WEBVTT - Figure out how much time is actually available

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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 figure out how much time you actually

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<v Speaker 1>have available for work beyond your routine tasks. This will

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<v Speaker 1>help you get a more realistic sense of what can

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<v Speaker 1>fit into your days and weeks. Today's tip, like another

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<v Speaker 1>this week, comes from my interview with productivity expert Charlie Gilkey.

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<v Speaker 1>When I interviewed Charlie for this podcast a few months ago,

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<v Speaker 1>he recommended that people put just a few items on

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<v Speaker 1>their to do lists each day. Now you have heard

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<v Speaker 1>me say that too, but I liked his explanation, which

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<v Speaker 1>I think will be helpful for people trying to figure

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<v Speaker 1>out why this is whyse Gilkey noted that many people

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<v Speaker 1>spend around sixty five percent of their work days on

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<v Speaker 1>routine tasks. That means only thirty five percent of the

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<v Speaker 1>day is available for the sorts of tasks that aren't routine,

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<v Speaker 1>which are the kinds of tasks that tend to make

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<v Speaker 1>it onto to do lists. This math is pretty straightforward.

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<v Speaker 1>If you work an eight hour day with a thirty

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<v Speaker 1>minute lunch, then theoretically you have seven and a half

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<v Speaker 1>hours to allocate to things. But if about five hours

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<v Speaker 1>of your seven and a half hours will be spent

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<v Speaker 1>on routine matters, this means that on any given day

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<v Speaker 1>you have only two and a half hours for extra tasks.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you create a to do list that assumes

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<v Speaker 1>seven and a half hours of availability, well it will

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<v Speaker 1>take you three days to get through one day's list.

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<v Speaker 1>No wonder people feel behind. Not only do people tend

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<v Speaker 1>to discount the amount of time they spend on routine tasks,

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<v Speaker 1>I would add that people tend to overestimate the total

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<v Speaker 1>number of hours they spend at work. You may think

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<v Speaker 1>you have a fifty hour work week to play around with,

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<v Speaker 1>but if you are in fact working more like thirty

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<v Speaker 1>eight hours routinely, and that is a pretty accurate haircut

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<v Speaker 1>for my research into people's schedules, then there is another

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<v Speaker 1>reason that there is just less space available for extra

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<v Speaker 1>stuff than you think. So with this in mind, I

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<v Speaker 1>think it's important to do a few things first. Figure

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<v Speaker 1>out how much time it takes you to accomplish the

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<v Speaker 1>routine tasks of your workday. These could be things like email,

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<v Speaker 1>interacting with colleagues, responding to standard customer requests, planning, your

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<v Speaker 1>next day keeping records are doing billing updating people at

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<v Speaker 1>standard frequencies. You could put repeating meetings in here too.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have five to six hours of these tasks

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<v Speaker 1>each day, then you really do not have a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of time for anything new you might put on your list.

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<v Speaker 1>When you know this, you can then choose to be strategic.

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<v Speaker 1>Agreeing to take on a new project that will take

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<v Speaker 1>six hours is fine if you think you can do

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<v Speaker 1>it in a day. When you understand that this is

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<v Speaker 1>probably going to consume all your discretionary time for at

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<v Speaker 1>least three days and maybe more, well, you probably want

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<v Speaker 1>to think about how worthwhile it is, or you need

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<v Speaker 1>to rework the timelines of other projects to account for it.

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<v Speaker 1>When you know how much time is required for routine

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<v Speaker 1>tasks and how much time is available for other things,

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<v Speaker 1>you will be better able to plan your days and weeks.

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<v Speaker 1>You will make more reasonable to do lists, and you

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<v Speaker 1>will be more likely to actually make it through them.

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<v Speaker 1>That can be a source of incredible satisfaction in the meantime.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to before breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback. You can reach

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

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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