Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to have a weekly calendar meeting. If
Speaker 1: you have a complicated life with logistics that involve another person,
Speaker 1: chatting every week about who does what can go a
Speaker 1: long way toward making life run smoothly. My husband and
Speaker 1: I have had on and off calendar meetings over the years,
Speaker 1: especially if we're both traveling a lot. It is critical
Speaker 1: that we both know who is going where and when.
Speaker 1: But we are far from the only people who do this.
Speaker 1: Writer and speaker Amy Julia Becker recently wrote a blog
Speaker 1: post where she identified a weekly calendar meeting with her
Speaker 1: husband as one of the most important factors contributing to
Speaker 1: their marital happiness. Every week, Amy Julia and her husband
Speaker 1: talk through what they need to do to make their
Speaker 1: family life function. Who needs to be driven where and
Speaker 1: when evening weekend or travel commitments that she and her
Speaker 1: partner have, appointments for the kids that need to be scheduled.
Speaker 1: You get the idea. As Amy Julia puts it, there's
Speaker 1: nothing romantic about it, but it keeps us from chasing
Speaker 1: after each other. With texts and emails and irritation when
Speaker 1: we just need to know who is picking merrily up
Speaker 1: from soccer on Wednesday, and who is going to call
Speaker 1: about the leaking sink, and whether a vacation next spring
Speaker 1: is in the budget. Calendar meetings can be especially beneficial
Speaker 1: when there is one partner who loves scheduling and managing
Speaker 1: logistics and another who doesn't, or, perhaps the more likely scenario,
Speaker 1: one partner who winds up doing it all and resents
Speaker 1: that the other partner does not. The partner who doesn't
Speaker 1: like dealing with schedules and logistics might not naturally want
Speaker 1: to schedule a calendar meeting, but he or she will
Speaker 1: probably appreciate this. If there is a calendar meeting, that
Speaker 1: is the time when logistics get discussed and they won't
Speaker 1: have to deal with these matters all week long. The
Speaker 1: partner who does like schedules in logistics, or who winds
Speaker 1: up dealing with the bulk of these things, benefits from
Speaker 1: knowing that there is a designated time when their partner
Speaker 1: will be ready to engage on these topics and won't
Speaker 1: find conversation about them annoying. Of course, romantic partners aren't
Speaker 1: the only ones for who whom a weekly calendar meeting
Speaker 1: can be helpful. You may find that a calendar meeting
Speaker 1: with older kids or your child care provider keeps your
Speaker 1: life at home running smoothly, or that check ins with
Speaker 1: your assistant at work keep your professional life in order.
Speaker 1: But whoever you need to meet with, the basic topics
Speaker 1: can be the same. What's happening that one or both
Speaker 1: of us needs to know about, what needs to get
Speaker 1: done or decided, and how will we make it happen.
Speaker 1: What's on our minds that we need to share. When
Speaker 1: you walk through these things, your home life will feel
Speaker 1: less like a catastrophe and more like a well oiled machine.
Speaker 1: Well some of the time, but even if it isn't
Speaker 1: a well oiled machine, it will probably be better then
Speaker 1: if you are both just winging it. If you try
Speaker 1: having a weekly calendar meeting with your partner or another
Speaker 1: person whose life is closely linked with yours, you can
Speaker 1: let me know how it goes at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: Vanderkam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the moose of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I
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