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: This week, we're going to be talking about several productivity
Speaker 1: strategies I learned from my friend Gretchen Reuben. Gretchen is
Speaker 1: the co host, with her sister Elizabeth Kraft, of the
Speaker 1: podcast Happier. She's also the author of several books, including
Speaker 1: The Happiness Project and Better Than Before. Today's tip that
Speaker 1: she wanted to share with Before Breakfast listeners comes from
Speaker 1: her most recent book, Outer Order. In her calm, the
Speaker 1: tip abandon a project, Gretchen explains one source of clutter
Speaker 1: in our homes and offices and a significant drain on
Speaker 1: our energy, is the uncomfortable presence of unfinished projects. Whenever
Speaker 1: I see evidence of an unfinished project, I get a
Speaker 1: jolt of annoyance or guilt. I should organize those shelves,
Speaker 1: or I need to finish alphabetizing those books. She says
Speaker 1: that unfinished projects are irritating in themselves, and they also
Speaker 1: contribute to clutter because we often leave them out in
Speaker 1: the open as a reminder to finish them. So, according
Speaker 1: to Gretchen, the quickest, easiest way to complete a project,
Speaker 1: abandon it, decide you're never going to knit that sweater,
Speaker 1: and get that stuff off your shelf and off your conscience.
Speaker 1: I'm sure we all have projects like these. I've got
Speaker 1: a cross stitched Christmas stocking in my office right now
Speaker 1: that I began decades ago. I keep it on a
Speaker 1: table because well, I know, as soon as I put
Speaker 1: anything in a drawer, it may as well be dead
Speaker 1: to me. I actually had a bag of my favorite
Speaker 1: candy sitting in my top desk drawer for months, untouched.
Speaker 1: I wish this was a sign of my willpower, but
Speaker 1: alas it's more a sign that for me, out of
Speaker 1: sight means out of mind. Clutter doesn't bother me that much.
Speaker 1: But I of that for some people, having a decade
Speaker 1: long project sitting somewhere you could see frequently would be
Speaker 1: an invitation to madness. So if this is you, consider
Speaker 1: taking Gretchen's advice. What would happen if you decided to
Speaker 1: just quit the project. You could decide that you will
Speaker 1: never get around to making your own ice cream, and
Speaker 1: you could donate, sell, or toss that ice cream maker
Speaker 1: that's been taking up real estate in your small kitchen
Speaker 1: for years. What if you decided that you were never,
Speaker 1: in fact going to learn calligraphy, so you could give
Speaker 1: that kit to a neighbor's kid who enjoys that sort
Speaker 1: of thing. The first thing you'd probably noticed is that
Speaker 1: the world would not end. No one cares if he
Speaker 1: makes your own ice cream, and it's quite possible to
Speaker 1: live a rewarding life never having done so. You might
Speaker 1: also feel more light when you consciously decide to abandon
Speaker 1: a project. You might feel like you can direct that
Speaker 1: energy to other things. Of course, if the thought of
Speaker 1: abandoning a project feels more upsetting than anything else, then
Speaker 1: maybe it's time to get real. Give yourself a deadline
Speaker 1: and a time frame. Look at your calendar for this weekend,
Speaker 1: figure out a time when you will buy the necessary ingredients,
Speaker 1: read the instructions, and use that ice cream maker. Hold
Speaker 1: yourself accountable by inviting a friend over to try it
Speaker 1: with you. If you try it and it's great, awesome.
Speaker 1: If the project still doesn't happen despite your schedule and
Speaker 1: your accountability mechanism, you know it wasn't meant to be.
Speaker 1: Or even if the project does happen and it wasn't
Speaker 1: all that great, then you can feel free to continue
Speaker 1: with the purge. What nagging projects are crowding up your life?
Speaker 1: What can you decide to abandon so you can free
Speaker 1: up that mental space In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four, then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com.
Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
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