1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:23,240 Speaker 1: tip is that busyness is about the ratio of commitments 4 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: to space. If you want to feel less busy, you 5 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: can change either side of the equation, and it might 6 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: be worth exploring both options. So there are certain stretches 7 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: of life where we are just going to feel busier 8 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: than others. The end of the school year is often 9 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: one such time for people. December tends to be busy too, 10 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: with various holiday celebrations. Some workplaces have a busy season, 11 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: like tax time for accountants, and there is nothing wrong 12 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,119 Speaker 1: with life feeling a little full. But if you are 13 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: feeling a little too busy for a little too long, 14 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:16,479 Speaker 1: I think it is helpful to realize exactly what busyness is. 15 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: Busyness reflects the ratio of commitments you have to the 16 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:28,480 Speaker 1: space available to do them. You can see how this 17 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: ratio plays out. Work feels busy when you have extra 18 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: work but you don't have extra space to do it 19 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: in because it is not like the rest of your 20 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: life has suddenly stopped. Your home life can feel really 21 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: busy when you have end of your performances and celebrations, 22 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: and yet you still need to work the same number 23 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: of hours you always do and deal with random things 24 00:01:55,200 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: like the roof leaking or the dog getting sick. Sometimes 25 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: we just have to roll with it. But if you 26 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: are feeling chronically busy in some aspect of your life, 27 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 1: or in all aspects of life, then it is good 28 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: to look at both sides of the equation, how many 29 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: commitments you have and how much space you have to 30 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: do the man The first side is probably obvious. If 31 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: you've got a lot of commitments, maybe you can scale 32 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: some of them back when things get crunched. For me, 33 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,959 Speaker 1: I might sign my kids up for fewer activities that 34 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:43,919 Speaker 1: can open up some space on the workfront. Maybe it's 35 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: time to delegate a project that you normally do, or 36 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: maybe it turns out that no one is excited about 37 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: a certain project and it's time to let it snooze 38 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: for a while. Maybe you can scale back on something 39 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: like a monthly brown bag lunch discussion you'd lead. Perhaps 40 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: it could become quarterly, or it too could pause for 41 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: a while. This is easy enough if you have some 42 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: discretionary stuff. The problem, of course, is when everything on 43 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: your plate feels like something you want to do, or 44 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: you lack the ability to not do it within the 45 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:24,119 Speaker 1: current parameters of your job. Perhaps the things you really 46 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: want to do are in your personal life and you 47 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: don't see a way to jettison those. If that is 48 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: the case, then it is time to look at the 49 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: other side of the equation space available. Maybe work is 50 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: such that you really need to work some extra hours 51 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: for at least a little while. I will go ahead 52 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: and say that there are ways to add extra shifts 53 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: that don't destroy the rest of your life or make 54 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: everyone mad at you. I have done what I call 55 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: a split shift of consciously working for ninety minutes or 56 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: so after my kise go to bed A few nights 57 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: per week. My husband and I will sometimes trade off 58 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: on the weekends so I can get a few extra 59 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: hours in, Especially if my work hours have been curtailed 60 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: during the week because of kid activities or kid emergencies, 61 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:23,840 Speaker 1: those weekend hours can become necessary, and I don't think 62 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: there's anything unbalanced about that. In fact, that is work 63 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: life balance. To actually have enough space to work. It 64 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: is always a possibility to hire extra childcare for a 65 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: little while, and sometimes I find that people have not 66 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:47,360 Speaker 1: structurally created enough space to work. Just because you work 67 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:51,159 Speaker 1: from home doesn't mean you can fit a forty hour 68 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,160 Speaker 1: work week into the thirty hours that your kids are 69 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: at school. You are going to need to figure something 70 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:02,039 Speaker 1: else out. It might turn out that you need more 71 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: space in your personal life for things. This is why 72 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: some people try to trim their hours at work when 73 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: they are maybe really busy in these small kid years. 74 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: Though there might be other options too. I suggest tracking 75 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: your time for a few weeks. Maybe you see that 76 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: household chores and errands are consuming a lot of time. 77 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: You might be able to spend less time on that 78 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 1: with some strategic outsourcing, minimizing or ignoring things that could 79 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: open up more space. This is broadly what happened on 80 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: a society wide level from the nineteen sixties to now. 81 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 1: Time diary studies show that women began spending more time 82 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: working for pay and more time interacting with their children. 83 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:00,360 Speaker 1: How is that possible, Well, women started spending a lot 84 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:05,280 Speaker 1: less time on housework. That is one way to change 85 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 1: the busyness equation. Time isn't always set. Sometimes it is malleable, 86 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: and how we feel about it depends on what we 87 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: have agreed to do and how much space we have 88 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: for those tasks. If you want to feel less busy, 89 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: understanding that busyness is about the ratio of commitments to 90 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: space can help you make wise choices. You want to 91 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: be sure to look at all the options in the meantime. 92 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 93 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to 94 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 95 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook 96 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the 97 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also 98 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia 99 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all 100 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, should I look forward to 101 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. 102 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 103 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.