Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that you won't come back to it. Your
Speaker 1: future self is not going to magically have more time
Speaker 1: and energy, So aim not to leave things undone with
Speaker 1: the idea that you will revisit the project soon. You
Speaker 1: probably won't do what you can do when you think
Speaker 1: of it and realize that is probably what it's going
Speaker 1: to be. So one of the things I have discovered
Speaker 1: about time over the years is that people are wildly
Speaker 1: optimistic about what their future selves will be capable of.
Speaker 1: We actually put items like clean out attic on a
Speaker 1: weekend to do list, as if a decade's worth of
Speaker 1: accumulated stuff will be easily dispatched in our thirty six
Speaker 1: waking weekend hours, and as if we'll want to devote
Speaker 1: all thirty six of those waking weekend hours to this project.
Speaker 1: We'll also do half a project, like start a photo book,
Speaker 1: and then leave it thinking that even though it was
Speaker 1: hard to find time for the first half of this project,
Speaker 1: the second half will magically appear. Or we put an
Speaker 1: item on the stairs rather than walk it all the
Speaker 1: way to where it is going, as if our future
Speaker 1: selves will be more capable of moving the item into place.
Speaker 1: But the truth is that our future selves are going
Speaker 1: to be very very similar to our current selves. Our
Speaker 1: future selves will have the exact same amount of time
Speaker 1: and energy. If it is limited now, it will be limited. Then.
Speaker 1: Better to remind yourself that unless something becomes really urgent
Speaker 1: or is incredibly important, you are not going to come
Speaker 1: back to it, certainly not immediately and probably not for
Speaker 1: a while unless you go on a finishing blitz or something.
Speaker 1: But most people don't do that, So better to do
Speaker 1: what you can do today, create projects for yourself based
Speaker 1: on what you can do now and without creating future
Speaker 1: to dos for yourself. If you can get to finishing quickly,
Speaker 1: that is probably a good thing. So if you had
Speaker 1: a nice weekend at a friend's lake house, don't intend
Speaker 1: to spend time next weekend finding the perfect thank you
Speaker 1: card and handwriting her a thank you note with printed
Speaker 1: photos included. Most likely next weekend we'll have its own crises. Instead,
Speaker 1: write a quick note as you're thinking about it, and
Speaker 1: get it in the mail immediately. If you aren't anywhere
Speaker 1: near paper and stamps, send a text with some photos
Speaker 1: thanking her. You won't come back to it, so better
Speaker 1: to do what you can do now after a meeting.
Speaker 1: Don't assume you'll have some magical time in the future
Speaker 1: to write up complete notes with a full analysis of
Speaker 1: next steps. Just send your imperfect notes right after the
Speaker 1: meeting when they are relevant. You won't come back to it,
Speaker 1: and it's better to send the notes than not send
Speaker 1: them or worry about this undone task for three weeks
Speaker 1: until you realize it is pointless to send the notes
Speaker 1: because they are so late. To be sure, sometimes it
Speaker 1: might be worthwhile to wait to do something thoroughly, but
Speaker 1: unless you are entirely confident that you will complete the
Speaker 1: thorough job later, like there is a big block of
Speaker 1: time carved out on your calendar and lots of accountability
Speaker 1: for the task, the odds are it isn't going to happen.
Speaker 1: You aren't going to come back to it. Your future
Speaker 1: self probably won't have the time or inclination to do
Speaker 1: what you're present self can't do now, so you're likely
Speaker 1: better off doing a good enough job now instead of
Speaker 1: imagining what you'd like to do in the future. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura, thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.