1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:17,080 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: tip is that tiny bits of time do add up. 4 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:26,240 Speaker 1: Rather than hoping for a long stretch of perfect time, 5 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: challenge yourself to do a little bit at a time 6 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: and just keep going. You may eventually get at the 7 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: exact same thing. So I sometimes hear from people that 8 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: they are feeling behind on various personal to dos, like say, 9 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 1: cleaning out the basement or attic. The task feels huge, 10 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: and everything else in life also feels demanding, So people 11 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: say things like I just need to take a week 12 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,639 Speaker 1: off work to get organized. But if you think about it, 13 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: this is not likely to happen. You are not going 14 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: to take a week off work to tackle personal projects 15 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: like this. If you do take a week off work, 16 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: I guarantee you are going to want to do other 17 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: things that don't involve organizing your attic. So instead think 18 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: of it like this. Taking a week off work is 19 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 1: like saying you want to devote forty hours more or 20 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: less to a project. After all, you will still have 21 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: your regular life before and after your work hours even 22 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: if you did take the time off. So you're saying 23 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: you need forty hours to do whatever it is that 24 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: is weighing on you. Is there another way to find 25 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: forty hours in your life? Here's a little realization. If 26 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: you devote ten minutes a day to something five days 27 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: a week, that is fifty minutes a week. If you 28 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: do that for forty eight weeks, which is just a 29 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: little under a year, you will have logged twenty four 30 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: hundred minutes doing this task. Divide by sixty because there 31 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: are sixty minutes in an hour, and you get forty hours. 32 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: In other words, over the course of eleven months or so, 33 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: ten minutes a day is like taking a week off work. 34 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: If you find ten minutes a day, five times a 35 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: week to tackle a big project, you will basically have 36 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: devoted the same time you'd get in a week off 37 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: work to it without actually having to take a week 38 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: off work. Now, is ten minutes a day as efficient 39 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: as devoting bigger chucks of time to a project. Probably not. 40 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: You'll likely have some amount of startup time and figuring 41 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: out what to do next. But I can tell you 42 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: in your forty hours of a week off work, you 43 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: would have taken breaks and such too. You can reduce 44 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: some of the inefficiency by making lists of what needs 45 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,359 Speaker 1: to happen and choosing things that are pretty easy to start. 46 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: For some days, you could likely spend the first two 47 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,639 Speaker 1: weeks of your ten minutes a day schedule throwing out 48 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: trash and see incredible progress without too much thought. But 49 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: here's the thing. Eleven months seems like a long time, 50 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 1: but it will pass one way or another. If you 51 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: devote ten minutes a day to a big project, you 52 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: will in fact see a lot of progress. Will it 53 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: be as swift as if you had taken a week 54 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: off work? Of course not. But you aren't going to 55 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: take a week off work, so it's just silly to 56 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: hold that out as the solution when there is another 57 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: one available. If you are willing to be patient, ten 58 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: minutes a day over the long haul is the same 59 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: as a week off work, but the former will actually happen, 60 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: so it might be the better choice. In the meantime. 61 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 62 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to before breakfast. 63 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,280 Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach 64 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com Before Breakfast 65 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, 66 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 67 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.