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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to keep track of what you're waiting on.

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Speaker 1: Even when the metaphorical ball is in someone else's court,

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Speaker 1: you might want to keep your eye on that ball.

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Speaker 1: This can keep you from dropping the ball when it

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Speaker 1: winds up heading back toward you. Often in collaborations, we

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Speaker 1: can't complete a task we're responsible for until someone else

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Speaker 1: does their part. We pass our part on to the

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Speaker 1: next person and count on them to pass it back

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Speaker 1: to us on time. But things don't always go as planned,

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Speaker 1: and it's easy to forget things once they are no

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Speaker 1: longer actively in your workflow. Let's say you need to

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Speaker 1: submit a report to a funder and you're waiting on

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Speaker 1: the exact get of director to approve your draft. He

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Speaker 1: promises to get it back to you by Monday. There's

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Speaker 1: nothing more you can do until you get the edits,

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Speaker 1: so you move on to another project. Then the next Friday,

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Speaker 1: when the report is due, you realize with some panic

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Speaker 1: that you never got anything back. And this can happen

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Speaker 1: in our personal lives too. Refunds don't get processed ordered

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Speaker 1: items don't show up on time, but if they're not

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Speaker 1: top of mind, you don't realize they're late. To avoid this,

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Speaker 1: it's helpful to realize that anticipate X can be a

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Speaker 1: task just like any other task. Set a reminder for

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Speaker 1: what you need to be on the lookout for whenever

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Speaker 1: you need to look for it. So, if you are

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Speaker 1: waiting on feedback from Lisa, make an entry on your

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Speaker 1: calendar or planner for the appropriate date, saying anticipate feedback

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Speaker 1: from Lisa. If this date is more than a week

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Speaker 1: in the future, you might want to add some context

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Speaker 1: so future you isn't confused. Anticipate slides from Kathleen see

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Speaker 1: April five meeting notes, or anticipate John's decisions see March

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Speaker 1: fifteenth email exchange. Your notes will refresh your memory about

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Speaker 1: the project's status. For projects where your next steps after

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Speaker 1: receiving the item will take some work, go ahead and

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Speaker 1: block off time in your calendar so you are ready

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Speaker 1: to do your part. If you are anticipating edits on Monday,

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Speaker 1: for instance, you can block off Tuesday morning for revising

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Speaker 1: your draft. Now, this may or may not happen according

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Speaker 1: to plan, but the upside of having your time blocked

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Speaker 1: off is that it can provide a nudge to the

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Speaker 1: other person, or at least a reason to remind them

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Speaker 1: if you are concerned. Hi, Lisa, you might write, I've

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Speaker 1: blocked off time on Tuesday to edit with your revisions.

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Speaker 1: Let me know if that's going to work or if

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Speaker 1: I should choose a different time. Now, presumably Lisa doesn't

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Speaker 1: want to be a bottleneck, so she will do something

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Speaker 1: with this information. If she doesn't, well, of course you

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Speaker 1: won't sit there twiddling your thumb. Should she not get

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Speaker 1: her work back by then we always need to have

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Speaker 1: an option B. But this can help you make a

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Speaker 1: strategic plan. And when things don't arrive on time, well

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Speaker 1: you now know that this has happened and you know

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Speaker 1: to reach out. Hey, we talked about that contract going

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Speaker 1: out today. I don't see it in my inbox yet.

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Speaker 1: Could you please let me know when that will happen.

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Speaker 1: Of course, this all assumes you know when to anticipate

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Speaker 1: an item. If you don't, just ask your colleague when

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Speaker 1: do you plan to send me this document? I'd like

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Speaker 1: to know so I can schedule time from my part

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Speaker 1: once I receive it. Hopefully they will let you know

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Speaker 1: if they can't, or if you don't have an opportunity

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Speaker 1: to have this conversation, just make your best guess. Then

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Speaker 1: when that date rolls around, you can adjust, either by

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Speaker 1: following up or by making a new anticipating calendar item

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Speaker 1: for the future. The key is that there is always

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Speaker 1: a note about what you are anticipating, so that you

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Speaker 1: are periodically reminded of the projects status and don't lose

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Speaker 1: track of the project. Well it's on someone else's desk, now.

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Speaker 1: I do recognize that all this is kind of annoying,

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Speaker 1: especially for the reliable, punctual people who listen to productivity

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Speaker 1: podcasts like this one. Imagine that the world doesn't always

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Speaker 1: do exactly what it says it will when it will.

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Speaker 1: But the good news is that this process requires very

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Speaker 1: little effort. Literally, you just write or type anticipating and

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Speaker 1: then the thing on your calendar or planner. But it

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Speaker 1: is a total game changer for ensuring that projects don't

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Speaker 1: go hopelessly off course. Sometimes there is nothing you can do.

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Speaker 1: I'm waiting on some documents right now that will the

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Speaker 1: anticipated time has come and gone, but at least I

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Speaker 1: know it's outstanding. I haven't forgotten a And though I'm

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Speaker 1: not actively dealing with it. In some cases, that is

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Speaker 1: the best we can hope for. In the meantime, this

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Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear

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Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,

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Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i

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Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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Speaker 1: your favorite shows. H