WEBVTT - Manage time like Teddy Roosevelt

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about borrowing a time management strategy from

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<v Speaker 1>President Theodore Roosevelt. Block out your schedule for the day

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<v Speaker 1>and alternate periods of focused work with completely different sorts

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<v Speaker 1>of activities that advance you towards your personal goals. If

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<v Speaker 1>you do this, you might wind up as the kind

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<v Speaker 1>of person who can run a country while writing a

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<v Speaker 1>book on naval warfare in your spare time, which yes,

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<v Speaker 1>Roosevelt did. I'm grateful to host Aaron McCarthy of the

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<v Speaker 1>History Versus podcast for sending an examples of Roosevelt's schedule.

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<v Speaker 1>Rather than work from a to do list, Roosevelt would

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<v Speaker 1>map out his days. This was a habit he developed young.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, as a student at Harvard, he would have

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<v Speaker 1>breakfast at eight, study till ten, eleven to twelve, do

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<v Speaker 1>Latin recitation, then boxing at the gym, lunch, studying and

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<v Speaker 1>recitation until four, watching a ballgame, dinner, studying for an hour,

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<v Speaker 1>and then at half past ten reading by the fire.

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<v Speaker 1>One day on the campaign trail, he followed the following schedule.

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<v Speaker 1>Seven am breakfast, seven thirty am a speech, eight am

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<v Speaker 1>reading a historical work, nine am a speech, ten am

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<v Speaker 1>dictating letters, eleven am discussing Montana minds, am a speech,

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<v Speaker 1>twelve pm reading an ornithological work, PM a speech, one PM, lunch,

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<v Speaker 1>PM another speech, to thirty pm reading Scottish novelist Sir

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<v Speaker 1>Walter Scott, and so on. Now, with so much to do,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, he gave eight speeches that day, it might

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<v Speaker 1>feel strange to stop in the middle to read a

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<v Speaker 1>Walter Scott novel. But by focusing intently on whatever he

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<v Speaker 1>was doing in the moment, and consciously building and breaks

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<v Speaker 1>focused on his passions, Roosevelt was able to read, take courses,

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<v Speaker 1>and exercise something less busy people often claimed to have

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<v Speaker 1>no time to do. Now, to be sure, a rigid

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<v Speaker 1>schedule can be tough when stuff goes wrong. If Roosevelt

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<v Speaker 1>was zooming from place to place but his train got delayed,

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<v Speaker 1>this could throw off the whole day. This is something

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<v Speaker 1>that another great figure in American history, Benjamin Franklin, discovered.

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<v Speaker 1>Anyone who's read his autobiography will recall the disciplined schedule

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<v Speaker 1>Franklin developed to help him as he ran his business.

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<v Speaker 1>And embarked on his ambitious project of achieving moral perfection

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<v Speaker 1>alas he soon realized that the schedule didn't always work.

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<v Speaker 1>People would come see him about doing business together, and

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<v Speaker 1>as a businessman, he wanted to have those meetings. But

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<v Speaker 1>oddly enough, these people did not always show up at

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<v Speaker 1>the exact moment when this was most convenient. So it

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<v Speaker 1>goes I'd probably leave more space than Roosevelt did to

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<v Speaker 1>deal with the unexpected, but it's hard to argue with success.

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<v Speaker 1>For those of us with more normal lives, we might

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<v Speaker 1>intentionally schedule in reading breaks during work, making it through

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<v Speaker 1>ten pages and fifteen minutes or so, rather than losing

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<v Speaker 1>this time to unfocused email checks. We might build in

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<v Speaker 1>space to go for a walk with a colleague, and

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<v Speaker 1>then maybe twenty minutes later in the day to practice

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<v Speaker 1>a foreign language. It's not that twenty minutes is so much,

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<v Speaker 1>but by consistently building in these bits of time for

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<v Speaker 1>other passions, we make them part of our lives, even

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<v Speaker 1>as we get a lot done in our main jobs too.

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<v Speaker 1>So how will you block out your daily schedule and

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<v Speaker 1>be sure to check out the History Versus podcast in

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<v Speaker 1>the meantime? This is Laura. Thanks for listening and here

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<v Speaker 1>to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd

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<v Speaker 1>love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

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<v Speaker 1>your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

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<v Speaker 1>the number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can

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<v Speaker 1>i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled

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<v Speaker 1>out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look

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<v Speaker 1>forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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