WEBVTT - Second Cup: Know when you won't get much done

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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 to know and acknowledge stretches of time when

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<v Speaker 1>you will not be getting much done. You can plan

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<v Speaker 1>your life more rationally when your expectations match reality. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip comes from the podcast Best Laid Plans, which is

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<v Speaker 1>hosted by Sarah Hart Unger, my co-host on my other podcast,

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<v Speaker 1>Best of Both Worlds. On a recent episode, Sarah read

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<v Speaker 1>a note from a listener that described how she divided

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<v Speaker 1>the year. She thought of the year in five quintiles,

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<v Speaker 1>and one of those quintiles went from Thanksgiving to the

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<v Speaker 1>end of her children's holiday break. Now, if you do

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<v Speaker 1>the math... that is not going to be a very

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<v Speaker 1>long quintile. There is maybe a week in November, and

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<v Speaker 1>then they had a longish, like three-week holiday break from

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<v Speaker 1>late December to early January. So we are talking a

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<v Speaker 1>stretch of time that is maybe seven to eight weeks

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<v Speaker 1>in total. This is not mathematically a fifth of the year.

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<v Speaker 1>But the reason this person divided her year up this

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<v Speaker 1>way is that she realized she basically never got much

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<v Speaker 1>done during this stretch of time. Because her kids were

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<v Speaker 1>out of school so much, they tended to take their

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<v Speaker 1>vacations then or go visit family. The three to four

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<v Speaker 1>weeks or so that her kids were in school between

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<v Speaker 1>Thanksgiving and Christmas break were often stuffed with other activities.

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<v Speaker 1>The space available to work was limited. She could try

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<v Speaker 1>to plow through, or she could acknowledge that this was

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<v Speaker 1>just not going to be a very productive time. And

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<v Speaker 1>she could think of the season accordingly. She could have

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<v Speaker 1>limited expectations for her business and probably feel happier when

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<v Speaker 1>she met these low expectations versus setting high expectations that

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<v Speaker 1>would crash into reality. I think this is a smart idea.

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<v Speaker 1>Many of us have stretches of time that are simply

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<v Speaker 1>not going to be productive. Maybe you cover for a

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<v Speaker 1>colleague who tends to take a vacation in late June,

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<v Speaker 1>and then the 4th of July causes a series of

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<v Speaker 1>interruptions to the usual schedule. And then you tend to

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<v Speaker 1>take your vacation in mid-July. Probably, this is just not

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<v Speaker 1>going to be the stretch of time when you can

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<v Speaker 1>launch some big new speculative project. If you have got

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<v Speaker 1>young kids who tend to get sick like clockwork in

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<v Speaker 1>February and March, then maybe you need to take this

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<v Speaker 1>into account when you plan out your year. It's not

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<v Speaker 1>that you won't get anything done, but the odds that

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<v Speaker 1>you get through all eight to nine weeks of February

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<v Speaker 1>and March without getting sick yourself are low. Now, obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't trot out excuses all 52 weeks of the year,

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<v Speaker 1>though perhaps they would be reasonable for much of the time.

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<v Speaker 1>The woman who didn't get much done between Thanksgiving and

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<v Speaker 1>New Year's worked in a tax education field. This meant

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<v Speaker 1>she poured it on from January to April and would

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<v Speaker 1>often make a lot of her revenue during this time.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are going to have a slow season, you

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<v Speaker 1>probably need a fast season at some other point. It

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<v Speaker 1>might even help to note your busy seasons for work

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<v Speaker 1>and set your expectations for your personal life accordingly. But

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<v Speaker 1>when we don't acknowledge these stretches that lean one way

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<v Speaker 1>or another, we start to feel perpetually behind, whatever sphere

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<v Speaker 1>of life that happens to be in. When you acknowledge

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<v Speaker 1>that you won't be productive for a particular chunk of time,

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<v Speaker 1>on the other hand, you can enjoy that time a

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<v Speaker 1>lot more. You are still getting the same amount done,

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<v Speaker 1>but at least now you don't feel bad as well.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening. And

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at LauraVanderkam.com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeart Media. For more podcasts from

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