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 about when to schedule meetings that you
Speaker 1: know won't be particularly pleasant. You know they have to happen,
Speaker 1: but you also don't want to have them consume more
Speaker 1: mental space than necessary. This topic was suggested by a
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast listener who wrote in that my most productive time,
Speaker 1: like most people's, is in the morning after breakfast. She
Speaker 1: wanted to preserve that time for focused work, and so
Speaker 1: her inclination was to schedule most meetings for the afternoon.
Speaker 1: The problem if she knew the meeting would be rather intense,
Speaker 1: she found herself thinking about it all day. She wondered
Speaker 1: if it might make sense to just get it over with.
Speaker 1: But if I schedule meetings in the mornings, I worry
Speaker 1: that I am spending my most productive time in meetings.
Speaker 1: It was quite a quandary. In general, her inclination toward
Speaker 1: afternoon was sound. People tend to show up at meetings
Speaker 1: that are on their calendars, even if they're tired, but
Speaker 1: they won't do their best focused work on big projects
Speaker 1: at two thirty pm, So it's important to consider the
Speaker 1: opportunity cost. If you schedule a meeting at ten am,
Speaker 1: people might be slightly sharper, but they may not make
Speaker 1: progress on their bigger projects. If the meeting happens at
Speaker 1: two pm, on the other hand, they'll be able to
Speaker 1: do both. So my suggestion was to continue stacking the
Speaker 1: meetings in the afternoon. But she could do a few
Speaker 1: things to minimize the mental cost. First, she should make
Speaker 1: sure that there was plenty of prep time built in.
Speaker 1: During this prep time, she could rehearse anything that might
Speaker 1: go awry in the meetings, and the prep time would
Speaker 1: also provide a palate cleanser between individual and collaborative work. Second,
Speaker 1: since she knew the meetings would be intense, she should
Speaker 1: put them as late as possible so that when she
Speaker 1: was done she could just stop. So maybe she could
Speaker 1: prep it two, schedule meetings at three, four or three
Speaker 1: or whatever the time required. Then in normal times, go home.
Speaker 1: In social distancing times, log out of zoom and open
Speaker 1: the wine. And finally, if the knowledge that meetings are
Speaker 1: coming up distracted her, maybe she could just set an
Speaker 1: alarm for fifteen minutes before her prep time so she
Speaker 1: wouldn't need to think about it. Or even look at
Speaker 1: the clock until it's time to go. That way, she
Speaker 1: could really get into the flow on individual work. She
Speaker 1: wouldn't need to worry about the clock. She could just
Speaker 1: focus on what was in front of her. So, if
Speaker 1: you've got intense meetings, can that are if there's a
Speaker 1: way you can maximize focused work and be in a
Speaker 1: good mental place to deal with them. I still think
Speaker 1: scheduling meetings in the afternoon is the way to go. Yes,
Speaker 1: you're not getting them over with, but if you plan
Speaker 1: your day right, you don't need to 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 iHeart 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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