Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to change the order. Sometimes by shifting the
Speaker 1: order of things you do frequently, you can make your
Speaker 1: schedule just a little bit more efficient. So I will
Speaker 1: confess that these days I am not usually conditioning my
Speaker 1: hair in the shower. I just kind of gave up
Speaker 1: on that. But years ago, when I cared more about
Speaker 1: such things, I got frustrated that a lot of conditioners
Speaker 1: said you were supposed to leave them in your hair
Speaker 1: for a few minutes. I would get in the shower,
Speaker 1: soap up, and then do shampoo and then conditioner, and
Speaker 1: at that point I was kind of just sitting there
Speaker 1: burning time. Then, of course, I realized that there was
Speaker 1: no reason I had to do my various shower tasks
Speaker 1: in that order. By starting with shampooing and conditioning, the
Speaker 1: conditioner would be sitting in my hair while I was
Speaker 1: washing everything else. That would take at least a minute
Speaker 1: or two, So I'd be getting that time in before
Speaker 1: rinsing everything off much more efficient. There are often small
Speaker 1: efficiencies to be gained by switching the order of things.
Speaker 1: For instance, many mornings I fry myself two eggs. Eggs
Speaker 1: fry better if the pan is heated first. I used
Speaker 1: to pull the eggs out of the fridge first, because hey,
Speaker 1: the task is frying eggs, so it seemed like pulling
Speaker 1: the eggs out should be the first step. Then I
Speaker 1: would turn on the stove and wait. But then I
Speaker 1: realized that if I started heating up the pan on
Speaker 1: the stove and then pulled out the eggs from the fridge,
Speaker 1: it would be hot enough to crack them on there
Speaker 1: by the time I brought my two eggs over to
Speaker 1: the pan. Now, to be sure, I sometimes make fun
Speaker 1: of little hacks like this. It's not like if everything
Speaker 1: else was chaotic, that's switching the order of steps in
Speaker 1: my egg frying habit would change anything about my life.
Speaker 1: Getting that one minute back isn't necessarily all that big
Speaker 1: a win if you are, say, mindlessly spending hours scrolling
Speaker 1: online instead of pursuing hobbies or hanging out with friends
Speaker 1: and family. But on the other hand, with things that
Speaker 1: are done repeatedly, and especially steps that are part of
Speaker 1: a getting ready routine in the morning, saving little bits
Speaker 1: of time can add up showering two minutes more efficiently.
Speaker 1: Might mean you could set your alarm two minutes later,
Speaker 1: add in a saved minute on breakfast, and we are
Speaker 1: looking at three minutes. It isn't a lot, but it
Speaker 1: isn't nothing either, to get fifteen extra minutes of sleep
Speaker 1: during the work week. As you think about your schedule,
Speaker 1: is there some place where you could change the order
Speaker 1: in order to make your life a little more efficient.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's emptying the dishwasher while your coffee is brewing.
Speaker 1: You're already in the kitchen just hanging out right. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's brushing your teeth or putting on your makeup while
Speaker 1: your curling iron is heating up, instead of in a
Speaker 1: different order. I am fascinated by how sometimes larger organizations
Speaker 1: change the order of things too. I've heard of a
Speaker 1: number of schools where they actually have kids go outside
Speaker 1: to play right before lunch, rather than after. The idea
Speaker 1: is that you can build up an appetite, and you
Speaker 1: don't rush through lunch just so you can go outside
Speaker 1: to play. Some schools serve breakfast in kids' first period classes,
Speaker 1: so there is no need to send people through the
Speaker 1: cafeteria before school, which can be rushed if people are late,
Speaker 1: and teens certainly don't like to get up earlier than
Speaker 1: they have to. In any case, switching the order means
Speaker 1: more sleep and possibly even more instructional time. When would
Speaker 1: it make sense for you to change up the order
Speaker 1: of routine things? If you think about your daily schedule,
Speaker 1: maybe there is a scenario where it makes sense. I
Speaker 1: have started exercising in the evenings sometimes because it turns
Speaker 1: out there's no reason I have to do it before
Speaker 1: my kids get home from school anymore. They do not
Speaker 1: need constant supervision. Life can change and the order of
Speaker 1: things can change, and it is good to realize when
Speaker 1: this is true. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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