Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to use categories to create variety. When
Speaker 1: you introduce smart categories into your planning processes, you make
Speaker 1: it easier to build in lots of different things and
Speaker 1: not just the usual suspects. Long time listeners will have
Speaker 1: heard me advised to plan the upcoming week on Friday afternoons.
Speaker 1: I have been doing this for years and I find
Speaker 1: it incredibly useful. You may have also heard me suggest
Speaker 1: creating a priority list for the upcoming week that features
Speaker 1: three categories. Career, Relationships, self. Career is self explanatory. These
Speaker 1: are your big fesshional goals. Relationships means things you want
Speaker 1: to do with family and friends. Self are those things
Speaker 1: you need or want to do for your own health
Speaker 1: or pleasure. The reason to make a three category list
Speaker 1: in your planning is that it turns out to be
Speaker 1: very difficult to make a three category list and then
Speaker 1: leave one of the categories blank. Our brains just don't
Speaker 1: work that way. We see the category, and once there
Speaker 1: is a category, we assume that something needs to go
Speaker 1: into it. So using the categories of career, relationships, and
Speaker 1: self not just you to plan a more balanced life
Speaker 1: that is straightforward enough. And once you realize this, you
Speaker 1: can use smart categories for all sorts of other planning.
Speaker 1: For instance, if you are building a budget, including categories
Speaker 1: for savings and fun and unexpected expenses means you are
Speaker 1: highly likely to put at least a few dollars into
Speaker 1: each of these buckets. Just like that, you have built
Speaker 1: a wiser and more sustainable financial setup. Or if you're
Speaker 1: planning a big trip, you might sort your activities into
Speaker 1: different categories to nudge variety. Let's say you are planning
Speaker 1: a trip to New York City. The city has great museums,
Speaker 1: but my guess is that you don't want to spend
Speaker 1: every minute in a museum, So maybe you create multiple categories.
Speaker 1: As you are planning art, food, theater experiences, which might
Speaker 1: mean something like taking the Staten Island Ferry, and outdoors,
Speaker 1: which could mean visiting the New York Botanical Gardens or
Speaker 1: Central Park. You and your traveling companions can rainstorm possibilities
Speaker 1: for each category, and then you can refer to the
Speaker 1: categorized list as you plan your days. You will see
Speaker 1: the city in a different way. Some families use categories
Speaker 1: as they navigate that minefield known as kid birthday gifts.
Speaker 1: One popular set of categories is something they want, something
Speaker 1: they need, something to wear, and something to read. The
Speaker 1: kid doesn't get all books or all video games, or
Speaker 1: all socks or all towels. If it's a college student
Speaker 1: setting up a first apartment, variety keeps things interesting or
Speaker 1: nudges you to think differently. That's why colleges sometimes create
Speaker 1: distribution requirements by requiring everyone to take a class in
Speaker 1: the sciences or in literature. You are more likely to
Speaker 1: expand from your usual first choices. So think about various
Speaker 1: things you plan in your life. Think about whether introducing
Speaker 1: a new category or two might encourage you to do
Speaker 1: things a little differently and introduce some variety. You might
Speaker 1: be surprised what you come up with once you give
Speaker 1: yourself a little nudge. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E. The number four then
Speaker 1: Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com
Speaker 1: that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows. Yeah yeah,