WEBVTT - Choose a spot for spillover 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 choose a spot for spillover work. Many

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<v Speaker 1>people will have weeks that either feature extra work that

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't fit into their normal work hours, or else we

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<v Speaker 1>might lose some chunk of our usual work hours to

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<v Speaker 1>personal obligations. When that is the case, choosing ahead of

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<v Speaker 1>time which extra slots would work best can make these

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<v Speaker 1>weeks feel more calm. You can also make sure that

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<v Speaker 1>the extra work doesn't displace important personal priorities. So during

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<v Speaker 1>a recent week, I wound up doing a multi hour

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<v Speaker 1>work session on a Thursday night. I tend not to

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<v Speaker 1>do much work in the evenings, but I was in

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<v Speaker 1>a hotel room and I had planned to work during

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<v Speaker 1>the day, but I had the opportunity to spend time

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<v Speaker 1>with people who were in town. In general, I believe

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<v Speaker 1>that people are a good use of time. So I

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<v Speaker 1>saw those folks in the afternoon, knowing that I had

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<v Speaker 1>eight to ten thirty pm open that night for work.

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<v Speaker 1>I knew it was better to work then then to

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<v Speaker 1>try to fit those tasks into the weekend, which was

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<v Speaker 1>going to be full of kids stuff. The time in

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<v Speaker 1>my hotel room would just be spent scrolling or maybe

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<v Speaker 1>watching TV. Better to use that time. It was the

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<v Speaker 1>least disruptive spillover spot. Few people enjoy working at night

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<v Speaker 1>on weekends, But if work sometimes doesn't fit during regular

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<v Speaker 1>hours and it needs to get done and you have

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<v Speaker 1>some say over your working time, then you have a choice.

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<v Speaker 1>You can identify a time in advance that won't be

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<v Speaker 1>disruptive to the rest of your life and use that,

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<v Speaker 1>or you can wait until things become more dire and

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<v Speaker 1>use whatever time is right there, which might require canceling

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<v Speaker 1>plans or losing out on sleep. I think the former

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<v Speaker 1>is the better option. So even if work isn't particularly

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<v Speaker 1>busy right now, look at your weekly schedule and identify

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<v Speaker 1>a slot or two that might be available for spillover work.

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<v Speaker 1>For people with young kids, the time after the kids

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<v Speaker 1>go to bed at night would be an obvious one.

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<v Speaker 1>If they are down at eight and you go to

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<v Speaker 1>bed at ten thirty, you could make up two hours

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<v Speaker 1>on any given night during a rough week. Choosing two

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<v Speaker 1>to three nights for the second shift would buy you

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<v Speaker 1>an extra four to six hours without giving up time

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<v Speaker 1>with your kids. If you don't think you'll have the energy,

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<v Speaker 1>try going to bed earlier and waking up early and

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<v Speaker 1>using these quiet morning hours a few days a week

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<v Speaker 1>to get the extra work done. For some people, the

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<v Speaker 1>weekend might be better. If you have a co parent,

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<v Speaker 1>you might work out a trade where each of you

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<v Speaker 1>takes the kids one morning or one afternoon. You use

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<v Speaker 1>the time to work and the other person can use

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<v Speaker 1>their time to do whatever. Or perhaps there is another

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<v Speaker 1>weekend slot that would work without causing much disruption. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe someone needs to take a kid to swim practice

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<v Speaker 1>and generally hangs out there during the practice. You could

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<v Speaker 1>bring your laptop and use that time while still doing

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<v Speaker 1>the driving. Or in my family, on Sundays, the usual

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<v Speaker 1>activity schedule means I'm home and done driving about an

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<v Speaker 1>hour before my husband gets back with our youngest. It

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<v Speaker 1>is pretty easy to use that hour on a usual

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<v Speaker 1>weekend to work if I happen to have some spillover.

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<v Speaker 1>Even if you don't have kids, maybe you and a

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<v Speaker 1>significant other normally hang out on the weekends. If that

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<v Speaker 1>person has some time that they normally do something else,

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<v Speaker 1>like going for long bike rides on Saturday mornings, that

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<v Speaker 1>is a very easy spillover time. Knowing that ahead of

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<v Speaker 1>time means you don't have to change your weekend plans together.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got extra work that has to get done,

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<v Speaker 1>you know you will be able to use that time.

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<v Speaker 1>Many of us have some spillover spot we could use.

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<v Speaker 1>If you know when this is, then you can plan

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<v Speaker 1>to use it when you need to. But if you

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<v Speaker 1>haven't thought about it, you'll get to the weekend and

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<v Speaker 1>be facing down a huge Monday deadline and you will

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<v Speaker 1>have to start canceling things. This will make your family

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<v Speaker 1>or friends far more annoyed with you. This is the

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<v Speaker 1>sort of thing that leads to resentment and then to

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<v Speaker 1>people feeling like work and family or work in relationships

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<v Speaker 1>are inevitably at odds. But plan ahead to identify a

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<v Speaker 1>non disruptive spillover spot, and maybe they don't have to be.

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<v Speaker 1>It is not necessarily fun to work at night or

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<v Speaker 1>on the weekend, but when you choose which night or

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<v Speaker 1>which weekend spot you use, it can be far more tolerable.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback.

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<v Speaker 1>You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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