WEBVTT - Plan a realistic ideal week

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to gain clarity on your goals by

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<v Speaker 1>picturing a realistic, ideal week. From time to time, I'll

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<v Speaker 1>see an exercise in self help literature that involves picturing

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<v Speaker 1>a perfect day. The idea is to ponder, in the

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<v Speaker 1>absence of all constraints, how you'd like to spend your

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<v Speaker 1>time now. I suppose this can be useful in some ways,

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<v Speaker 1>but there are a few problems with this exercise. One

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<v Speaker 1>is that, if your imagination is good enough, a perfect

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<v Speaker 1>day doesn't offer a whole lot of insight into your

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<v Speaker 1>current life. In my perfect day, I'd have a flying car,

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<v Speaker 1>but no one else would, and thus I could skip traffic,

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe there'd be teleportation. I could eat cinnamon rules

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<v Speaker 1>all day and not feel sick. I'd probably cure cancer

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<v Speaker 1>before breakfast while I was at This is not a

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<v Speaker 1>particularly useful thought experiment. The other problem is that we

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<v Speaker 1>don't live our lives in days. We live our lives

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<v Speaker 1>in weeks. So even if I'm going to ponder a

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<v Speaker 1>more realistic good day, should I think of a Tuesday

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<v Speaker 1>or should I think of a Saturday. They both occur

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<v Speaker 1>just as often, even if I spend my time quite

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<v Speaker 1>differently on each day. So that's why I like the

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<v Speaker 1>idea of creating a realistic, ideal week. This is the

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<v Speaker 1>schedule that you, within the current parameters of your life,

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<v Speaker 1>might reasonably expect to live. You don't get a flying car,

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<v Speaker 1>but you do spend your work hours on your favorite projects.

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<v Speaker 1>You take breaks to get lunch with friends or colleagues,

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<v Speaker 1>or to get some fresh air. You leave on time,

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<v Speaker 1>and you do interesting things with your evenings. You spend

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<v Speaker 1>your weekend hours in rejuvenating ways and minimize time devoted

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<v Speaker 1>to things you don't enjoy doing. The most straightforward way

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<v Speaker 1>to picture this week is on a spreadsheet. You can

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<v Speaker 1>go to Laura Vanderkam dot com that's my website and

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<v Speaker 1>fill out the subscription form to be sent a blank

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<v Speaker 1>time log, or you can just create one yourself and

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<v Speaker 1>Excel numbers or Google sheets. I put the days of

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<v Speaker 1>the week across the top Monday through Sunday, and then

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<v Speaker 1>half hour blocks down the left hand side from five

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<v Speaker 1>am to four thirty am. So that is a three

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<v Speaker 1>thirty six cell spreadsheet representing the hundred sixty eight hour week.

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<v Speaker 1>I feel in what time I'd like to wake up

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<v Speaker 1>and what time I'd like to go to bed. I

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<v Speaker 1>fill in my daily runs, maybe a date night with

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<v Speaker 1>my husband, a family adventure reading time. I fill in

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<v Speaker 1>long stretches of uninterrupted writing time, and maybe a few

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<v Speaker 1>walks with individual kids for conversations too. In my realistic

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<v Speaker 1>ideal week, I'd have a social get together, maybe a

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<v Speaker 1>lunch out somewhere. So that's me. I suppose. It's an

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<v Speaker 1>open question of how optimistic this realistic ideal week should be.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, how realistic are we talking? I guess in

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<v Speaker 1>my realistic ideal week, my four year old would never

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<v Speaker 1>wake up before six thirty am. Alas, judging by the

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<v Speaker 1>past week or so, this is a streak he's unlikely

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<v Speaker 1>to hit. I might aim to go to bed at

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<v Speaker 1>eleven or so and wake up at six thirty. But

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<v Speaker 1>I could leave some flexible time before bed so that

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<v Speaker 1>if he wakes up at five thirty am too many

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<v Speaker 1>mornings in a row, I could start going to bed

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<v Speaker 1>at ten thirty or ten. But the upside of creating

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<v Speaker 1>a realistic ideal week is that it reminds you of

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<v Speaker 1>the good things you'd like to have in your life

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<v Speaker 1>that are relatively accessible. All that stands between me and

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<v Speaker 1>my husband going out to dinner every other Friday night

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<v Speaker 1>or so is looking at our calendars and arranging to

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<v Speaker 1>have it happen. Since I work from home, going out

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<v Speaker 1>to lunch feels like a treat to me, and I

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<v Speaker 1>should take the initiative to invite people I find interesting

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<v Speaker 1>or just go myself. If I know I like evening

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<v Speaker 1>walks with kids one on one, I should do that

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<v Speaker 1>when I find myself in this situation where another adult

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<v Speaker 1>is in the house to watch the other kids, but

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<v Speaker 1>there's some downtime. I think it can also be useful

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<v Speaker 1>to create a template of a realistic ideal week and

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<v Speaker 1>then track an actual week. Time tracking has helped in general,

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<v Speaker 1>but it can be enlightening to compare a week that

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<v Speaker 1>actually happened with this realistic ideal Where do things match?

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<v Speaker 1>Hopefully they do, somewhere where do they diverge? No doubt

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<v Speaker 1>this happens too, but when you see it, you can

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<v Speaker 1>ask why and figure out if there's anything to be

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<v Speaker 1>done about that. Maybe nothing can be done, but maybe

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<v Speaker 1>something can, and that's good to figure out. So take

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<v Speaker 1>some time today to think about what your realistic ideal

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<v Speaker 1>week would look like. How would you spend your hundred

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<v Speaker 1>sixty eight hours? How are you spending them now? I

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<v Speaker 1>hope over time we can bring these two schedules very

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<v Speaker 1>close together. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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