WEBVTT - Second Cup: What would the butler do?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>Today's tip is about one way to think of productivity strategies.

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<v Speaker 2>They are designed to aid your life like a high

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<v Speaker 2>end butler might do. The goal is freeing you up

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<v Speaker 2>to focus on work you choose and on enjoying your life.

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<v Speaker 2>Today's tip, like some others this week, comes from Chris

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<v Speaker 2>Bailey's new book, How to Calm Your Mind, Finding Presence

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<v Speaker 2>and Productivity in Anxious Times. While much of Chris's book

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<v Speaker 2>is focused on reducing anxiety so you can get more done,

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<v Speaker 2>he had some great thoughts on productivity strategies which I

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<v Speaker 2>thought i'd share. Chris suggests doing this thought experiment. Imagine.

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<v Speaker 2>He writes that you have won some one in a

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<v Speaker 2>million contest through a high end house cleaning service that

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<v Speaker 2>provides you with a full time butler for life. Chris

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<v Speaker 2>suggests that this butler's name is Kingsley. The man provides

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<v Speaker 2>you with more free time every day by cleaning up

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<v Speaker 2>after you and your family, cooking meals, managing your calendar,

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<v Speaker 2>which he calls your diary, chauffeuring you around town, and more.

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<v Speaker 2>While Kingsley himself might be a pipe dream. The best

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<v Speaker 2>productivity tactics and strategies can confer similar benefits like Kingsley.

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<v Speaker 2>They provide us with more of the most valuable resource

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<v Speaker 2>we have at our disposal time. Chris leaves this thought

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<v Speaker 2>experiment here, but I've been thinking thinking a little bit

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<v Speaker 2>more about what a Kingsley might do in my life

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<v Speaker 2>and the ways in which I have tried to approximate

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<v Speaker 2>a Kingsley, even though I don't have a full time butler.

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<v Speaker 2>One way a Kingsley would provide free time is by

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<v Speaker 2>cooking meals, and part of that is figuring out what

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<v Speaker 2>the meals would be and procuring supplies. One way to

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<v Speaker 2>approximate that is to have a set meal rotation and

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<v Speaker 2>then automate your groceries as much as possible. So in

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<v Speaker 2>our family, we tend to use meal kits for two

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<v Speaker 2>nights per week. We also always have make your own

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<v Speaker 2>pizza on Fridays and breakfast for dinner on Wednesdays. While

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<v Speaker 2>we tend to go to the grocery store, you could

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<v Speaker 2>envision putting the groceries for the set meals on a

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<v Speaker 2>recurring delivery. It's almost like having a butler do the

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<v Speaker 2>meal planning and shopping. Kingsley's duties would also include managing

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<v Speaker 2>your calendar. A key part of this is making sure

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<v Speaker 2>your time is spent on your highest value activities. By

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<v Speaker 2>taking a few minutes on Friday to think through this

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<v Speaker 2>for the upcoming week and to schedule time each day

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<v Speaker 2>for what's most important, you are recreating a Kingsley in

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<v Speaker 2>your life. You act as Kingsley for twenty minutes or so,

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<v Speaker 2>and then the rest of the time you reap the

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<v Speaker 2>benefits of having someone like him managing your calendar. As

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<v Speaker 2>for chauffeuring us around town, well, you can always summon

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<v Speaker 2>an uber if you don't want to drive, but it

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<v Speaker 2>might be wise to think about how you can spend

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<v Speaker 2>less time in the car in general. One thing I've

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<v Speaker 2>been doing is encouraging my kids to take the activity

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<v Speaker 2>bus home from school some days, it might be wise

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<v Speaker 2>to set up carpooling were at all possible too. Maybe

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<v Speaker 2>you could even carpool on days when you need to

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<v Speaker 2>go into the office. Being able to work or sleep

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<v Speaker 2>or relax half the time you would have been driving

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<v Speaker 2>could buy you back many hours. As Ken working from home.

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<v Speaker 2>Working from home two days a week is even better

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<v Speaker 2>than relying on Kingsley's chauffeuring. It is a massive productivity gain.

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<v Speaker 2>As for cleaning things up, one of the best ways

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<v Speaker 2>to approximate Kingsley's existence is just to have or use

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<v Speaker 2>fewer things and make sure everything has a clear home sheet.

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<v Speaker 2>Pan meals are great because you can eat well, clean

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<v Speaker 2>up one pan, and then pretend you have a Kingsley

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<v Speaker 2>the rest of the time that you would have been cleaning.

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<v Speaker 2>When you always leave your shoes and coat in the mudroom,

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<v Speaker 2>it's as if Kingsley was hunting for them and bringing

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<v Speaker 2>them to you on the way out the door. So

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<v Speaker 2>as you are thinking about how to build more time

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<v Speaker 2>into your life, think about what you can do to

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<v Speaker 2>you approximate the existence of Kingsley the magnificent Butler. If

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<v Speaker 2>you actually have a Kingsley, weel that is amazing. But

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<v Speaker 2>for many of us, asking this question of what would

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<v Speaker 2>free up space to do meaningful work and have meaningful

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<v Speaker 2>leisure leads us to wise choices Kingsley or not. In

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<v Speaker 2>the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's

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<v Speaker 2>to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast Pod. That's b the number four then Breakfast pod.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts.

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<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, should I look forward to

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