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 to use the index card method to
Speaker 1: stay productive even during challenging times. Today's tip comes from
Speaker 1: my friend Damon Brown. He's an entrepreneur and speaker who
Speaker 1: I interviewed from my book Off the Clock. Brown became
Speaker 1: a father for the first time in two thousand thirteen.
Speaker 1: His wife had a traditional job with health insurance, and
Speaker 1: with the couple wanting to have one parent mostly at home,
Speaker 1: Brown took on that role. Interestingly enough, though, the universe
Speaker 1: delivered several professional opportunities to him at the same time
Speaker 1: that he wanted to take on, so he decided to
Speaker 1: become very productive during naptime or when his wife could
Speaker 1: be home. This wound up being about fifteen hours a week,
Speaker 1: and he was ruthless about what he decided was worth doing.
Speaker 1: During those fifteen hours. He wrote his non baby related
Speaker 1: goals for each day on an index card. One side
Speaker 1: of the index card, the goals that didn't fit weren't
Speaker 1: going to happen, so he knew he needed to revise
Speaker 1: the list until they included only the top things. So
Speaker 1: He did this for several months and then had a
Speaker 1: realization that he was being shockingly productive. He was doing
Speaker 1: roughly three important things a day, which adds up to
Speaker 1: fifteen important things per week over a year. That is
Speaker 1: seven fifty important things. In Brown's case, this included giving
Speaker 1: a ted talk and starting two businesses, including one that
Speaker 1: was acquired. Now, to be sure, I am not recommending
Speaker 1: people cut their work weeks to fifteen hours just to
Speaker 1: do so, but as Brown told me, how much time
Speaker 1: we actually have is less relevant than how we perceive it.
Speaker 1: Rather than focusing on what he couldn't do, he focused
Speaker 1: on what he could do and what he could really
Speaker 1: do added up. So if you are feeling overwhelmed, or
Speaker 1: if you have big responsibilities outside of work these days,
Speaker 1: try using this index card method. Each day, write your
Speaker 1: professional goals for the day on one side of the
Speaker 1: index card. If you start running into the edges and
Speaker 1: flipping over the card, well it's time to revise. Once
Speaker 1: it fits, your expectations won't seem overwhelming. You'll do them
Speaker 1: and you'll feel good about it, and then tomorrow you'll
Speaker 1: do more good stuff, and soon you'll figure out that
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff that makes us busy probably doesn't
Speaker 1: really matter. It's all right to let it go. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. M 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 the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.