WEBVTT - Protect your best hours

0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:09.360
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:16.239
<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:20.639
<v Speaker 1>tip is to protect your best hours. If you have

0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:23.240
<v Speaker 1>a time of day when you are most productive or

0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:26.479
<v Speaker 1>creative or focused, you don't want to give that time

0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:31.800
<v Speaker 1>away If you don't have to structure your schedule mindfully,

0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:36.280
<v Speaker 1>and you may find yourself getting a lot more done.

0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:40.360
<v Speaker 1>So if you have ever monitored your energy during the day,

0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:44.920
<v Speaker 1>you know that not all hours are created equal. Around

0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:48.240
<v Speaker 1>eight am, in that first cup of coffee, people often

0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:52.680
<v Speaker 1>feel like they can conquer the world. Come two pm,

0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:56.520
<v Speaker 1>energy is waning and there is no more conquering the world.

0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.840
<v Speaker 1>Something that felt doable at eight am now feels like

0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:05.559
<v Speaker 1>it is taking forever as you keep getting distracted. Many

0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.040
<v Speaker 1>people then get a burst of energy around quitting time,

0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:10.479
<v Speaker 1>as they need to finish things to get out the door,

0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:13.880
<v Speaker 1>though it is probably not quite as big as that

0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:20.560
<v Speaker 1>initial morning zip. This pattern isn't universal. Some people are

0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:24.080
<v Speaker 1>most productive from say four to seven pm, or from

0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:26.920
<v Speaker 1>midnight to two am, or maybe from four am to

0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:31.720
<v Speaker 1>six am, but most people aren't extreme, and the idea

0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:36.600
<v Speaker 1>of focused mornings more or less during business hours and

0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:41.400
<v Speaker 1>less focused afternoons is pretty much the norm for adults.

0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:45.960
<v Speaker 1>This also means that for most people, the opportunity cost

0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:49.680
<v Speaker 1>of doing something outside your zone of genius is much

0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:54.040
<v Speaker 1>lower in the afternoon than in the morning, and yet

0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:57.520
<v Speaker 1>studying time. I am amazed how many people don't think

0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:01.720
<v Speaker 1>about this when setting up their schedules. Sometimes you don't

0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:04.840
<v Speaker 1>really have a choice. If you're a manager two levels

0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:07.200
<v Speaker 1>up wants to meet you at nine a m. Well,

0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:11.000
<v Speaker 1>you should probably do it. But if you are setting

0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:13.600
<v Speaker 1>a team meeting with a group of people you see

0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:18.040
<v Speaker 1>frequently and who you know are mostly still doing their jobs,

0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:22.280
<v Speaker 1>why would you put this at nine am? This is

0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:26.680
<v Speaker 1>time people could be executing on their tasks. Unless a

0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:31.520
<v Speaker 1>meeting is really requiring everyone's best and most creative selves,

0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:35.079
<v Speaker 1>it is a waste to put it during most people's

0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.480
<v Speaker 1>most productive hours. You can all tell everyone what you

0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.040
<v Speaker 1>are doing and that you are still doing your job

0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.760
<v Speaker 1>at two pm. I mean, unless you work with all

0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:50.800
<v Speaker 1>night owls, but if so, you probably know that. If

0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.000
<v Speaker 1>you want to be more productive at work this year,

0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:56.440
<v Speaker 1>one of the best things you can do is figure

0:02:56.440 --> 0:03:00.160
<v Speaker 1>out when you are at your best, and then as

0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.680
<v Speaker 1>much as possible devote these hours to the work that

0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:08.200
<v Speaker 1>truly moves things forward. And I know this is easier

0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.920
<v Speaker 1>said than done, but here's the thing. It doesn't have

0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.320
<v Speaker 1>to be all or nothing. You might start by seeing

0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:18.919
<v Speaker 1>if you can protect some focused hours when people are

0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:23.040
<v Speaker 1>less likely to request meetings if you do happen to

0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:24.960
<v Speaker 1>get more done in the mornings like many of us,

0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.080
<v Speaker 1>maybe you can try to put your first meetings at

0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:32.120
<v Speaker 1>nine thirty AM or later and work from eight to

0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.800
<v Speaker 1>nine thirty or so on your chosen projects, and then

0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.000
<v Speaker 1>decide you'll make up the time by taking a real

0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.920
<v Speaker 1>lunch or leaving a little earlier in the afternoon if

0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:45.080
<v Speaker 1>you might otherwise have been starting work at nine or else.

0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:49.440
<v Speaker 1>You might try to protect late morning time. Sometimes people

0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:53.080
<v Speaker 1>start thinking of lunch around eleven or eleven thirty and

0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.480
<v Speaker 1>won't schedule meetings over whatever they consider that lunchtime window.

0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:01.400
<v Speaker 1>If you know that you are usually on fire between

0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:05.560
<v Speaker 1>eleven am and noon, try acting like that is lunch

0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:09.520
<v Speaker 1>and protect it, and then actually take a lunch at

0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:12.400
<v Speaker 1>twelve thirty or one. You might be able to do

0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:15.840
<v Speaker 1>this more days than you think. Of course, if you

0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:17.839
<v Speaker 1>are going to protect this time, it is good to

0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:20.760
<v Speaker 1>know what you intend to do with it. One reason

0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.960
<v Speaker 1>to do a regular weekly planning session is that you

0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:27.320
<v Speaker 1>can then identify what tasks might move you forward towards

0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:31.160
<v Speaker 1>your professional goals in any given week. Then you can

0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:36.159
<v Speaker 1>look at your schedule and identify some open, high productivity times,

0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:39.839
<v Speaker 1>or you might block these things. Maybe you won't get

0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.960
<v Speaker 1>every day, but if you need two good sessions and

0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.440
<v Speaker 1>you block three, most likely you will get two. One

0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:51.360
<v Speaker 1>might get taken away from you, but hey, you've still

0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:57.480
<v Speaker 1>got too and you can start feeling some forward momentum. Personally,

0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.000
<v Speaker 1>I try to do this by limiting meetings or interviews

0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:03.159
<v Speaker 1>or anything like that in the mornings. If there's no

0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.920
<v Speaker 1>other good time, or it's a truly awesome opportunity, I

0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:09.839
<v Speaker 1>will do it. I don't want to be what slows

0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:14.200
<v Speaker 1>everything else down. But I have noticed that many times

0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.120
<v Speaker 1>people ask what time is good for you? If so,

0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:19.800
<v Speaker 1>you could offer three times at work for you and

0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:25.560
<v Speaker 1>protect your best most productive hours for focus things. If

0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:27.600
<v Speaker 1>you work in one of those offices where people can

0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.880
<v Speaker 1>see your calendar and just grab whatever they want off

0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:32.720
<v Speaker 1>of it, well you still might be able to play

0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.719
<v Speaker 1>within these rules. You can block some of your most

0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:39.360
<v Speaker 1>productive hours for meetings with a particular colleague who will

0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:46.160
<v Speaker 1>then become your accountability partner. These aren't actually meetings. They

0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:47.960
<v Speaker 1>are the two of you checking in to say what

0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.920
<v Speaker 1>you're going to get done during these peak productivity times,

0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:55.520
<v Speaker 1>and then afterwards saying that you've done it. If the

0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.040
<v Speaker 1>time on your calendar is taken up by a meeting,

0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.360
<v Speaker 1>then it generally won't be available for other things unless

0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.839
<v Speaker 1>people make a plausible claim that it is an emergency,

0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:10.040
<v Speaker 1>and then that is fine. You are just making it

0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.800
<v Speaker 1>marginally more likely that you use your best hours for

0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:19.560
<v Speaker 1>what your best hours are best suited for. In the meantime,

0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:25.600
<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:36.359
<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:40.640
<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:50.400
<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:54.720
<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:58.800
<v Speaker 1>please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:00.280
<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows. St