1 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:09,479 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 1: tip is to make yourself replaceable. When other people can 4 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: do what you do, you have the freedom to do 5 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: other things, at least for a little while. Today's tip 6 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: comes partly from Jenny Blake's book Free Time. Jenny writes 7 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: about how to lose the busy work and love your business. 8 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: Many small business owners work incredibly long hours because they 9 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 1: need to do everything. It can be a recipe for burnout. 10 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: Even people in big businesses can wind up taking on 11 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: a lot when no one else knows exactly what they do. 12 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: A simple long weekend becomes problematic because long term projects 13 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: grind to a halt when the person isn't there. I'd 14 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: add that we can feel this way about our home 15 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: lives as well. If you do everything and no one 16 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: else seems to know how to do anything, you feel trapped. 17 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: You can't take a break because everything falls apart. You 18 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: get more and more exhausted. So Jennie Blake recommends thinking 19 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:33,119 Speaker 1: about the Fiji test. The idea is that if any 20 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: team member were to get whisked off to a three 21 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: week surprise vacation in Fiji, with no devices and no 22 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: ability to give notice. Could the rest of the team 23 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: seamlessly step in and take over the role. My guess 24 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: is that for many of us the answer is no, 25 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: and we might not worry about this too much because 26 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: no fairy godmother is going to whisk us to Fiji, 27 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: and yet we might encounter various less lovely situations than 28 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: the Fiji test. We are mortal, and any of us 29 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: could wind up in the hospital for weeks or worse. 30 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: So Jenny recommends that each person works toward making themselves 31 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: replaceable every day. One of the best ways to do 32 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: this is to document common processes, get granular on the 33 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:33,239 Speaker 1: steps so that someone else reasonably competent could step in 34 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: and do them. Then you might figure out who else 35 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: could do this stepping in on various rolls. Sometimes this 36 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: is obvious. For my Best of Both Worlds podcast. When 37 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: I am out of commission, my co host Sarah can 38 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: do everything about the show start to finish on her own, 39 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: as can I if she is unavailable. It's a little 40 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: trickier for something like a solo show before breakfast, though. 41 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: One way to make yourself replaceable is to work ahead. 42 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: I record about three weeks ahead of time, so if 43 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: I were whisked off to Fiji, you wouldn't know about 44 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: it until I got back. If you work closely with people, 45 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: you want to make sure that people are empowered to 46 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: make decisions about smaller things that do not truly require 47 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: your input. Likewise, you should get to know what they 48 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: do so you can make some small decisions as well. 49 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: What is true for work is also true on the 50 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: home front. If you were suddenly unable to do any 51 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: of your home responsibilities and you live with other people, 52 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: would things still work. Perhaps there are some efficiencies gained 53 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: by one partner mostly knowing how the home routine works 54 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: and one partner concentrating their efforts in the workplace. But 55 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: when mom gets sick, oh boy, both parties should know 56 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: enough that the other party could travel somewhere and the 57 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: kids would still get to school, get fed, get bathed, 58 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: and so forth. This is all common sense, and yet 59 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: many of us resist it. We resist learning our colleagues 60 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:26,799 Speaker 1: or partner's tasks because we're busy, or we resist teaching 61 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: other people what we do because sometimes it can feel 62 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: like a source of power. You are the one the 63 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: client wants to talk to and that feels good, except 64 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: you are going to be the one the client wants 65 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: to talk to even when you're on the beach in Fiji. 66 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: That is more of an issue. And even if you 67 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: never plan to go to Fiji, you could be the 68 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: one the client wants to talk with while you are 69 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:02,280 Speaker 1: in the ICU and that would be a big problem. 70 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:07,119 Speaker 1: So aim to make yourself replaceable. I mean, you aren't 71 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 1: really replaceable in terms of being a unique human being. 72 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,679 Speaker 1: Everyone is, but it is a gift to those around 73 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: us to have our homes and businesses function even when 74 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: we aren't there. This takes time, but it is well 75 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: worth doing in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, 76 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 77 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 78 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 79 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod 80 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D. 81 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 82 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled 83 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I 84 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: look forward to staying in Touch Before Breakfast is a 85 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. 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