1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,319 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,240 Speaker 1: tip is to figure out how much time you actually 4 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: have available for work beyond your routine tasks. This will 5 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: help you get a more realistic sense of what can 6 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: fit into your days and weeks. Today's tip, like another 7 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: this week, comes from my interview with productivity expert Charlie Gilkey. 8 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: When I interviewed Charlie for this podcast a few months ago, 9 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: he recommended that people put just a few items on 10 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: their to do lists each day. Now you have heard 11 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: me say that too, but I liked his explanation, which 12 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: I think will be helpful for people trying to figure 13 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: out why this is whyse Gilkey noted that many people 14 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: spend around sixty five percent of their work days on 15 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: routine tasks. That means only thirty five percent of the 16 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 1: day is available for the sorts of tasks that aren't routine, 17 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,759 Speaker 1: which are the kinds of tasks that tend to make 18 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: it onto to do lists. This math is pretty straightforward. 19 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: If you work an eight hour day with a thirty 20 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: minute lunch, then theoretically you have seven and a half 21 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: hours to allocate to things. But if about five hours 22 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: of your seven and a half hours will be spent 23 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: on routine matters, this means that on any given day 24 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: you have only two and a half hours for extra tasks. 25 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: So if you create a to do list that assumes 26 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: seven and a half hours of availability, well it will 27 00:01:55,360 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: take you three days to get through one day's list. 28 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: No wonder people feel behind. Not only do people tend 29 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,519 Speaker 1: to discount the amount of time they spend on routine tasks, 30 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: I would add that people tend to overestimate the total 31 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: number of hours they spend at work. You may think 32 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: you have a fifty hour work week to play around with, 33 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: but if you are in fact working more like thirty 34 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: eight hours routinely, and that is a pretty accurate haircut 35 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: for my research into people's schedules, then there is another 36 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: reason that there is just less space available for extra 37 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:38,799 Speaker 1: stuff than you think. So with this in mind, I 38 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: think it's important to do a few things first. Figure 39 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: out how much time it takes you to accomplish the 40 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: routine tasks of your workday. These could be things like email, 41 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: interacting with colleagues, responding to standard customer requests, planning, your 42 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: next day keeping records are doing billing updating people at 43 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: standard frequencies. You could put repeating meetings in here too. 44 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: If you have five to six hours of these tasks 45 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: each day, then you really do not have a lot 46 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: of time for anything new you might put on your list. 47 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: When you know this, you can then choose to be strategic. 48 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: Agreeing to take on a new project that will take 49 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: six hours is fine if you think you can do 50 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: it in a day. When you understand that this is 51 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: probably going to consume all your discretionary time for at 52 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: least three days and maybe more, well, you probably want 53 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: to think about how worthwhile it is, or you need 54 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: to rework the timelines of other projects to account for it. 55 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: When you know how much time is required for routine 56 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: tasks and how much time is available for other things, 57 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: you will be better able to plan your days and weeks. 58 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: You will make more reasonable to do lists, and you 59 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,559 Speaker 1: will be more likely to actually make it through them. 60 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: That can be a source of incredible satisfaction in the meantime. 61 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 62 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to before breakfast. 63 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback. You can reach 64 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 65 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, 66 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 67 00:04:53,120 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.