WEBVTT - Do you have enough time to work?

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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 make sure you have enough time to work.

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<v Speaker 1>While there is nothing wrong with working part time, if

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<v Speaker 1>you are aiming to work a full time schedule and

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<v Speaker 1>you have a lot of flexibility, it can be easy

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<v Speaker 1>to get pulled away unintentionally. Protecting a few more hours

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<v Speaker 1>might make you feel a lot more productive. So I

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<v Speaker 1>will start this episode by acknowledging that for some proportion

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<v Speaker 1>of my listeners this topic might sound ridiculous. If you

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<v Speaker 1>work set hours at a workplace, you don't need to

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<v Speaker 1>protect time to work. Your work hours are your work hours.

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<v Speaker 1>But these days an especially post pandemic, a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>people work differently. They can work from home on occasion,

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<v Speaker 1>at least they can often set their own hours. These

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<v Speaker 1>developments are really and truly wonderful, and I am a

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<v Speaker 1>big fan of them. Most people do work very productively

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<v Speaker 1>from home and flexibly for those of us who do

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<v Speaker 1>have complex personal lives, though occasionally the flexibility can result

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<v Speaker 1>in attempting to burn the candle at both ends. If

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<v Speaker 1>I go to my kids school during the day for

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<v Speaker 1>something and start driving kids around to activities around four

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<v Speaker 1>o'clock and try to run during those hours too. That

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<v Speaker 1>starts cutting down on the available work space. So as

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<v Speaker 1>I am creating the family's schedule for the week, I

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<v Speaker 1>start ving el v's work hours. When will I know

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<v Speaker 1>that I will have quiet, uninterrupted work time since I

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<v Speaker 1>often do exercise during the day when my family has childcare.

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<v Speaker 1>If the total tally of l v's available work hours

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<v Speaker 1>is under thirty five, then I know I will probably

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<v Speaker 1>need to add a night or weekend session. If I

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<v Speaker 1>am going to start feeling like I am on top

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<v Speaker 1>of things, I am very efficient, but tasks take time,

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<v Speaker 1>and if there is less time, then fewer tasks are

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<v Speaker 1>going to get done. I will do what I absolutely

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<v Speaker 1>need to do, but the forward looking, speculative stuff might

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<v Speaker 1>not happen. You might find the same thing. It is

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<v Speaker 1>wonderful that you can drop your kids off at school

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<v Speaker 1>and pick them up, but if the pickups in at

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<v Speaker 1>thirty minutes or more between the travel the car line

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<v Speaker 1>and driving home, that is a lot of time for

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<v Speaker 1>only about ten minutes with your kid. Could you carpool

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<v Speaker 1>some days and extend your work hours by at least

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<v Speaker 1>thirty minutes on those days. Could your child take the

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<v Speaker 1>bus some days, or maybe your child could stay for

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<v Speaker 1>an activity at school twice a week and you'd be

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<v Speaker 1>able to add another sixty to ninety minutes of worktime

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<v Speaker 1>on those days. I will also note that times when

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<v Speaker 1>you feel on call can also be hard to use

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<v Speaker 1>for focused work. So if you have a child who

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<v Speaker 1>often calls for a ride home, perhaps you can work

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<v Speaker 1>out ahead of time what times you will be available

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<v Speaker 1>for this, so you know you can work right up

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<v Speaker 1>and till that time. If you do decide to take

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<v Speaker 1>on school pickups or activity driving or things during the day,

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<v Speaker 1>there is nothing wrong with that. It is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the upsides of a flexible schedule. But part of flexibility

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<v Speaker 1>means that if the work moves, but the work still

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<v Speaker 1>has to be done, it has to go somewhere, and

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<v Speaker 1>so there is nothing wrong with protecting work time for

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<v Speaker 1>let's say, three to four hours on a weekend morning

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<v Speaker 1>while your partner covers. If you have covered more during

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<v Speaker 1>the week, there is nothing wrong with deciding to work

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<v Speaker 1>for ninety minutes at night two to three times per

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<v Speaker 1>week after the kids go to bed. If you have

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<v Speaker 1>taken on personal stuff during the day. That is what

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<v Speaker 1>flexibility entails. Indeed, I would say this is a great

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<v Speaker 1>example of work life balance, even though I know a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people do not view working at night or

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<v Speaker 1>on the weekends as balanced, But if you have done

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<v Speaker 1>personal stuff during the traditional work day, then it absolutely is.

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<v Speaker 1>I say this because I know a lot of very

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<v Speaker 1>hard working, productive people wind up feeling distracted and like

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<v Speaker 1>they aren't getting as much as they want done. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not because there's anything wrong with them. It is often

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<v Speaker 1>because they are attempting to do thirty five hours worth

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<v Speaker 1>of tasks and thirty available hours. And even if those

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<v Speaker 1>same tasks would take a less efficient colleague forty five

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<v Speaker 1>hours or more, there is a limit on how efficient

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<v Speaker 1>any of us can be. So if you have been

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<v Speaker 1>feeling a bit behind, take a look at how much

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<v Speaker 1>protected uninterrupted work time you actually have. Make sure you

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<v Speaker 1>have enough time to work. I am not saying that

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<v Speaker 1>you should give up on any activities that are important

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<v Speaker 1>to you, but you should make sure that somewhere on

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<v Speaker 1>your schedule there is enough time blocked to feel like

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<v Speaker 1>you don't have to rush. That can make work in

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<v Speaker 1>general feel better. In the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening 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 pod. You can

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

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<v Speaker 1>iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out with

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<v Speaker 1>all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I look forward

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<v Speaker 1>to staying in touch. Before Breakfast production of iHeartRadio. For

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<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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