Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,
Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the
Speaker 1: new world of work, where location and hours are more
Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to occasionally
Speaker 1: run an errand during the work day. You don't want
Speaker 1: to make a habit of it, but sometimes getting out
Speaker 1: and about in the middle of the day can make
Speaker 1: a work from home day feel more doable. I know
Speaker 1: that millions of people have started working from home for
Speaker 1: the first time over the past few months, which makes
Speaker 1: all sorts of schedule changes possible. If your normal experience
Speaker 1: of going to grocery stores or places like Target is
Speaker 1: right after work or on weekend afternoons, your first trip
Speaker 1: on Tuesday at ten a m. Is going to blow
Speaker 1: your mind. There are often more employees than customers in
Speaker 1: the aisles, everything is well stocked. No one pushes you
Speaker 1: on the way to the milk case, which actually happened
Speaker 1: to me once when I hit the grocery store at
Speaker 1: four p m. On a Saturday. No one likes being
Speaker 1: shoved at the milk case. So if you start working
Speaker 1: from home more regularly, it can be tempting to do
Speaker 1: all your errands on Tuesday at ten a m. And
Speaker 1: yet most of us who have worked from home for
Speaker 1: a while go through that phase. But the problem is,
Speaker 1: if you're working from home, you are working. Taking hours
Speaker 1: out of the day regularly for errands is not the
Speaker 1: best way to maximize productivity. You're best off getting things
Speaker 1: delivered and maybe splitting errands with other family members so
Speaker 1: no one takes the whole productivity hit. But sometimes when
Speaker 1: you're in a bit of a rut or trying to
Speaker 1: mull over a problem, it can be good to hit
Speaker 1: the grocery store for a midday errand, just because you'll
Speaker 1: get out of the house, you'll get some physical activity,
Speaker 1: you'll get something done that probably does need to happen
Speaker 1: at some point. And there's a funny psychological aspect at
Speaker 1: play too. When we optimize every single minute, it can
Speaker 1: trick our brains into feeling like time is scarce. But
Speaker 1: consciously wasting a little bit of time, taking time to
Speaker 1: go run an errand in the middle of the day
Speaker 1: can make you feel like the kind of person for
Speaker 1: whom time is abundant. And when we feel what time
Speaker 1: is abundant, we tend to feel more relaxed and see
Speaker 1: more possibilities. So this week, if you've got a relatively
Speaker 1: light day, consider skipping out to run an errand you
Speaker 1: need to do again. Don't make a habit of it,
Speaker 1: and don't let other people expect it of you. Oh
Speaker 1: you're working from home, Hey, can you run to the
Speaker 1: dry cleaners for me? Just no, But if you choose it,
Speaker 1: you won't lose too much time and you might start
Speaker 1: to feel you've got a little bit more time to
Speaker 1: play with in the meantime. This is Laura, thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's the succeeding in the New Corner Office. The
Speaker 1: New Corner Office is a production of I Heart Radio.
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