WEBVTT - Second Cup: Finish the job

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>Today's tip is to finish the job. Once you have

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<v Speaker 2>already picked something up, it often just takes a few

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<v Speaker 2>extra seconds to completely deal with it. While in general

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<v Speaker 2>it is good to batch the little things. If you

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<v Speaker 2>have already taken the first few steps toward action, you

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<v Speaker 2>might as well get to done. Today's tip is inspired

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<v Speaker 2>by listener jac who wrote in with a suggestion about

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<v Speaker 2>that common adage touch it once. She notes that early

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<v Speaker 2>in my career I learned the touch it once rule

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<v Speaker 2>when it came to filing in paperwork. That is, you

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<v Speaker 2>should deal with a document once and be done with it.

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<v Speaker 2>That's all fine for but JC noted that I found

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<v Speaker 2>that it can apply to a variety of quick tasks

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<v Speaker 2>at work and at home. The idea is that once

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<v Speaker 2>you touch a dirty dish or an object out of place,

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<v Speaker 2>deal with it so you don't have to come back

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<v Speaker 2>to it now. As with everything, there is a caveat here.

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<v Speaker 2>In general, I believe in batching the little things. That

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<v Speaker 2>is actually tranquility by Tuesday rule number eight. For my

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<v Speaker 2>most recent book, don't pay bills as you get them,

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<v Speaker 2>pay them in one fell swoop at a low energy time.

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<v Speaker 2>Respond to all your low priority emails at once rather

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<v Speaker 2>than as you get them, because if you respond to

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<v Speaker 2>them as you get them, you will basically never do

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<v Speaker 2>anything else. That said, once you've engaged in a process halfway,

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<v Speaker 2>say you have pulled out your checkbook to start paying

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<v Speaker 2>a paper bill, it would make no sense to stop

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<v Speaker 2>after writing the check before putting it in the envelope.

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<v Speaker 2>You'll just have to take another minute later to finish

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<v Speaker 2>the job. So better get it stamped and ready to

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<v Speaker 2>go out the door. Now it seems obvious, but we

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<v Speaker 2>often make more work for ourselves by not following through

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<v Speaker 2>the Other day, I found some art supplies in the

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<v Speaker 2>wrong place in the house. I carried them all the

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<v Speaker 2>way up the stairs to the closet where we keep

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<v Speaker 2>such things. Then I put them down outside the closet door.

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<v Speaker 2>As I look back on this, now, this doesn't make

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<v Speaker 2>a whole lot of sense. It would have taken maybe

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<v Speaker 2>ten seconds maybe less to open the door and chuck

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<v Speaker 2>the supplies in there. But instead of doing that ten

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<v Speaker 2>second task, I left the supplies out in the hallway.

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<v Speaker 2>Even though that risked some little person in my household

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<v Speaker 2>moving them to the wrong place again, or somebody tripping

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<v Speaker 2>over them, or who knows what. Maybe I was hoping

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<v Speaker 2>that someone else would take the ten seconds to put

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<v Speaker 2>them away so I wouldn't have had to devote the

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<v Speaker 2>ten seconds to moving them. But sadly, the most likely

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<v Speaker 2>outcome is that this wasn't going to happen, and so

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<v Speaker 2>when I was next up there, I would eventually have

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<v Speaker 2>to get around to putting them in the closet. Better

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<v Speaker 2>to finish the job the first time, So the next

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<v Speaker 2>time you start a job, think about how you can

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<v Speaker 2>finish it. I recently read a decluttering book where the

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<v Speaker 2>author pointed out that disorganized people create all sorts of

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<v Speaker 2>piles while decluttering, and so the room never winds up

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<v Speaker 2>looking much better. The author recommended actually carrying misplaced objects

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<v Speaker 2>to where they go immediately. Is this efficient? Well? Probably not.

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<v Speaker 2>There may be six toys in the kitchen that have

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<v Speaker 2>to go to a kid's bedroom, and if you do

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<v Speaker 2>see a handful, grab them all before you go. But

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<v Speaker 2>the problem with making a pile to go up is

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<v Speaker 2>that the pile may still be sitting there a week later,

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<v Speaker 2>and it feels like you are making no progress. Better

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<v Speaker 2>to make two to three trips to the room and

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<v Speaker 2>actually have the kitchen start to look better. Most of

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<v Speaker 2>us need more steps in activity these days. Anyway, finish

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<v Speaker 2>the job and you can in fact be finished. That

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<v Speaker 2>is better than constantly living somewhere around halfway done. In

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<v Speaker 2>the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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<v Speaker 2>to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can

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<v Speaker 1>send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just

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<v Speaker 1>connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast that's b E the number four, then breakfast pod.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com.

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<v Speaker 2>That before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.

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