WEBVTT - Second Cup: What's the tax on your time?

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

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to remember that almost every activity or project

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<v Speaker 1>involves a little bit of planning or administrative time. There's

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<v Speaker 1>really nothing wrong with that, but it is important to

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<v Speaker 1>recognize this tax on your time so you can organize

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<v Speaker 1>your life efficiently. This episode is first airing on April fifteenth,

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<v Speaker 1>which has historically been Tax Day in the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>the day when people's tax returns from the previous year

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<v Speaker 1>are due. I know a great many people file earlier

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<v Speaker 1>if they are expecting a refund, A great many other

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<v Speaker 1>folks file a six month extension. But April fifteenth is

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<v Speaker 1>at least least the day people are most likely to

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<v Speaker 1>think about paying taxes. I think a lot of us

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<v Speaker 1>can hold two thoughts in mind simultaneously. First, that taxes

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<v Speaker 1>are necessary to pay for an orderly society with schools

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<v Speaker 1>and roads and emergency responders. That's all good. Second, we

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to pay more than we need to, so

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<v Speaker 1>we take advantage of things like tax advantage retirement accounts,

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<v Speaker 1>and it turns out that we pay a tax of

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<v Speaker 1>sorts with our time too. Any project you undertake is

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<v Speaker 1>going to have some planning or administrative component. If you

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<v Speaker 1>take a vacation, someone needs to plan it and purchase

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<v Speaker 1>tickets and find a dog sitter and things like that.

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<v Speaker 1>Even if you outsource a lot of the logistics by

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<v Speaker 1>hiring a travel agent, you'll want to talk to that

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<v Speaker 1>person about what you like and your budget and things

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<v Speaker 1>like that. Plus you have to find that person. Every

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<v Speaker 1>work project involves at least a few meetings or filing

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<v Speaker 1>reports or making presentations. Again, there's nothing wrong with this.

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<v Speaker 1>Tax taxes are necessary, But once you acknowledge that every

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<v Speaker 1>project has a tax of sorts and that your time

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<v Speaker 1>is absolutely limited, then you start to see that there

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<v Speaker 1>are more or less efficient ways to organize life. If

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<v Speaker 1>you have a great many projects going at once, you

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<v Speaker 1>will be paying that administrative tax on all of them,

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<v Speaker 1>and it can start to feel like paying taxes is

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<v Speaker 1>all you are doing. Limit the number of projects you

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<v Speaker 1>have going on and any given time, on the other hand,

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<v Speaker 1>and you can limit the administrative time as an overall

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<v Speaker 1>proportion of your hours. So, for instance, let's just say

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<v Speaker 1>you've got five projects going at work that you are

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<v Speaker 1>flitting back and forth between every one of those projects

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<v Speaker 1>requires two hours of administrative time per week, so that

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<v Speaker 1>is ten hours per week of this time tax. If

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<v Speaker 1>you've got three projects going, on the other hand, then

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<v Speaker 1>that is only six hours of tax, which freeze up

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<v Speaker 1>half a day for making progress on the projects themselves. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe it is not possible to limit the overall number

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<v Speaker 1>of projects. But what I often see happen is that

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<v Speaker 1>people are working on five things that are due over

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<v Speaker 1>the next two months. Maybe it might be possible to

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<v Speaker 1>work on three things, finish them in one month, and

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<v Speaker 1>then take on three projects the next month too. Then

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<v Speaker 1>you have cut the overall administrative tax and you have

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<v Speaker 1>gotten more done. This is one reason I like to

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<v Speaker 1>set quarterly goals for the year. I might know that

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<v Speaker 1>I want to work on a particular project, but I

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<v Speaker 1>also know that I won't be starting it until Q three.

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<v Speaker 1>That's fine. I can know what will happen and know

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<v Speaker 1>I will concentrate on it then, but not incur the

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<v Speaker 1>administrative tax on my time any earlier. Now, obviously, we

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<v Speaker 1>can't always control the total number of moving parts in life,

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<v Speaker 1>nor do we choose to. I have five children, and

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<v Speaker 1>they all require their own tax on my time, so

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<v Speaker 1>to speak one I pay willingly. I simply have to

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<v Speaker 1>acknowledge that, no matter how efficient I am, arranging activities

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<v Speaker 1>and dealing with medical needs and such for five kids

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<v Speaker 1>will take more time than if I had one or two.

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<v Speaker 1>So it goes. I also like to do varied things

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<v Speaker 1>in my working life. That means my administrative tax is

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<v Speaker 1>going to be a little higher than it could be.

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<v Speaker 1>But in general, rather than spend a little less time

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<v Speaker 1>on more things, it might be better to spend more

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<v Speaker 1>time on fewer things and then start the next project

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<v Speaker 1>when one of the current ones is done. The projects

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<v Speaker 1>may take as long as they take, so you probably

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<v Speaker 1>won't change how many you are getting done overall, but

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<v Speaker 1>doing fewer at once limits the administrative tax on your time,

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<v Speaker 1>and that can make life feel a little less crutched

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<v Speaker 1>in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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