1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: Today's tip is that your calendar and your lived life 4 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: can look very different. By paying attention to the differences, 5 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: you can become more effective with your time. When this 6 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: episode is first airing in January, I am leading a 7 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,839 Speaker 1: time tracking challenge where hundreds of people are logging their 8 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,160 Speaker 1: time for a week. We are all trying to figure 9 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: out where the time really goes so we can make 10 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: wise decisions. If that sounds good to you, then feel 11 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: free to join in. You just write down what you're 12 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: doing as often as you remember, and keep going for 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: a week. Then you can cell reflect or change. When 14 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: I suggest people try tracking their time for a week, 15 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: I've had a few folks simply send me their calendars. 16 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: On some level, it makes sense, and hey, it sounds 17 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: far more efficient to email an existing file than to 18 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: actually write down your activities for a week. But there 19 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: are a few problems with this approach. First, many people's 20 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: calendars don't cover the hours outside say seven am to 21 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: nine pm. I mean, the hours might exist on the calendar, 22 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: but people tend not to actually put things in those slots, 23 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: and yet life continues to be lived in those slots. 24 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: Something happened. But what if people primarily use their calendars 25 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: for work, then their weekends might also not contain much 26 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: information as to what's going on. And yet that time 27 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: is real time too. It really happened, and it really counts. 28 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: But even if you're the rare sort who actually put 29 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: on your calendar what you intended to do all one 30 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: sixty eight hours of the week, including when you plan 31 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: to go to sleep and wake up, you can immediately 32 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,959 Speaker 1: see that there is going to be an issue. Life 33 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: is not going to go exactly as you planned all 34 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: one sixty eight hours of the week. Some night, you 35 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: might stay up later than expect it, or go to 36 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: bed earlier. Some morning, you'd intend to shower at a 37 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: certain point, but you'd get an unexpected phone call and 38 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: might be laid out the door. You might cancel a 39 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: meeting and spend that time on something else. A family 40 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: outing ends at nine pm, not eight pm, because you 41 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: were all having a good time. Whatever you put on 42 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: your calendar is going to wind up diverging from how 43 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: you actually spend the one d sixty eight hours of 44 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: the week. And that is fine, how would anyone know 45 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,839 Speaker 1: exactly what life would look like in the future If 46 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: we did know that, we do far more cool things 47 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: with that knowledge than just be able to guess exactly 48 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: how long the traffic delays would be on Thursday versus Friday. 49 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,839 Speaker 1: So don't think of your calendar as a time log. 50 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: These are separate things. However, you can learn a lot 51 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: by comparing a time log that is a trapped record 52 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: of how you actually spent your time with your calendar. 53 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: One thing you will learn which time estimates are off. 54 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: Maybe you always block sixty minutes for a twice a 55 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: week meeting that has a bad habit of taking ninety minutes. 56 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: Once you see that discrepancy, you can start blocking in 57 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: a longer amount of time, or at least not planning 58 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: anything important for right afterwards. Or you could chat with 59 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: your fellow meeting attendees to see if you could be 60 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: more realistic about what you need to get done. You 61 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: might also see what is realistic for your energy levels 62 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: and what is not. Perhaps you constantly wind up canceling 63 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: your Thursday night plans you don't do what you'd put 64 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: on your calendar. That's good to know. Maybe you are 65 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: just worn out by the end of the week. That 66 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 1: might be a good night to leave open, or alternately, 67 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: schedule something you know you will not cancel. And finally, 68 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: you see how much other time there is a calendar 69 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: of stuff that went from say, seven in the morning 70 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,840 Speaker 1: to seven at night Monday to Friday. Might make you 71 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 1: feel like life was absolutely full. But that is only 72 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:47,679 Speaker 1: sixty hours. There are sixty eight hours in a week. 73 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,119 Speaker 1: Where does the other time go? If you work long 74 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: hours Monday to end of day Thursday, you might feel 75 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,479 Speaker 1: like that is all your time. You have no work 76 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: life bound. Let's but that is only half of the week. 77 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: Where does the other half go? It's worth asking this 78 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:17,280 Speaker 1: question and maybe revising your story. So yes, calendars are great. 79 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 1: We need calendars to tell us what we plan to 80 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,479 Speaker 1: do with our time. Just remember that they seldom match 81 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: up exactly with reality and they seldom contain all our time. 82 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: Best to get a holistic picture in the meantime. This 83 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the 84 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear 85 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 86 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, 87 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four, 88 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me 89 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast. At iHeartMedia dot com 90 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:14,480 Speaker 1: that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. 91 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch. 92 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For 93 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart 94 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 95 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: favorite shows.