1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to set upper and lower bounds. When 4 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: you set guidelines on what makes for a good amount 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: of progress, you will keep yourself from burning out or 6 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: failing to get things done. Today's tip, like another one 7 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: this week, comes from Greg McEwen's new book, Effortless. The 8 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: book is about how to make actions that matter easier. 9 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: He notes that when we embark on big projects, we 10 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: often fail to pace ourselves. We can be very excited 11 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: at the beginning and bite off more than we can chew, 12 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: which then leaves us unmotivated to tackle the task at all. 13 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: After a bit, a few days of nothing start to 14 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,559 Speaker 1: add up, and then it is hard to get restarted. Fortunately, 15 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: there's an alternative, As Greg writes, we can establish upper 16 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: and lower bounds simply use the following rule. Never less 17 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 1: than x, never more than Y. So, for instance, if 18 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,040 Speaker 1: you are aiming to hit certain sales numbers for the month, 19 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: you might decide that you will never make fewer than 20 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,320 Speaker 1: five sales calls a day, and you will never make 21 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,559 Speaker 1: more than ten sales calls a day. Now, sure in theory, 22 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: you might feel like you could make fifteen on some 23 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: good day, maybe twenty, But by leaving a little bit 24 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: on the table on the good days, you can feel 25 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 1: motivated to hit the lower bound. On the bad days, 26 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: you are never completely tapped out, so you can muster 27 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: the effort to get over the bar. Same with writing 28 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: a book. You might decide that you will never write 29 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: fewer than five words on a work day, and you 30 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: will never write more than a thousand. When you keep 31 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: this promise to yourself, you will be able to map 32 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,519 Speaker 1: out exactly when you will hit your word targets within 33 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 1: a range, because you know there won't be long days 34 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 1: of nothing that you will have to work unsustainably hard 35 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,639 Speaker 1: to recover from. Setting an upper bound can also keep 36 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: things from being draining. If you aim to call a 37 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: certain extended family member every week, and some of those 38 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: conversations can be a bit too you know, intense. You 39 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: might decide that a call is never less than five minutes, 40 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: but it is never more than sixty minutes. That rule 41 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:46,959 Speaker 1: gives you permission to sign off when the time is 42 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:51,519 Speaker 1: done and limit the total time while still keeping your commitment. 43 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: Finding the right range keeps us moving at a steady 44 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:00,519 Speaker 1: pace so we make consistent progress. Greg writes, the lower 45 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: bound should be high enough to keep us feeling motivated 46 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: and low enough that we can still achieve it even 47 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: on days when we're dealing with unexpected chaos. The upper 48 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: bound should be high enough to constitute good progress, but 49 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: not so high as to leave us feeling exhausted. So 50 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: think about a big goal that you'd like to make 51 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: regular progress toward. Figure out what would be a good pace, 52 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: what can you commit to hitting even on the worst days, 53 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: and what feels like maximum sustainable progress for the upper bound. 54 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: Figure this out and you will stop making excuses and 55 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: just get stuff done in the meantime. This is Laura. 56 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of 57 00:03:51,840 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. 58 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. 59 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at 60 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then 61 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: breakfast p O D. You can also shoot me an 62 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeart media dot com 63 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. 64 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: Thanks so much. I look forward to staying in Touch 65 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. 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