1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: tip is that it is a bad idea to turn 4 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: a thirty minute task into an hour long one. You 5 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: are almost universally better off focusing on one task fully 6 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: rather than trying to fit it into something else. So, 7 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 1: as I am recording this episode, people are marking the 8 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: fourth anniversary of COVID uprooting daily life for so many 9 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: of us. At this point four years ago, my kids 10 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: had been out of school for a few weeks already 11 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: we were starting to realize that they weren't going back 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: for the rest of the school year. I know so 13 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: many parents had to work remotely with their kids around 14 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: them for many months. Wise families soon figured out that 15 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: if it was at all possible to swap coverage for 16 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:17,399 Speaker 1: little kids between parents, or with older kids or other relatives, 17 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: or with neighbors that you decided to form a pod 18 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: with everyone was going to get more done. You can 19 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: get more done in four focused hours, then you can 20 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: get done in eight hours when you are being interrupted 21 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: every few minutes. Plus, there are no good ways to 22 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: meet the needs of a four year old and a 23 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: client simultaneously. You wind up feeling frustrated and cranky. No doubt, 24 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: the four year olds and the clients get frustrated and 25 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: cranky too. Better to switch off and be fully present 26 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: for one at a time. I mention this because I 27 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: spent a lot of time pre COVID trying to convince 28 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: people that while working from home was great, it was 29 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: not a smart way to save money on childcare. I 30 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: would see parents trying to build businesses with toddlers underfoot, 31 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: and in many cases they would wind up feeling like 32 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: they were failing at everything, so they would come to 33 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: me and ask me for help with time management. But 34 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 1: I would note that this wasn't a time management problem, 35 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: it was a focus problem. Even if money was a 36 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: little tight, it was best to figure out this focus 37 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: problem first by paying for a few hours of childcare 38 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: each day. These entrepreneurial parents could focus on building their 39 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: businesses to the point where the revenue could pay for 40 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: the childcare and then some. Thanks to that focus, they 41 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: could also be more relaxed and play with the kids 42 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: when they weren't working, rather than trying to respond to 43 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: client emails at the same time. So it goes for 44 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: much in life. Trying to manage too many things at 45 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: once is a great way to turn a thirty minute 46 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: task into an hour long one. If you are trying 47 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: to answer a few emails while you are on a 48 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: zoom call, it is going to take twice as long 49 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: to get through those emails. If you are trying to 50 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: write a report while answering slack messages as they come in, 51 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: that report is going to take twice as long. I 52 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: know that it often feels efficient to try to cross 53 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: two things off the list at once, particularly if you 54 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: are stuck in a really boring meeting. Sometimes the problem 55 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: is that we don't want to acknowledge what you're doing. 56 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: We need to catch up with work on the weekend, 57 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: but we don't really want to be officially working on 58 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: the weekend, so we try to flit in and out 59 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: of it. Then our families are annoyed and we have 60 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: taken twice as long to get everything done. Better to 61 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 1: go to a coffee shop for two hours and then 62 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: come home and be present verse being on your phone 63 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: for the entire day while you are theoretically with your family. 64 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 1: There is absolutely nothing efficient about having something take longer 65 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: than it should. Just because you can theoretically manage more 66 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: than one thing at once doesn't mean it's a great idea. 67 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: Sometimes we have no choice, as happened for many people 68 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: during COVID, but when we do have a choice, fully 69 00:04:54,680 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 1: focusing is the way to go. In the meantime, this 70 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the 71 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. 72 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach 73 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 74 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, 75 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 76 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.