1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:20,920 Speaker 1: tip is to choose a spot for spillover work. Many 4 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: people will have weeks that either feature extra work that 5 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: doesn't fit into their normal work hours, or else we 6 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: might lose some chunk of our usual work hours to 7 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: personal obligations. When that is the case, choosing ahead of 8 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: time which extra slots would work best can make these 9 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: weeks feel more calm. You can also make sure that 10 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: the extra work doesn't displace important personal priorities. So during 11 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: a recent week, I wound up doing a multi hour 12 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: work session on a Thursday night. I tend not to 13 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: do much work in the evenings, but I was in 14 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: a hotel room and I had planned to work during 15 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: the day, but I had the opportunity to spend time 16 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,279 Speaker 1: with people who were in town. In general, I believe 17 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: that people are a good use of time. So I 18 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: saw those folks in the afternoon, knowing that I had 19 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: eight to ten thirty pm open that night for work. 20 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: I knew it was better to work then then to 21 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,959 Speaker 1: try to fit those tasks into the weekend, which was 22 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: going to be full of kids stuff. The time in 23 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: my hotel room would just be spent scrolling or maybe 24 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: watching TV. Better to use that time. It was the 25 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: least disruptive spillover spot. Few people enjoy working at night 26 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: on weekends, But if work sometimes doesn't fit during regular 27 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: hours and it needs to get done and you have 28 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: some say over your working time, then you have a choice. 29 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: You can identify a time in advance that won't be 30 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: disruptive to the rest of your life and use that, 31 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: or you can wait until things become more dire and 32 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: use whatever time is right there, which might require canceling 33 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: plans or losing out on sleep. I think the former 34 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 1: is the better option. So even if work isn't particularly 35 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: busy right now, look at your weekly schedule and identify 36 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: a slot or two that might be available for spillover work. 37 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: For people with young kids, the time after the kids 38 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: go to bed at night would be an obvious one. 39 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: If they are down at eight and you go to 40 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: bed at ten thirty, you could make up two hours 41 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,919 Speaker 1: on any given night during a rough week. Choosing two 42 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: to three nights for the second shift would buy you 43 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: an extra four to six hours without giving up time 44 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: with your kids. If you don't think you'll have the energy, 45 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: try going to bed earlier and waking up early and 46 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 1: using these quiet morning hours a few days a week 47 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: to get the extra work done. For some people, the 48 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: weekend might be better. If you have a co parent, 49 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: you might work out a trade where each of you 50 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: takes the kids one morning or one afternoon. You use 51 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: the time to work and the other person can use 52 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: their time to do whatever. Or perhaps there is another 53 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: weekend slot that would work without causing much disruption. For instance, 54 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: maybe someone needs to take a kid to swim practice 55 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: and generally hangs out there during the practice. You could 56 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,839 Speaker 1: bring your laptop and use that time while still doing 57 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: the driving. Or in my family, on Sundays, the usual 58 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: activity schedule means I'm home and done driving about an 59 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: hour before my husband gets back with our youngest. It 60 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: is pretty easy to use that hour on a usual 61 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: weekend to work if I happen to have some spillover. 62 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: Even if you don't have kids, maybe you and a 63 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: significant other normally hang out on the weekends. If that 64 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: person has some time that they normally do something else, 65 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: like going for long bike rides on Saturday mornings, that 66 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: is a very easy spillover time. Knowing that ahead of 67 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: time means you don't have to change your weekend plans together. 68 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: If you've got extra work that has to get done, 69 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: you know you will be able to use that time. 70 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: Many of us have some spillover spot we could use. 71 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: If you know when this is, then you can plan 72 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: to use it when you need to. But if you 73 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: haven't thought about it, you'll get to the weekend and 74 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: be facing down a huge Monday deadline and you will 75 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: have to start canceling things. This will make your family 76 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:51,159 Speaker 1: or friends far more annoyed with you. This is the 77 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: sort of thing that leads to resentment and then to 78 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: people feeling like work and family or work in relationships 79 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: are inevitably at odds. But plan ahead to identify a 80 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:07,279 Speaker 1: non disruptive spillover spot, and maybe they don't have to be. 81 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: It is not necessarily fun to work at night or 82 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: on the weekend, but when you choose which night or 83 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: which weekend spot you use, it can be far more tolerable. 84 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 85 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for 86 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback. 87 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. 88 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts 89 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:00,840 Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 90 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.