WEBVTT - Like taking three weeks off work

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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 small things done repeatedly truly do add up.

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<v Speaker 1>Even just a few minutes per day over the long

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<v Speaker 1>haul can add up to a significant amount of time.

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<v Speaker 1>This means that over the long haul, even big projects

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<v Speaker 1>can become doable if you just keep going. So when

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<v Speaker 1>people decide they need to tackle some huge project, let's say,

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<v Speaker 1>organizing their homes, they often get into the mindset that

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<v Speaker 1>they need big, concentrated amounts of time. Honestly, I just

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<v Speaker 1>need to take three weeks off work and get caught up.

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<v Speaker 1>If only I could take three weeks off work. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>you can immediately see the problem with this line of thought.

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<v Speaker 1>You are unlikely to get three weeks off of work,

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<v Speaker 1>and if you do, you are not going to want

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<v Speaker 1>to spend that time organizing your home or doing any

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<v Speaker 1>other big life administration project. You are going to want

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<v Speaker 1>to go on vacation. Europe sounds nice, right, So setting

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<v Speaker 1>that out as a requirement means you stay stuck. But

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<v Speaker 1>let's say that a project really does require the equivalent

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<v Speaker 1>of three weeks off of work, presuming that the rest

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<v Speaker 1>of your life doesn't disappear. Three weeks of work is

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<v Speaker 1>about one hundred twenty hours. That is forty hours a

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<v Speaker 1>week for three weeks. So a different question is whether

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<v Speaker 1>you can find one hundred twenty hours in your life

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<v Speaker 1>to do something if you stretch out your time horizon

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<v Speaker 1>long enough. I'm guessing that you can. Here's something to

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<v Speaker 1>think about. There are three hundred and sixty five days

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<v Speaker 1>in a year. That adds up to eight thousands, one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and sixty hours. If you spend twenty minutes each

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<v Speaker 1>day on a project, that is the equivalent of one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred twenty hours over the course of a year. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>that is a much more reasonable ask. Most of us

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<v Speaker 1>can find twenty minutes a day. If we tried, we

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<v Speaker 1>spend twenty minutes on random things all the time, doing

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<v Speaker 1>something consistently for twenty minutes a day would be the

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<v Speaker 1>exact equivalent of taking three weeks off work without actually

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<v Speaker 1>having to do that. Now, I understand that the equation

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<v Speaker 1>isn't quite that simple. Getting in and out of things

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<v Speaker 1>takes time, so there might be some efficiencies to concentrating

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<v Speaker 1>one's time on a project. An eight hour day is

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<v Speaker 1>not the exact same thing as twenty four twenty minute chunks.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes things take more than twenty minutes, and even if

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<v Speaker 1>you could break an individual component of a project into

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<v Speaker 1>twenty minutes, you might have to leave things out in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle, which could be discouraging. Many a would be

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<v Speaker 1>organizer has started taking things out of a cupboard, only

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<v Speaker 1>to have something come up. Now your kitchen looks even

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<v Speaker 1>worse than it did before. But I think these logistical

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<v Speaker 1>issues are solvable. One could do a lot while still

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<v Speaker 1>following a personal rule not to do anything that will

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<v Speaker 1>look worse after twenty minutes. You can spend twenty minutes

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<v Speaker 1>throwing away trash and a room looks better. You can

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<v Speaker 1>spend twenty minutes putting stuff in a donation box or

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<v Speaker 1>then moving the box to where it's supposed to go

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<v Speaker 1>out the door, and the room will look better. And

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<v Speaker 1>let's be honest here, if you did take forty hours

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<v Speaker 1>a week for three weeks to organize your house, my

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<v Speaker 1>guess is that you would take breaks during that time.

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<v Speaker 1>You'd still need to eat, there would be periods of

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<v Speaker 1>more or less intensity. By only aiming to do twenty

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<v Speaker 1>minutes a day, you might be able to achieve an

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<v Speaker 1>intensity that you wouldn't otherwise, you simply have to stick

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<v Speaker 1>with it. So it goes for many things in life.

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<v Speaker 1>You could read War and Peace and Anna Karenina in

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<v Speaker 1>Middle March and Moby Dick in a year by reading

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<v Speaker 1>twenty minutes a day, as those books are mostly readable

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<v Speaker 1>in thirty hours each. A lot of creative things can

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<v Speaker 1>be done in twenty minutes a day, sowing a quilt

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<v Speaker 1>block by block, for instance. Maybe other things like oil

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<v Speaker 1>painting require longer stretches of time, but if you scratch

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<v Speaker 1>that creative itch by sketching for twenty minutes a day,

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<v Speaker 1>you just might be motivated to find longer stretches of time.

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<v Speaker 1>I know, I've written some fiction and bits here and there,

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<v Speaker 1>and then when I've got something more substantial, I feel

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<v Speaker 1>motivated to make a writing retreat fit into my life.

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<v Speaker 1>Even big things can be done in small steps. Doing

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<v Speaker 1>something for twenty minutes a day for a year is

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<v Speaker 1>the equivalent of taking three weeks off of work. If

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<v Speaker 1>you are telling yourself that you need that for something,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe reconsider how you could configure that time. You might

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<v Speaker 1>be surprised at what is possible in the meantime. This

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.