WEBVTT - How to feel less busy

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

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that busyness is about the ratio of commitments

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<v Speaker 1>to space. If you want to feel less busy, you

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<v Speaker 1>can change either side of the equation, and it might

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<v Speaker 1>be worth exploring both options. So there are certain stretches

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<v Speaker 1>of life where we are just going to feel busier

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<v Speaker 1>than others. The end of the school year is often

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<v Speaker 1>one such time for people. December tends to be busy too,

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<v Speaker 1>with various holiday celebrations. Some workplaces have a busy season,

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<v Speaker 1>like tax time for accountants, and there is nothing wrong

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<v Speaker 1>with life feeling a little full. But if you are

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<v Speaker 1>feeling a little too busy for a little too long,

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<v Speaker 1>I think it is helpful to realize exactly what busyness is.

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<v Speaker 1>Busyness reflects the ratio of commitments you have to the

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<v Speaker 1>space available to do them. You can see how this

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<v Speaker 1>ratio plays out. Work feels busy when you have extra

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<v Speaker 1>work but you don't have extra space to do it

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<v Speaker 1>in because it is not like the rest of your

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<v Speaker 1>life has suddenly stopped. Your home life can feel really

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<v Speaker 1>busy when you have end of your performances and celebrations,

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<v Speaker 1>and yet you still need to work the same number

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<v Speaker 1>of hours you always do and deal with random things

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<v Speaker 1>like the roof leaking or the dog getting sick. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>we just have to roll with it. But if you

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<v Speaker 1>are feeling chronically busy in some aspect of your life,

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<v Speaker 1>or in all aspects of life, then it is good

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<v Speaker 1>to look at both sides of the equation, how many

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<v Speaker 1>commitments you have and how much space you have to

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<v Speaker 1>do the man The first side is probably obvious. If

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<v Speaker 1>you've got a lot of commitments, maybe you can scale

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<v Speaker 1>some of them back when things get crunched. For me,

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<v Speaker 1>I might sign my kids up for fewer activities that

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<v Speaker 1>can open up some space on the workfront. Maybe it's

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<v Speaker 1>time to delegate a project that you normally do, or

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<v Speaker 1>maybe it turns out that no one is excited about

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<v Speaker 1>a certain project and it's time to let it snooze

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<v Speaker 1>for a while. Maybe you can scale back on something

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<v Speaker 1>like a monthly brown bag lunch discussion you'd lead. Perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>it could become quarterly, or it too could pause for

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<v Speaker 1>a while. This is easy enough if you have some

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<v Speaker 1>discretionary stuff. The problem, of course, is when everything on

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<v Speaker 1>your plate feels like something you want to do, or

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<v Speaker 1>you lack the ability to not do it within the

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<v Speaker 1>current parameters of your job. Perhaps the things you really

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<v Speaker 1>want to do are in your personal life and you

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<v Speaker 1>don't see a way to jettison those. If that is

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<v Speaker 1>the case, then it is time to look at the

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<v Speaker 1>other side of the equation space available. Maybe work is

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<v Speaker 1>such that you really need to work some extra hours

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<v Speaker 1>for at least a little while. I will go ahead

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<v Speaker 1>and say that there are ways to add extra shifts

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<v Speaker 1>that don't destroy the rest of your life or make

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<v Speaker 1>everyone mad at you. I have done what I call

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<v Speaker 1>a split shift of consciously working for ninety minutes or

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<v Speaker 1>so after my kise go to bed A few nights

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<v Speaker 1>per week. My husband and I will sometimes trade off

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<v Speaker 1>on the weekends so I can get a few extra

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<v Speaker 1>hours in, Especially if my work hours have been curtailed

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<v Speaker 1>during the week because of kid activities or kid emergencies,

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<v Speaker 1>those weekend hours can become necessary, and I don't think

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<v Speaker 1>there's anything unbalanced about that. In fact, that is work

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<v Speaker 1>life balance. To actually have enough space to work. It

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<v Speaker 1>is always a possibility to hire extra childcare for a

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<v Speaker 1>little while, and sometimes I find that people have not

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<v Speaker 1>structurally created enough space to work. Just because you work

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<v Speaker 1>from home doesn't mean you can fit a forty hour

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<v Speaker 1>work week into the thirty hours that your kids are

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<v Speaker 1>at school. You are going to need to figure something

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<v Speaker 1>else out. It might turn out that you need more

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<v Speaker 1>space in your personal life for things. This is why

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<v Speaker 1>some people try to trim their hours at work when

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<v Speaker 1>they are maybe really busy in these small kid years.

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<v Speaker 1>Though there might be other options too. I suggest tracking

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<v Speaker 1>your time for a few weeks. Maybe you see that

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<v Speaker 1>household chores and errands are consuming a lot of time.

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<v Speaker 1>You might be able to spend less time on that

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<v Speaker 1>with some strategic outsourcing, minimizing or ignoring things that could

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<v Speaker 1>open up more space. This is broadly what happened on

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<v Speaker 1>a society wide level from the nineteen sixties to now.

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<v Speaker 1>Time diary studies show that women began spending more time

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<v Speaker 1>working for pay and more time interacting with their children.

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<v Speaker 1>How is that possible, Well, women started spending a lot

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<v Speaker 1>less time on housework. That is one way to change

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<v Speaker 1>the busyness equation. Time isn't always set. Sometimes it is malleable,

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<v Speaker 1>and how we feel about it depends on what we

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<v Speaker 1>have agreed to do and how much space we have

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<v Speaker 1>for those tasks. If you want to feel less busy,

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<v Speaker 1>understanding that busyness is about the ratio of commitments to

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<v Speaker 1>space can help you make wise choices. You want to

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<v Speaker 1>be sure to look at all the options in the meantime.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the

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<v Speaker 1>number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, should I look forward to

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<v Speaker 1>staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio.

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