Speaker 1: Good morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to stay afloat when life
Speaker 1: is overwhelming. I recently got a letter from a listener
Speaker 1: named Katie. She's a psychologist who works in private practice.
Speaker 1: She writes that she's realized she has a pretty intense
Speaker 1: tendency to overschedule. She's usually good about getting all the
Speaker 1: things on her list done, but when life happens, such
Speaker 1: as our entire family getting the flu, something that usually
Speaker 1: can work just does not. I'm in that exact situation
Speaker 1: right now, with about twenty one outstanding reports to write
Speaker 1: and a scheduled ten hours of writing time before I
Speaker 1: start billing again next week. The math doesn't work there. Basically,
Speaker 1: she writes, I'm really trying to manage my time better
Speaker 1: and set firmer boundaries, but Katie from two months ago
Speaker 1: definitely did not. So I'm facing a seemingly insurmount norble
Speaker 1: amount of work to catch up on with not enough
Speaker 1: time to do it. Do you have any tips or
Speaker 1: resources for catching up after a time management slip up
Speaker 1: on the excessively busy weeks? What are the best ways
Speaker 1: to prioritize tasks that all need to be done now
Speaker 1: and somehow manage life, parenting, and self care. Also, I'm
Speaker 1: sure a lot of people can relate to Katie's situation.
Speaker 1: Many of us go through really intense times at work.
Speaker 1: Sometimes this is structural think accountants during busy season. Sometimes
Speaker 1: we've over committed in the past, and now we're stuck
Speaker 1: with these obligations. When something like illness or car trouble strikes,
Speaker 1: life can feel like a frantic negotiation with the clock.
Speaker 1: We've all been there, so I want to share what
Speaker 1: works for me when life and my workload seems overwhelming.
Speaker 1: I do these five things. First. I prioritize sleep and exercise.
Speaker 1: I know this might sound like a luxury if you're swamped,
Speaker 1: but I have found that skimping on either of these
Speaker 1: just ruins me in terms of ability to focus. If
Speaker 1: I try to stay up until one am to get
Speaker 1: something done, it will take me three hours to do
Speaker 1: what would have taken me one hour at eight am
Speaker 1: after a full night's sleep, So I forced myself to
Speaker 1: shut it down. I aim to be in my bed
Speaker 1: for at least seven hours. I also make time to
Speaker 1: run for at least twenty to thirty minutes each day.
Speaker 1: I generally feel better after, and when I feel better,
Speaker 1: life feels more manageable. Second, I make sure I know
Speaker 1: exactly what is on my plate. Unknown stuff is scarier
Speaker 1: than known stuff, So I make a list of what
Speaker 1: I have going on and when that stuff needs to
Speaker 1: be done. That way, I can make a wise plan,
Speaker 1: one that keeps me from doing stuff that's due Friday
Speaker 1: before stuff that must be done tomorrow. I can also
Speaker 1: judge what must be done by me and what can
Speaker 1: be passed a law. I can figure out what doesn't
Speaker 1: need to be done at all, or at least not
Speaker 1: before things calmed down. If I've lived with that broken
Speaker 1: bench in my backyard for a year, I can live
Speaker 1: with it for a few more months too. Third, I
Speaker 1: make sure I have enough space to have a fighting
Speaker 1: shot at tackling the backlog. For listeners who don't have
Speaker 1: family obligations, this is probably straightforward. You just work longer
Speaker 1: hours or on the weekend. But if you need to
Speaker 1: make a six pm daycare pickup every day, that's a
Speaker 1: lot harder. For our listener, Katie, I asked if there
Speaker 1: was any time beyond the ten hours she thought she
Speaker 1: had available for writing the reports when I've been swamped.
Speaker 1: I've talked with my husband and come to an agreement
Speaker 1: that he take the kids for four hours on the
Speaker 1: weekend so I can work. Then I then cover for
Speaker 1: him at some other point. Katie likewise told me that
Speaker 1: she worked out a deal with her family. As I
Speaker 1: pointed out, she spent a lot of time with her
Speaker 1: kids when they were sick, so sometimes this time needs
Speaker 1: to be made up. There's really no reason to feel
Speaker 1: guilty about that. Fourth, I resist the urge to get
Speaker 1: on top of email. First. It feels really productive to
Speaker 1: delete and answer emails, but email expands to fill all
Speaker 1: available space. I'm usually better off tackling the big things
Speaker 1: on the list first and then getting to the emails
Speaker 1: later during lower energy times than if I do this
Speaker 1: the other way around. Finally, it also helps to realize
Speaker 1: that busy seasons are generally temporary. Tax and auditing deadlines
Speaker 1: come and go, books and podcasts get launched into the world.
Speaker 1: That conference you're planning happens, and then it's over. Recognizing
Speaker 1: this can be helpful for understanding that there will be
Speaker 1: more time for things like getting together with friends, reading books,
Speaker 1: or catching up on your favorite shows later or at
Speaker 1: least between busy times if you're careful with scheduling. Our listener, Katie,
Speaker 1: was learning to be more careful to leave open space
Speaker 1: in her current schedule so future family illnesses could be
Speaker 1: taken in stride. The good news is that if you
Speaker 1: make wise time choices now going forward, things will get better.
Speaker 1: That little bit of hope can definitely help us stay
Speaker 1: afloat when life seems overwhelming. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeart media dot com. That before breakfas is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch