WEBVTT - Look ahead a week or two

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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 to take a quick glance forward a

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<v Speaker 1>week or two when you are planning your week. This

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<v Speaker 1>can help you feel more prepared for just about anything.

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<v Speaker 1>Long time listeners know that I am a big fan

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<v Speaker 1>of planning on Friday's. Indeed, plan on Friday's is one

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<v Speaker 1>of my nine core time management rules that I write

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<v Speaker 1>about in Tranquility by Tuesday, my book that will be

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<v Speaker 1>out later this year. On Friday's, take a few minutes

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<v Speaker 1>to plan the week ahead. Think about your top priorities

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<v Speaker 1>in the categories of career, relationships, and self plan when

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<v Speaker 1>you will do these things. Look at what is already

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<v Speaker 1>on your calendar, make a plan to meet any obligations,

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<v Speaker 1>and deal with any tricky spots. That's it, You've got this.

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<v Speaker 1>I have been planning this way for years and it

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<v Speaker 1>helps me hit Monday ready to go. I even enjoy

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<v Speaker 1>my weekends more because I'm not worried about what is

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<v Speaker 1>coming up on Monday. I know what is coming up

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<v Speaker 1>and I have a plan to deal with it. It

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<v Speaker 1>is really the best way I know to calm the

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<v Speaker 1>chaos and make time for what matters. But there is

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<v Speaker 1>one small extra step that is helpful to take when

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<v Speaker 1>you plan your upcoming week. Take a quick glance forward

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<v Speaker 1>through the next week or two to see if there's

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<v Speaker 1>anything major sitting on your calendar. Are there any big

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<v Speaker 1>deadlines you should be thinking about, anything that's going to

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<v Speaker 1>require more than a few hours to prepare for. If so,

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<v Speaker 1>you probably want to devote some time to that on

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<v Speaker 1>the upcoming weeks to do list. The reason is that

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<v Speaker 1>if you have something big do on a Monday or Tuesday,

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<v Speaker 1>and you plan your upcoming weeks on Friday's, you might

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<v Speaker 1>realize the existence of this impending deadline for the first

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<v Speaker 1>time on the Friday, that is, right before the Monday

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<v Speaker 1>or Tuesday. Now, you do still have a few days

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<v Speaker 1>to work on it, so it is better than realizing

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<v Speaker 1>this Sunday night or Monday morning. But you probably don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to get this news on Friday when you are

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<v Speaker 1>sliding into weekend mode, So get in the habit of

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<v Speaker 1>taking a quick look forward a week or two. Most

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<v Speaker 1>things can be dealt with in a few hours, and

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<v Speaker 1>so they can be planned on Friday for the upcoming week.

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<v Speaker 1>But when you flag something that might require a little

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<v Speaker 1>more attention, you can be a bit more proactive. In

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<v Speaker 1>my case, I realized the other day that I have

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<v Speaker 1>scheduled a few interviews with people on Mondays in recent weeks,

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<v Speaker 1>and I like to be respectful of their time, which

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<v Speaker 1>means giving myself a few days to think through the

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<v Speaker 1>best questions to ask. I could do it on Friday

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<v Speaker 1>afternoon for Monday morning, but if I flag it a

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<v Speaker 1>week ahead, I can spend some time on Thursday and

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<v Speaker 1>Friday thinking about it. Most likely the interview will be better,

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<v Speaker 1>or sometimes there won't be anything too out of the

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<v Speaker 1>ordinary coming up, but you can see that a future

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<v Speaker 1>week will be so full that you will want to

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<v Speaker 1>pull a few priorities forward. If the immediately upcoming seven

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<v Speaker 1>days is a lighter week, you could do that. Or

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<v Speaker 1>you can make preparations for smarter relationship building. If you

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<v Speaker 1>see that you are going to a conference in two

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<v Speaker 1>to three weeks, you can make time ahead of time

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<v Speaker 1>to reach out to people and plan to get together.

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<v Speaker 1>Or maybe you will note that one of your kids

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<v Speaker 1>has a half day at school. Maybe you could plan

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<v Speaker 1>ahead to take off early that day or take a

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<v Speaker 1>longer lunch so you can spend some time together. It

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<v Speaker 1>is usually best to know these things a little more

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<v Speaker 1>than a week ahead if you want to keep that

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<v Speaker 1>time clear. Now again, I want to stress that most

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<v Speaker 1>stuff doesn't require this. Your future self will not be incompetent.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't need to lay out outfits, or meal plan

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<v Speaker 1>or even figure out run of the mill work stuff

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<v Speaker 1>more than a few days ahead of time. You will

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<v Speaker 1>be able to figure these things out when you need

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<v Speaker 1>to figure them out. But no one likes to be

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<v Speaker 1>blindsided or wind up with a much heavier workloads some

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<v Speaker 1>week than necessary. Taking a quick glance a week or

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<v Speaker 1>two ahead keeps this from happening. Incorporate this practice into

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<v Speaker 1>your Friday plan inning and you will feel on top

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

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four then Breakfast p o D.

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

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<v Speaker 1>Podcast at i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yeah