WEBVTT - Get it out of your head

0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:06.120
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:13.360
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.560
<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to get it out of your head.

0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:19.960
<v Speaker 1>That is, write down anything you're not going to do

0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:24.360
<v Speaker 1>right this minute. In a previous episode, I talked about

0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:28.040
<v Speaker 1>keeping your to do list short. The reason to do

0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:30.400
<v Speaker 1>this is that there's no point putting something on a

0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:33.559
<v Speaker 1>to do list and then not doing it. It's just

0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:35.440
<v Speaker 1>as undone as if you'd never put it on the

0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:39.120
<v Speaker 1>list in the first place, only now you feel bad too.

0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:44.080
<v Speaker 1>Better to have expectations meet reality. The only way to

0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:48.199
<v Speaker 1>guarantee that happens is to keep your list short. I

0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:50.720
<v Speaker 1>mentioned that a lot of people really resist this idea.

0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:53.920
<v Speaker 1>That's because we're responsible for more than three to five

0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:56.160
<v Speaker 1>things in the universe. So what do you do with

0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.440
<v Speaker 1>the rest of this stuff? How do you keep it

0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:01.040
<v Speaker 1>from clogging up your brain? How do you make sure

0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:04.640
<v Speaker 1>you'll remember it in the future. Well, As Before Breakfast

0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.440
<v Speaker 1>listener Holly put it in an email to me, you

0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:11.120
<v Speaker 1>get it out of your head. Holly wrote in her

0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:13.360
<v Speaker 1>note that while she was going through some very stressful

0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.240
<v Speaker 1>times in her personal life, she began writing down various

0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:18.880
<v Speaker 1>images and memories that came to her, so she'd have

0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:22.000
<v Speaker 1>them somewhere but wouldn't have to dwell on them. She

0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.919
<v Speaker 1>later realized that this process was useful for things beyond

0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:27.920
<v Speaker 1>her ruminations. It was a good idea for managing to

0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:31.279
<v Speaker 1>do lists in general. So now I have a small

0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:34.319
<v Speaker 1>notebook and each page has a subject line, she writes,

0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.199
<v Speaker 1>And on that page, I create a list of things

0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.600
<v Speaker 1>I need to remember, things that I need to do,

0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:42.760
<v Speaker 1>and things I want to do. This takes them out

0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:44.920
<v Speaker 1>of my head and into a place I can look

0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.160
<v Speaker 1>over several times a day to see what I can

0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.920
<v Speaker 1>take off. That is, when she finds herself with some

0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:53.400
<v Speaker 1>extra time. She noted that these lists also hold her

0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:57.920
<v Speaker 1>accountable for steps toward bigger projects. It shows progress, it

0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:02.040
<v Speaker 1>shows achievements, and it shows olls. She says, So what

0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.120
<v Speaker 1>kind of pages does Holly have in her notebook? She

0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:07.840
<v Speaker 1>sent me a partial list with all of them. She

0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:11.640
<v Speaker 1>has pages for tracking holidays taken at work, notes for

0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:16.200
<v Speaker 1>her lawyer, notes for her doctor, notes about money, general category. Here,

0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:17.920
<v Speaker 1>she says, I put things I need to do but

0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.560
<v Speaker 1>haven't gotten around to, such as getting the cat micro chipped,

0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:23.120
<v Speaker 1>meeting up with so and so, etcetera. She has a

0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:26.880
<v Speaker 1>page for her podcast, a page devoted to holiday destinations,

0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:30.239
<v Speaker 1>page devoted to therapy that might encompass, things to cover

0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:34.040
<v Speaker 1>in sessions or exercises she needs to do, shopping lists, makeup.

0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:36.080
<v Speaker 1>She says, I keep a list of the shades and

0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.440
<v Speaker 1>brands I love so I don't forget, a destination, bucket list,

0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:42.040
<v Speaker 1>a list for her car which includes general info and

0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.400
<v Speaker 1>renewal dates things like that, a Christmas gift idealist, a

0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:50.960
<v Speaker 1>dream journal, birthday list, social appointments, etcetera. Holly writes that

0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:53.920
<v Speaker 1>this may seem like a lot, but each time I

0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:55.679
<v Speaker 1>need to make room in my head or life, or

0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:58.080
<v Speaker 1>I'm worried I'll forget a date or a piece of information,

0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.040
<v Speaker 1>I just flipped to that page and note down. It

0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:04.360
<v Speaker 1>has given me back control and allowed me to stop procrastinating.

0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:07.480
<v Speaker 1>What Holly discovered is that just because we're not going

0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.400
<v Speaker 1>to do something right now doesn't mean we don't want

0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:12.960
<v Speaker 1>to know about it or think about it in the future. So,

0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.160
<v Speaker 1>for instance, I just made a list in my planner

0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:18.160
<v Speaker 1>that I'm calling this summer fun list. These are things

0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:20.400
<v Speaker 1>I want to do over the summer that makes summer

0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.840
<v Speaker 1>feel like summer to me. I put things like eating

0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:25.840
<v Speaker 1>ice cream at days in Ocean Grove on the New

0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.000
<v Speaker 1>Jersey Shore, going to a Phillies game, going to a

0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:32.760
<v Speaker 1>beer garden, and listening to music outdoors. None of these

0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:34.680
<v Speaker 1>things are on my to do list for tomorrow or

0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.040
<v Speaker 1>even for the next week. But as I'm going into

0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:39.520
<v Speaker 1>summer weekends and thinking about what I might like to do,

0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:42.560
<v Speaker 1>I'll have this list to look back on. I also

0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:44.840
<v Speaker 1>have an ongoing list of home projects that we should

0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.480
<v Speaker 1>probably do at some point. If I put clean out

0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:49.800
<v Speaker 1>the closet on my to do list for this weekend, well,

0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:52.280
<v Speaker 1>it probably wouldn't get done because it's a full weekend,

0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.520
<v Speaker 1>and then I'd feel bad. But at least now it's somewhere,

0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:57.520
<v Speaker 1>and what I do feel like I have some time

0:03:57.520 --> 0:03:59.880
<v Speaker 1>and want to tackle a project, I know which ones

0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:04.440
<v Speaker 1>have identified as being worth doing. I'd also definitely recommend

0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:08.760
<v Speaker 1>keeping a t BR list that stands for to be read.

0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:12.720
<v Speaker 1>Anytime you hear a good book recommendation, don't assume you'll

0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:16.000
<v Speaker 1>remember it. You won't remember it. Put it on the

0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.320
<v Speaker 1>t BR list. Then when you find yourself stuck with

0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.200
<v Speaker 1>a weight, somewhere you can look at the list, order

0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:24.479
<v Speaker 1>the e book on your phone and start reading it

0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.360
<v Speaker 1>in your e reading app. Our brains can do all

0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.440
<v Speaker 1>sorts of amazing things, but remembering stuff we need to

0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.159
<v Speaker 1>do in the future is not really one of those things.

0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:35.840
<v Speaker 1>Or worse, we'll remember the thing at a time when

0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:38.960
<v Speaker 1>we can do nothing about it. I really should call

0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.279
<v Speaker 1>my accountant about that. Tax issue. Is just not a

0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.240
<v Speaker 1>helpful thing to wake up and pull over at three am,

0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:47.280
<v Speaker 1>So get it out of your head. Then your head

0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.080
<v Speaker 1>will have room for all sorts of other amazing ideas.

0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.680
<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear about the lists you make. Do

0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:55.760
<v Speaker 1>you make a lot of them, like Holly, or just

0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:58.600
<v Speaker 1>a few? Do you keep them in a notebook or

0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.240
<v Speaker 1>an app or somewhere online. You can email me with

0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:06.120
<v Speaker 1>your ideas at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeart media dot com.

0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:09.920
<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:18.919
<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.279
<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:24.960
<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:29.360
<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod

0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:34.400
<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four then Breakfast p o D.

0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:38.080
<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at before Breakfast

0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.760
<v Speaker 1>podcast at iHeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is

0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:44.560
<v Speaker 1>spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I

0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:52.640
<v Speaker 1>look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.880
<v Speaker 1>production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my

0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:59.840
<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:11.040
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H