WEBVTT - Second Cup: A good week starts on Friday

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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 that a good week starts on Friday. By

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<v Speaker 1>taking a little time on Friday to think through the

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<v Speaker 1>upcoming week, you can feel more tranquil and get a

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<v Speaker 1>lot more done. About a year ago, I published a

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<v Speaker 1>book called Tranquility by Tuesday, which was about nine time

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<v Speaker 1>management rules that can help anyone calm the chaos and

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<v Speaker 1>make time for what matters. Rule number two has long

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<v Speaker 1>been one of my favorites. Plan on Fridays. Indeed, if

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<v Speaker 1>anyone ever asks me, how do you do it? Quite

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<v Speaker 1>the question, I tell them about my Friday planning sessions.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's how that works. At some point on Friday, I

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<v Speaker 1>pull out my calendar as a reference tool, and I

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<v Speaker 1>create a page in my planner for the upcoming week.

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<v Speaker 1>I list my professional priorities for the week on the

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<v Speaker 1>left hand side of the page, and my personal priorities

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<v Speaker 1>for the week on the right side. Those are things

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<v Speaker 1>that I'd like to see happen with my family, friends,

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<v Speaker 1>or for myself. Sometimes these priorities are already on the calendar.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, the week I recorded this one personal priority

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<v Speaker 1>was my dentist appointment. Not exciting, to be sure, but

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<v Speaker 1>I had finally made myself make the appointment, so I

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to notice it and celebrate that it was making

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<v Speaker 1>this healthy choice. I would also be running with a friend,

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<v Speaker 1>and so I thought about how long we should go

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<v Speaker 1>and what our goals might be for that run. I

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<v Speaker 1>would be going to a back to school night for

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<v Speaker 1>one of my kids. I wanted to be sure to

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<v Speaker 1>ask that particular child what I should pay attention to

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<v Speaker 1>at her school. This was all pretty straightforward. I'd see

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<v Speaker 1>the calendar entry and note the priority. But sometimes these

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<v Speaker 1>priorities are not on the calendar. For instance, on the

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<v Speaker 1>work front, i am working on the proposal for another book.

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<v Speaker 1>There's no particular deadline for this, so I'm simply noting

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<v Speaker 1>that I want to devote time to it. By listing

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<v Speaker 1>it as a priority, I know that I will make

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<v Speaker 1>time for it. I also figure out what I need

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<v Speaker 1>to do and any logistical challenges that need to be solved.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, it became clear that between having the kids

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<v Speaker 1>out of school for a day and a babysit are

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<v Speaker 1>on vacation for a few days, and then my husband

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<v Speaker 1>being gone for a while too, my work hours were

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<v Speaker 1>going to be compressed, so I knew I needed to

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<v Speaker 1>carve out some time on Sunday when my youngest was

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<v Speaker 1>watching a movie to get started on things that would

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<v Speaker 1>not fit in the rest of the week. This helped

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<v Speaker 1>me feel a little less frantic and guaranteed that if

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<v Speaker 1>I was going to work on Sunday that work had

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<v Speaker 1>a p I wouldn't just be randomly checking email and

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<v Speaker 1>doing anything that seemed to be flashing brightest. That unhappy

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<v Speaker 1>state of affairs leads to not relaxing, but not getting

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<v Speaker 1>anything important done either. I teach these tranquility by Tuesday

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<v Speaker 1>rules and particularly this one to plan on Fridays, to

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<v Speaker 1>others as well, because it truly does make life feel

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<v Speaker 1>more in control. With planning, the image I like to

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<v Speaker 1>use is that of a three ring circus. Yes, we

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<v Speaker 1>all have a lot going on in our lives, but

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<v Speaker 1>the ring master knows where everyone is supposed to be.

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<v Speaker 1>And when the ring master knows how to deal with

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<v Speaker 1>things going slightly wrong, like the tigers taking longer to

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<v Speaker 1>get into place than anticipated, no problem. Send out the

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<v Speaker 1>clown to do his second funny act that you don't

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<v Speaker 1>do if you don't need it, but you do if

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<v Speaker 1>you do. To have this sense of control, you need

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<v Speaker 1>to step outside your life for just a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>to look at what is import important and then what

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<v Speaker 1>is happening. The more you do this, the more likely

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<v Speaker 1>that things that are important are already starting to appear

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<v Speaker 1>on your calendar as priorities. During your past week's Friday planning,

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<v Speaker 1>you've thought about what you'd like to do in the future.

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<v Speaker 1>You've planned it in That makes the weekly planning even easier.

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<v Speaker 1>These days, this planning doesn't take me much time. My

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<v Speaker 1>personal planning takes twenty minutes or so. Planning out the

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<v Speaker 1>family schedule takes another twenty minutes. That's not nothing, but

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<v Speaker 1>in less than forty five minutes, I know I will

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<v Speaker 1>not be living in chaos. Even with five active kids

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<v Speaker 1>in four different schools, to working parents and a host

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<v Speaker 1>of things I enjoyed doing in my personal life, it

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<v Speaker 1>all fits. And that is because a good week starts

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<v Speaker 1>on Friday. So today, see if you might take some

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<v Speaker 1>time to try this tranquility by Tuesday rule. Carve out

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<v Speaker 1>twenty to thirty minutes, ask what is most important for

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<v Speaker 1>you to accomplish this week professionally and personally. Ask what

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<v Speaker 1>you need to do, do you know, and everything will happen.

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<v Speaker 1>Have you solved any logistical challenges? Make sure you have

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<v Speaker 1>something to look forward to the first week or two.

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<v Speaker 1>It might be challenging to look at the whole week

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<v Speaker 1>at a time, but doing so allows you to plan

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<v Speaker 1>life more holistically and not get caught up in daily crises.

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<v Speaker 1>And it will get easier over the next few weeks

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<v Speaker 1>as life becomes more like a well run three ring circus.

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<v Speaker 1>A good week starts on Friday, so why not give

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<v Speaker 1>this Friday planning a shot In the meantime, This is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

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