WEBVTT - Ten percent more

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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 that it might be possible to make a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit more of your time feel usable. Being able

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<v Speaker 1>to use ten percent more of your time can over

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<v Speaker 1>the long haul, mean you can get a lot more done.

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<v Speaker 1>So it is easy to fantasize about long stretches of

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<v Speaker 1>perfectly productive, uninterrupted time. No meetings, no slack messages, no

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<v Speaker 1>quick questions from someone popping their head into the office,

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<v Speaker 1>no plumbers electricians to be let into the house, no

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<v Speaker 1>children wanting a snack, just focus time for our most

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<v Speaker 1>important work. I don't know about you, but I am

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<v Speaker 1>guessing that fantasy bears little resemblance to a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>my listener's lives. I work for myself, and yet I

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<v Speaker 1>know I have limited stretches for focused time. A lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people have much less say over their schedules than

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<v Speaker 1>I do. But if you have been listening to Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast for a while, you know that we all have

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred and sixty eight hours in the week. Those

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<v Speaker 1>hours may have a lot of constraints and interruptions, but

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<v Speaker 1>they are ours, nonetheless, so rather than wait for a

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<v Speaker 1>perfect time, we are wise to make the most of them.

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<v Speaker 1>I am sure you can think of plenty of situations

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<v Speaker 1>where big progress might not be possible, but maybe small

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<v Speaker 1>parkas might be. Maybe you are working in suboptimal conditions,

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<v Speaker 1>like on an air plane or while home taking care

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<v Speaker 1>of a sick child, when you are tired, when you

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<v Speaker 1>are waiting for someone else to provide an important piece

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<v Speaker 1>of content you need for a project, or when you

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<v Speaker 1>just have a short amount of time. Maybe you can't

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<v Speaker 1>do a lot, but even in suboptimal conditions, you can

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<v Speaker 1>often do something. Sometimes this may be as small as

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<v Speaker 1>setting up the presentation and putting titles on each slide,

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<v Speaker 1>identifying the documents you'll need for a project, or updating

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<v Speaker 1>your calendar with meetings and deadlines related to the project.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes you write two sentences and something larger. Maybe you

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<v Speaker 1>get through three of twenty emails you need to send.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps it isn't much, but there are a few benefits

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<v Speaker 1>to taking these small steps. You are a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>closer to your goal. Anything you do now you don't

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<v Speaker 1>have to do later. See you've made life life a

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<v Speaker 1>little easier for future you. In addition, I think this

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<v Speaker 1>is most important you get in the habit of using

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<v Speaker 1>more of your time. I think many of us could

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<v Speaker 1>use about ten percent more of our time if we

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<v Speaker 1>tried and looked hard for it. Rather than not starting

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<v Speaker 1>something new at four forty five pm because the day

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<v Speaker 1>is over, you might be able to do a few

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<v Speaker 1>small things which will make tomorrow feel more focused, Rather

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<v Speaker 1>than doing nothing while sitting in the waiting room at

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<v Speaker 1>a parkour class, which is where I was when I

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<v Speaker 1>wrote the script for this, right next to a seven

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<v Speaker 1>year old's birthday party that was running simultaneously with my

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<v Speaker 1>kid's class. You could write podcast scripts. We don't have

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<v Speaker 1>to pack things in just to pack things in. But

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<v Speaker 1>when you get in the habit of using a bit

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<v Speaker 1>more of your time, eventually you don't assume an awkward

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<v Speaker 1>word fifteen minute stretch of time is unusable. You know

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<v Speaker 1>what kind of work fits well into fifteen minute stretches,

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<v Speaker 1>or what you can do on the sidelines of your

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<v Speaker 1>kid's soccer practice, or what you can do on plane rides.

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<v Speaker 1>When moments like these arise, you do something meaningful with them.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't just scroll on your phone. The work you

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<v Speaker 1>do in bits of suboptimal time also gives you momentum.

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<v Speaker 1>Having momentum and not starting from nothing means that when

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<v Speaker 1>you do have optimal time, you can hit the ground running.

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<v Speaker 1>So the next time you find yourself with a not

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<v Speaker 1>ideal bit of time, try to use it anyway. Take

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<v Speaker 1>the steps you can on the projects you are working on.

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<v Speaker 1>Using ten percent more of our time is like getting

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<v Speaker 1>more than an extra hour in the day, which doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>feel like a bad thing in the meantime. This is Laura,

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

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<v Speaker 1>the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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<v Speaker 1>your favorite shows.