WEBVTT - Create a time “emergency fund”

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to create the time equivalent of an

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<v Speaker 1>emergency fund. If you read a lot of personal finance

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<v Speaker 1>literature or listen to personal finance podcasts like my favorite

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<v Speaker 1>How to Money, you're probably familiar with the concept of

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<v Speaker 1>a monetary emergency fund. Life happens. When it does, it

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<v Speaker 1>can be expensive. An emergency fund is easily accessed cash

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<v Speaker 1>that can cover an unexpected car repair, a broken pipe,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything like that. These things fall in the category

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<v Speaker 1>of known unknowns. You don't know exactly what unexpected expense

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<v Speaker 1>will arise, but you can be pretty sure something will happen.

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<v Speaker 1>Having savings means you can absorb the expense without going

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<v Speaker 1>into debt. This is why Dave Ramsey, for instance, advises

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<v Speaker 1>that even people with significant high interest debt save one

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<v Speaker 1>thousand dollars as their first step toward financial stability. That

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<v Speaker 1>baby steps emergency fund often keeps people from going deeper

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<v Speaker 1>into the hole. There are many parallels between time and money,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think this is one area we're seeing parallels

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<v Speaker 1>can lead to good choices, good time management. Means creating

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<v Speaker 1>the time equivalent of an emergency fund. This is easily

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<v Speaker 1>accessed time that you can deploy when something unexpected happens.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have this open time, then an emergency means

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<v Speaker 1>you don't need to borrow time from other priorities. You

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<v Speaker 1>have a place for the emergency to go. Slack in

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<v Speaker 1>your schedule means you stay on track. One of the

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<v Speaker 1>best ways to do this is to avoid scheduling things

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<v Speaker 1>for at least one multi hour block somewhere in the week.

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<v Speaker 1>Friday afternoon is a common choice to leave open, as

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<v Speaker 1>it tends not to be anyone's peak productivity window. If

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<v Speaker 1>nothing goes wrong during the week, great This open time

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<v Speaker 1>means you can quit early, But more likely your week

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<v Speaker 1>will go something like this. Your biggest client whose project

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<v Speaker 1>is due Thursday, we'll call on Wednesday morning with some

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<v Speaker 1>additional requests. This means that anything non urgent that is

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<v Speaker 1>scheduled for Wednesday will need to move. If Friday afternoon

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<v Speaker 1>is open, it can go there. You're still on track.

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<v Speaker 1>You end the week accomplishing exactly what you hoped to.

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<v Speaker 1>But if Friday afternoon is already packed, as is every

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<v Speaker 1>other minute of your week, then you start having to

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<v Speaker 1>borrow from future weeks which are equally packed. That's when

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<v Speaker 1>the time debt starts to add up and people feel overwhelmed.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's why open space is the easiest way to

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<v Speaker 1>create a time emergency fund. But there is one big

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<v Speaker 1>challenge with this. A financial emergency fund is there unless

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<v Speaker 1>you spend it. Even the wealthiest person, however, will see

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<v Speaker 1>his time emergency fund disappear once those minutes are in

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<v Speaker 1>the past. You can't borrow time now from a low

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<v Speaker 1>key week you experienced in two thousand five. You have

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<v Speaker 1>to keep creating a time emergency fund again and again.

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<v Speaker 1>But there is a more renewable form of a time

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<v Speaker 1>emergency fund, and that is banking time with other people.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's what I mean. Humans are a social reciprocal species,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a fancy way of saying that if you

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<v Speaker 1>do something nice for me, there is an extremely good

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<v Speaker 1>chance that I will do something nice for you if

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<v Speaker 1>you ask. This doesn't work for everyone. There are certainly

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<v Speaker 1>some sociopaths out there, but most people want to help

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<v Speaker 1>people who have helped them. So whenever you've got a

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<v Speaker 1>little extra capacity, reach out to people. Reach out to

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<v Speaker 1>your colleagues and see how you can help support them.

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<v Speaker 1>What of their work could you help make a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit lighter. You can do this in your personal life too.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've decided to take a school holiday off, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>because you don't have a good child care option, see

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<v Speaker 1>if your neighbors or your kids friends need supervision that

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<v Speaker 1>day too. You've banked favors and now at work, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>when your big client has last minute requests, your colleague

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<v Speaker 1>will happily cover your Wednesday meetings. You've relied on a

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<v Speaker 1>time emergency fund and you're still on track. Life is

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<v Speaker 1>full and life is calm. So how will you create

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<v Speaker 1>a time emergency fund? What time slot will you leave open?

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<v Speaker 1>And what favors will you do for the people in

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<v Speaker 1>your life who are currently feeling overwhelmed. Take some time

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<v Speaker 1>to think about it and put some time in the

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<v Speaker 1>bank in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four, then Breakfast p O D.

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

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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