1 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to create the time equivalent of an 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,479 Speaker 1: emergency fund. If you read a lot of personal finance 5 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,600 Speaker 1: literature or listen to personal finance podcasts like my favorite 6 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,639 Speaker 1: How to Money, you're probably familiar with the concept of 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: a monetary emergency fund. Life happens. When it does, it 8 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: can be expensive. An emergency fund is easily accessed cash 9 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: that can cover an unexpected car repair, a broken pipe, 10 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: or anything like that. These things fall in the category 11 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: of known unknowns. You don't know exactly what unexpected expense 12 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: will arise, but you can be pretty sure something will happen. 13 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: Having savings means you can absorb the expense without going 14 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: into debt. This is why Dave Ramsey, for instance, advises 15 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: that even people with significant high interest debt save one 16 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: thousand dollars as their first step toward financial stability. That 17 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: baby steps emergency fund often keeps people from going deeper 18 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: into the hole. There are many parallels between time and money, 19 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: and I think this is one area we're seeing parallels 20 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: can lead to good choices, good time management. Means creating 21 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: the time equivalent of an emergency fund. This is easily 22 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: accessed time that you can deploy when something unexpected happens. 23 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: If you have this open time, then an emergency means 24 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: you don't need to borrow time from other priorities. You 25 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: have a place for the emergency to go. Slack in 26 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: your schedule means you stay on track. One of the 27 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: best ways to do this is to avoid scheduling things 28 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: for at least one multi hour block somewhere in the week. 29 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: Friday afternoon is a common choice to leave open, as 30 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: it tends not to be anyone's peak productivity window. If 31 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: nothing goes wrong during the week, great This open time 32 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 1: means you can quit early, But more likely your week 33 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: will go something like this. Your biggest client whose project 34 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: is due Thursday, we'll call on Wednesday morning with some 35 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: additional requests. This means that anything non urgent that is 36 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: scheduled for Wednesday will need to move. If Friday afternoon 37 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: is open, it can go there. You're still on track. 38 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: You end the week accomplishing exactly what you hoped to. 39 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: But if Friday afternoon is already packed, as is every 40 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: other minute of your week, then you start having to 41 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: borrow from future weeks which are equally packed. That's when 42 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: the time debt starts to add up and people feel overwhelmed. 43 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: So that's why open space is the easiest way to 44 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: create a time emergency fund. But there is one big 45 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: challenge with this. A financial emergency fund is there unless 46 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: you spend it. Even the wealthiest person, however, will see 47 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: his time emergency fund disappear once those minutes are in 48 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:08,079 Speaker 1: the past. You can't borrow time now from a low 49 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: key week you experienced in two thousand five. You have 50 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,920 Speaker 1: to keep creating a time emergency fund again and again. 51 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: But there is a more renewable form of a time 52 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: emergency fund, and that is banking time with other people. 53 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: Here's what I mean. Humans are a social reciprocal species, 54 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: which is a fancy way of saying that if you 55 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 1: do something nice for me, there is an extremely good 56 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: chance that I will do something nice for you if 57 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: you ask. This doesn't work for everyone. There are certainly 58 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: some sociopaths out there, but most people want to help 59 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: people who have helped them. So whenever you've got a 60 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: little extra capacity, reach out to people. Reach out to 61 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: your colleagues and see how you can help support them. 62 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: What of their work could you help make a little 63 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: bit lighter. You can do this in your personal life too. 64 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: If you've decided to take a school holiday off, for instance, 65 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: because you don't have a good child care option, see 66 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: if your neighbors or your kids friends need supervision that 67 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: day too. You've banked favors and now at work, for instance, 68 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: when your big client has last minute requests, your colleague 69 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: will happily cover your Wednesday meetings. You've relied on a 70 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: time emergency fund and you're still on track. Life is 71 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: full and life is calm. So how will you create 72 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: a time emergency fund? What time slot will you leave open? 73 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: And what favors will you do for the people in 74 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: your life who are currently feeling overwhelmed. Take some time 75 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: to think about it and put some time in the 76 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: bank in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, 77 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 78 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 79 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 80 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at before Breakfast pod 81 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p O D. 82 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 83 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast 84 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much. 85 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is 86 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from 87 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,920 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 88 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.