Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to stop and ask yourself whether you're
Speaker 1: being productive or active. The latter is often more common
Speaker 1: than the former, but asking the question can help you
Speaker 1: get back on track. I'm taking today's tip from a
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast listener who is also named Laura. She wrote
Speaker 1: in that she found that I'm always active, but productive
Speaker 1: is another game. You can be doing something without really
Speaker 1: doing something that matters. So, she says she sets a
Speaker 1: few alarms through the day to nudge herself to ask
Speaker 1: the question, Am I being productive or just active? She
Speaker 1: sets them at noon, four pm, and seven pm. When
Speaker 1: the alarm goes off, it's time to be honest. It
Speaker 1: makes me get a wiggle on if I'm putting something off,
Speaker 1: and also makes me finish work in the evening. Laura
Speaker 1: writes since because she lives alone, she finds it easy
Speaker 1: to work until ten pm without thinking. I love this idea.
Speaker 1: Time passes whether we think about how we're spending it
Speaker 1: or not, so it's very easy to spend time mindlessly.
Speaker 1: You know how this goes? You meant to work on
Speaker 1: a proposal for a big project, but before you start,
Speaker 1: you check your email, and then you get sucked into
Speaker 1: a chain about whether you need to meet again about
Speaker 1: a different project. You answer a quick question from your
Speaker 1: spouse about an upcoming vacation, and then you check the
Speaker 1: weather for the weekend, and before you know it, there
Speaker 1: went the hour that you've carved out to work. You're
Speaker 1: not actively trying to avoid work, well at least not usually.
Speaker 1: It's just that time gets away. So how do you
Speaker 1: keep it from get away? You build a few moments
Speaker 1: into your schedule to catch it. Force a reckoning. When
Speaker 1: the alarm goes off, as Laura's does, you look at
Speaker 1: what you're doing and whether you're doing what you mean
Speaker 1: to be doing. If you are, great, If not, it's
Speaker 1: time to course correct before the rest of the day
Speaker 1: disappears into the same mindlessness. So today, think about when
Speaker 1: you'd like to ask the question of whether you're being
Speaker 1: productive or just active. You don't want to distract yourself
Speaker 1: too much, so no need to set an alarm every
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes, but just a few moments of mindfulness, like
Speaker 1: three check ins around mid morning, mid afternoon and quitting
Speaker 1: time can go along ways. Active is easy. We are
Speaker 1: always active. A few of us are sitting around doing nothing,
Speaker 1: but productive is harder, so best to get this right.
Speaker 1: In the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite show. Whe