 1: know exactly where things will lead, or to talk with
Speaker 1: new people that you think might be worth getting to
Speaker 1: know better. So, for instance, you might decide that in general,
Speaker 1: you will have these conversations on Friday mornings. Perhaps you
Speaker 1: might even set a rough time frame you are available
Speaker 1: from ten thirty to noon on Fridays for these sorts
Speaker 1: of things. Then if someone reaches out to get to
Speaker 1: know you, to pitch an idea, or to do something
Speaker 1: like pick your brain, much as I hate that phrase,
Speaker 1: then you nudge these people to Friday morning. If they
Speaker 1: really want to talk with you, they will find a
Speaker 1: way to make it work. This way, you are still accessible,
Speaker 1: but it is contained. You know these conversations won't take
Speaker 1: over your whole schedule. You can be mentally prepared for
Speaker 1: that block of time. It is limited enough that you
Speaker 1: won't worry that you're not making progress on other things,
Speaker 1: and things can still get to you. Perhaps during a
Speaker 1: slow week you will even start seeking out who you
Speaker 1: might want to talk to during your possibility conversations. Now,
Speaker 1: obviously many of us are not in such high demand,
Speaker 1: and if that is the case, then we can be
Speaker 1: more proactive about trying to have possibility conversations at least
Speaker 1: once or twice a week. One of the things I
Speaker 1: like about having added an interview episode to this podcast
Speaker 1: each Wednesday is that I tend to be having a
Speaker 1: conversation with someone new each week. I have met all
Speaker 1: sorts of interesting people this way in life, we are
Speaker 1: going to spend most of the time talking with people
Speaker 1: we already know, and with people where we know the
Speaker 1: conversation will lead to something that is just the nature
Speaker 1: of being busy and of there being a lot of
Speaker 1: people in the world. But when we make space for
Speaker 1: disability conversations, we leave ourselves open to just that possibility.
Speaker 1: We can do this wisely in ways that allow for
Speaker 1: good new things and limit the downsides. It's just an
Speaker 1: hour or two, it will be okay in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. 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.