Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to make boundaries positive. There are all sorts
Speaker 1: of things we would prefer not to do for reasons
Speaker 1: of work life balance, But rather than make these sound
Speaker 1: negative and focused on what we won't do, we can
Speaker 1: point out what we still can do, because it's usually
Speaker 1: still a lot. Today's tip, like some others this week,
Speaker 1: comes from Laura May Martin's new book up Time. Martin
Speaker 1: is Google's productivity guru, and she coaches executives there on
Speaker 1: how to be more efficient. In her book, she notes
Speaker 1: that the bridge between boundaries and approachability is the right communication.
Speaker 1: The best way to communicate boundaries is to frame from
Speaker 1: the positive. You highlight what you will do, not what
Speaker 1: you won't. So, for example, I don't take meetings on
Speaker 1: Fridays becomes I take meetings Monday to Thursday. I don't
Speaker 1: instant message outside my work hours becomes I'm available by
Speaker 1: messaging between seven am and five pm. I'm not taking
Speaker 1: any new clients right now becomes something like I'm taking
Speaker 1: new clients starting in July and I don't have time
Speaker 1: during the week to meet about this topic becomes I
Speaker 1: have office hours every Friday where I can meet on
Speaker 1: this topic. All of these statements get at the exact
Speaker 1: same thing, but they sound so much more positive. Wow,
Speaker 1: this person is available by messaging for ten hours every day.
Speaker 1: That's a lot, So why even call attention to the
Speaker 1: fact that they won't be signed onto the messaging system
Speaker 1: at five point thirty pm. As for the boundary that
Speaker 1: you are not taking new clients immediately but probably will
Speaker 1: in the future, it just sounds like you are creating options.
Speaker 1: How wonderful. The person who wants to work with you
Speaker 1: can decide to wait until you are accepting new clients again,
Speaker 1: or they cannot wait, but that makes them feel like
Speaker 1: they have a choice. You remain approachable. I really like
Speaker 1: this idea. I should note here that I personally don't
Speaker 1: maintain a whole lot of strict work in life boundaries
Speaker 1: in my schedule. I work for myself with a lot
Speaker 1: of flexibility. One result of that is that I inevitably
Speaker 1: wind up doing personal stuff during work hours. That means
Speaker 1: that if the work still needs to get done, I
Speaker 1: do work things what many people consider personal hours, and
Speaker 1: that is fine with me, but for those with more
Speaker 1: regimented schedules, boundaries can make life feel a lot more sustainable.
Speaker 1: People might feel awkward about setting and sticking to boundaries,
Speaker 1: but when they are framed in a positive light, it
Speaker 1: all feels so much more congenial, and that makes people
Speaker 1: more likely to honor them because these boundaries seem reasonable.
Speaker 1: Maybe they won't honor them all the time, but a
Speaker 1: lot of the time, and that can make all the
Speaker 1: difference in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Bread. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.