WEBVTT - How to keep treading water

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is about how to keep current on your work

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<v Speaker 1>even if there are long periods of time when things

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<v Speaker 1>can't happen as they normally do. You might not swim ahead,

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<v Speaker 1>but you can keep treading water, and that is better

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<v Speaker 1>than going under. I love what I do for a living,

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<v Speaker 1>and I also love having lots of adventures. Summer is

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<v Speaker 1>a particularly good time for adventures, and so I realized

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<v Speaker 1>recently that I had two stretches of multiple weeks where

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<v Speaker 1>I would only be at my desk for a few days.

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<v Speaker 1>I would likely have the ability to answer a few

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<v Speaker 1>emails and such wealth traveling around, but I wouldn't be

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<v Speaker 1>able to record much, and conditions wouldn't be optimal for

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<v Speaker 1>any intense work or lots of phone calls at set

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<v Speaker 1>times either. Fortunately, in life, I think it's possible to

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<v Speaker 1>avoid dropping too many balls with a little planning. I

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<v Speaker 1>try to keep treading water during busy times by doing

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<v Speaker 1>a few things first. As longtime listeners know, I do

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<v Speaker 1>a weekly planning session. Every Friday. I look at the

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<v Speaker 1>upcoming week and I decide what is most important. I

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<v Speaker 1>look at what I have committed to and make a

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<v Speaker 1>plan for meeting those commitments while making steps toward long

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<v Speaker 1>term goals. If I realize I am going to be

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<v Speaker 1>gone a lot over the next few weeks, I will

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<v Speaker 1>also look forward to the next few weeks and figure

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<v Speaker 1>out if if there is anything big that needs to

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<v Speaker 1>happen right on the other side of travel or other

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<v Speaker 1>periods of unavailability. If so, I'll make sure I'm aware

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<v Speaker 1>of that and that I know just how much time

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<v Speaker 1>I might have available to deal with it then. And

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<v Speaker 1>this is key. I make sure to protect a few

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<v Speaker 1>periods of focused time when I am sitting at my desk,

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<v Speaker 1>and it doesn't have to be all that much. During

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<v Speaker 1>my first two week stretch of being on the road

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<v Speaker 1>a lot, I managed to push all recordings plus pretty

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<v Speaker 1>much all virtual meetings into two days at my desk

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<v Speaker 1>that were very long and very carefully planned. I then

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<v Speaker 1>also managed to write a lot of smaller things and

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<v Speaker 1>bits of time like at night in my hotels. I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't move any big projects forward. We also got done

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<v Speaker 1>what I absolutely had to get done. Your work probably

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<v Speaker 1>looks different from mine. Everybody's work looks different, but in

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<v Speaker 1>many cases you can keep treading water with just a

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<v Speaker 1>few focused days. That's one reason that I suggest people

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<v Speaker 1>who run their own businesses perhaps take vacations that go

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<v Speaker 1>from let's say Wednesday to Wednesday. That way, each business week,

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<v Speaker 1>you have two business days to deal with stuff, and

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<v Speaker 1>so basically everything that has to happen can go in there.

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<v Speaker 1>You can enjoy a week off without some of the

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<v Speaker 1>heavy lifting that an actual Monday to Friday week off

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes entails. You might also try this if you have

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of flexibility or run your own show and

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<v Speaker 1>want to take a longer trip somewhere. I'm going to

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<v Speaker 1>be at the beach for two weeks later this summer,

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<v Speaker 1>followed by a week off the road, but I am

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<v Speaker 1>planning to do two to three focused days in the

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<v Speaker 1>middle of the beach rental where I plow through pretty

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<v Speaker 1>much everything that has to happen for the next week

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<v Speaker 1>or two. That way, I won't miss any deadlines that

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<v Speaker 1>I have previously agreed to. I think you can often

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<v Speaker 1>get through a lot of what absolutely has to happen

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<v Speaker 1>in more flexible jobs in any given week in a

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<v Speaker 1>short amount of time. Really like ten to twenty hours

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<v Speaker 1>of focused work. Now, obviously that is not the case

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<v Speaker 1>in work like dentistry, where you are on or you're off,

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<v Speaker 1>or if you are flying planes or teaching second graders

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<v Speaker 1>and work like that. And even if you do have

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<v Speaker 1>an information focused job, you can't work ten to twenty

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<v Speaker 1>hours a week indefinitely and keep moving forward. But if

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<v Speaker 1>you are careful about what you do and organize your

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<v Speaker 1>work well, you can tread water and then start swimming

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<v Speaker 1>forward when you're back at your desk full time in

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<v Speaker 1>a week or two. That's certainly better than drowning when

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<v Speaker 1>you are just trying to have the sort of adventures

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<v Speaker 1>that summer seems to allow in the meantime. This is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can

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<v Speaker 2>send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just

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<v Speaker 2>connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before

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<v Speaker 2>Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then Breakfast pod.

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<v Speaker 2>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 2>Podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled

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<v Speaker 2>out with all the letters. Thanks so much. I look

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<v Speaker 2>forward to staying in touch Before Breakfast is a production

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<v Speaker 2>of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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<v Speaker 2>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.