Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that not all days need to look
Speaker 1: the same. While it is important to have a good
Speaker 1: rhythm for your work days, that rhythm can change to
Speaker 1: allow you to spend more time on certain activities, particularly
Speaker 1: if you are working from home. These days, you might
Speaker 1: have a fair amount of flexibility in your schedule, so
Speaker 1: it's worth trying it out. We all have certain times
Speaker 1: of day when we work best. Most people are more
Speaker 1: focused in the morning, so it's good to do deep
Speaker 1: and difficult work. Then that checking call about a project
Speaker 1: that's not really changed since the last check in, Well,
Speaker 1: that's better done when you are brain dead, which for
Speaker 1: most of us happens in mid afternoon. But sometimes it's
Speaker 1: helpful to spend an entire day, or at least an
Speaker 1: entire morning, doing a certain kind of work. Our brains
Speaker 1: can really get in the groove. So as you plan
Speaker 1: out your week, no that not all days need to
Speaker 1: look the same, think about how you might strategically make
Speaker 1: different days look a little different. Maybe Monday morning is
Speaker 1: for long term speculative projects. Maybe you try to schedule
Speaker 1: as many of your meetings as possible for Tuesday, and
Speaker 1: then keep Wednesdays completely open so you're able to deal
Speaker 1: with new things that have come up or whatever is
Speaker 1: demanding your attention in the moment. Maybe you always carve
Speaker 1: out Thursday afternoons for meetings with direct reports, or you
Speaker 1: take those nice to do but not urgent calls on
Speaker 1: Friday mornings, and as I always suggest, you can plan
Speaker 1: your upcoming weeks on Friday afternoons. Will it always work
Speaker 1: to keep the schedule, No, of course not. But by
Speaker 1: recognizing that not all days need to look the same,
Speaker 1: you can make sure that you do carve out time
Speaker 1: fairly regularly for important things. You won't be able to
Speaker 1: always have meeting free mornings, but you could probably arrange
Speaker 1: for at least two a week. Then you'll be able
Speaker 1: to take advantage of this time for deeper thinking. And similarly,
Speaker 1: some afternoons won't have meetings and you can think about
Speaker 1: other things you might usually do then, like planning on Fridays.
Speaker 1: We live our lives in weeks, not days. Thinking in
Speaker 1: terms of a hundred sixty eight hours, not twenty four
Speaker 1: reminds us that things don't have to happen daily in
Speaker 1: order to count in our lives. Indeed, not all day
Speaker 1: ease need to look the same, especially with working from
Speaker 1: home as many people are these days, we can use
Speaker 1: some of our inherent time flexibility to embrace new weekly rhythms.
Speaker 1: So today, plot out what an ideal work week would
Speaker 1: look like for you. What activities would you like to
Speaker 1: build into your work schedule once or twice a week?
Speaker 1: When do you think these would best fit? Strategize about
Speaker 1: how you can preserve time for these things. When you
Speaker 1: look at the whole work week as a unit, it
Speaker 1: is amazing what you can get done, certainly more than
Speaker 1: if you just take things day by day. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media
Speaker 1: dot com That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much. I look forward to Staying
Speaker 1: in Touch Before Breakfast is a production of i heart Radio.
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