WEBVTT - Track time, make time

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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 that by tracking time, you can make time.

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<v Speaker 1>Mindlessness is the biggest time waster of all, and when

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<v Speaker 1>you know where the time goes, you can make wise

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<v Speaker 1>choices that help you feel like time is far more expansive.

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<v Speaker 1>Long time Before Breakfast listeners know that I have been

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<v Speaker 1>tracking my time in half hour increments since now. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't look at my time log every half hour to

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<v Speaker 1>write things down, but I do check in on my

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<v Speaker 1>time sheets three times a day or so and write

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<v Speaker 1>down what I've done since the last check in, so

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<v Speaker 1>I have a pretty comprehensive record of the last six years.

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<v Speaker 1>For the first year or two, I made detailed studies

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<v Speaker 1>of my tallies. How many hours did I work, how

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<v Speaker 1>many hours did I sleep. I do less of that

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<v Speaker 1>now because the biggest long term gain from time tracking

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<v Speaker 1>is not knowing that I sleep seven point four hours

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<v Speaker 1>per day on average, though I do. It's in changing

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<v Speaker 1>how I spend time. When I know I will be

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<v Speaker 1>accountable for my time. That accountability forces me to think

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<v Speaker 1>about the landscape of my time. I know from years

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<v Speaker 1>of recording all one sixty eight hours of a week

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<v Speaker 1>that a weekend is a huge chunk of time. I

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<v Speaker 1>know that there is time every evening after my youngest

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<v Speaker 1>kids go to bed. I know that work days can

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<v Speaker 1>fit a lot if I try. Knowing what the time

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<v Speaker 1>landscape looks like keeps me from spending time mindlessly. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't begin to weekend or evening with no idea of

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<v Speaker 1>what I want to do at that time, well, at

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<v Speaker 1>least not usually. I will freely admit that I waste time.

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<v Speaker 1>But when I waste time, as I do, since pretty

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<v Speaker 1>much everybody wastes time, I can acknowledge that and not

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<v Speaker 1>try to tell myself a story that I am just

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<v Speaker 1>doing so much for everyone that I don't have a

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<v Speaker 1>minute to spare. I do have time, and sometimes I

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<v Speaker 1>choose to spend it in unproductive ways. I can also

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<v Speaker 1>choose to spend time differently if I want. I know

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<v Speaker 1>that few people are going to track their time for

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<v Speaker 1>six years or seven years or more, but it is

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<v Speaker 1>definitely worth trying for a week seven days. Here's a

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<v Speaker 1>way to get started. Think back over the previous twenty

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<v Speaker 1>four hours. Most people are able to reconstruct the previous

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<v Speaker 1>twenty four hours in pretty good detail. Start at five

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<v Speaker 1>am yesterday morning? What did you do first? What did

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<v Speaker 1>you do next? Keep going to the present, Then check

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<v Speaker 1>back in five to six hours from now and write

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<v Speaker 1>down what you've done since the last check in. Pretty

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<v Speaker 1>soon you've got two to three days recorded, and from

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<v Speaker 1>there it's not so hard to get all the way

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<v Speaker 1>to a week. We all experience time, and yet it's

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<v Speaker 1>amazing to me how few people have looked at where

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<v Speaker 1>their time really goes. This is all the more amazing

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<v Speaker 1>because people think they know where their time goes. You'll

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<v Speaker 1>hear all sorts of stories I work around the clock.

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<v Speaker 1>Is it true? Well, let's track time and find out

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<v Speaker 1>maybe it is. And then when you track time, you

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<v Speaker 1>will have solid evidence to show to the people in

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<v Speaker 1>your life to get them to help you out. Or

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<v Speaker 1>maybe you'll do to cover something different, and then you

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<v Speaker 1>can work with that in mind. I know from tracking

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<v Speaker 1>my time that I can fit a lot in if

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<v Speaker 1>I try. However, there is still space. I can look

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<v Speaker 1>at my weeks and see that if I wish to

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<v Speaker 1>add something, something that takes a few hours or so,

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<v Speaker 1>I almost always can. Tracking time helps make time. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>you will find the same thing. So if you haven't

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<v Speaker 1>tried tracking your time before, why not try it now?

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<v Speaker 1>Starting today this week, you can get a time tracking

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<v Speaker 1>spreadsheet from my website It's just my name, Laura Vanderkam

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. But you can also make your own spreadsheet

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<v Speaker 1>if you'd like, or use an app like toggle, or

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<v Speaker 1>just write it down in a notebook. The tool itself

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't matter. What matters is that you do it and

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<v Speaker 1>stick with it for at least a few days. Make

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<v Speaker 1>sure you include some weekend days on your time log too,

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<v Speaker 1>because weekends are real time and they really count when

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<v Speaker 1>you track time. You make time because you see where

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<v Speaker 1>the time is and that can nudge you to make

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<v Speaker 1>better use of it. All time passes, but when we

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<v Speaker 1>are aware of it, we can make better choices, and

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<v Speaker 1>that leads to feeling like we have all the time

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<v Speaker 1>in the world. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, 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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