WEBVTT - Make your schedule more resilient

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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 to make your schedule more resilient. By having

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<v Speaker 1>layers of backup should things go wrong, you limit the

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<v Speaker 1>amount of chaos in your life. Complexity and chaos are

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<v Speaker 1>not the same thing, and a resilient schedule is how

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<v Speaker 1>you can have one without the other. So I have

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<v Speaker 1>often heard people describe their lives as a circus. The

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<v Speaker 1>funny thing about that is that people are using this

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<v Speaker 1>metaphor wrong. When someone says my life is a circus,

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<v Speaker 1>they tend to mean it is chaotic, with unplanned things

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<v Speaker 1>happening all over the place. But an actual circus is

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<v Speaker 1>nothing like that. A circus is complex but orderly. No

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<v Speaker 1>one gets shot out of a cannon at the wrong time.

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<v Speaker 1>You can have eight motorbikes zooming around a metal sphere,

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<v Speaker 1>but you can bet that they are all going exactly

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<v Speaker 1>where they are supposed to go at exactly the right pace.

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<v Speaker 1>You'll also notice that the tightrope walkers and acrobats tend

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<v Speaker 1>to perform over a net. That is so if something

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<v Speaker 1>goes wrong, a mistake doesn't result in disaster. If you

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<v Speaker 1>have a complex life, there's a lot to learn from

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<v Speaker 1>that practice. You want to construct your schedule so that

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<v Speaker 1>things going wrong, as they often go wrong, doesn't result

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<v Speaker 1>in anything actually terrible happening. I have a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>moving parts in my life, and so I wind up

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about this all the time. For instance, I decided

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<v Speaker 1>this year that my five year old would take the

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<v Speaker 1>bus home from kindergarten as his default transportation. We live

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<v Speaker 1>close to the school and we still employ a full

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<v Speaker 1>time nanny, so theoretically she could pick him up every day.

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<v Speaker 1>But if the default was for a car to arrive

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<v Speaker 1>at the end of the school day every day, there

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<v Speaker 1>was just a little less give with this. Someone has

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<v Speaker 1>to meet the bus, but that someone could be anyone

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<v Speaker 1>over about thirteen years of age. They don't have to

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<v Speaker 1>be a licensed driver, so there's just a little more

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<v Speaker 1>resilience to the bus option. This actually wound up mattering

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<v Speaker 1>the other day when our nanny was on vacation. I

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<v Speaker 1>was at the airport getting on a flight, and my

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<v Speaker 1>husband was driving back from Maryland. He was supposed to

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<v Speaker 1>be back by the bus's arrival, but the time was

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<v Speaker 1>getting tight. Fortunately, my thirteen year old daughter was home

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<v Speaker 1>and was able to go down the hill to meet

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<v Speaker 1>the bus. As it turned out, my husband just made it,

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<v Speaker 1>but that resiliency made me a little less stressed as

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<v Speaker 1>I was getting on the plane. If you've got some

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<v Speaker 1>complex situation in your life, could you add another layer

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<v Speaker 1>of backup. If your kids are in daycare, you figure

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<v Speaker 1>out quickly enough that you will need a backup care

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<v Speaker 1>option for all those days that they will be homesick.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got a tight connection on a flight, you

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<v Speaker 1>should check when the next flight is and whether it

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<v Speaker 1>will be possible to get on it. You might have

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<v Speaker 1>a backup meal option for Monday in case you don't

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<v Speaker 1>manage to make it to the grocery store on Sunday

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<v Speaker 1>because you are flying back from a trip and your

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<v Speaker 1>flight is delayed. At work, you might cross trained team

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<v Speaker 1>members on various functions so work never grinds to a

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<v Speaker 1>halt because John has Jerry duty. It would be lovely

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<v Speaker 1>in life if everything went as planned, but sadly, things

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<v Speaker 1>just don't. The other day we had another bus situation

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<v Speaker 1>that could have been a fiasco. I was at my

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen year old's cross country meet. My thirteen year old

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<v Speaker 1>daughter was at tennis practice. Our nanny was taking the

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<v Speaker 1>ten year old to pottery class after his bus dropped

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<v Speaker 1>him off, but his bus was so late that by

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<v Speaker 1>the time she grabbed him to take him to class,

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<v Speaker 1>she was risking not being home for the five year

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<v Speaker 1>old's bus. But fortunately, my husband was working from home

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<v Speaker 1>that day and had arranged to not leave for the

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<v Speaker 1>airport for his night flight until four thirty p m.

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<v Speaker 1>So we still had a layer of back up. He

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<v Speaker 1>met the five year old at the bus and all

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<v Speaker 1>was well. We simply have to expect that well things

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<v Speaker 1>will go wrong in life and build life with enough

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<v Speaker 1>resiliency that it just doesn't matter. A little mistake or

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<v Speaker 1>a small change doesn't result in disaster. With a resilient schedule,

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<v Speaker 1>that can be the case in the meantime. This is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

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<v Speaker 1>the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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<v Speaker 1>your favorite shows