Get the confetti out of your schedule

Smart strategies can reduce schedule clutter

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to get the confetti out of your schedule.
By being strategic, you might get longer stretches of time

(00:25):
for things in your schedule, rather than small chunks of
time that are hard to use. Well. Many years ago,
in Bridget Schulty's book Overwhelmed, she coined the term time
confetti to describe the little chunks of time that are
scattered around so many schedules. A few minutes while you
are waiting for a meeting to start, a few minutes

(00:47):
before you need to go pick somebody up from basketball practice. Now,
Shalty was pretty negative about all this, but I do
believe this time confetti can be used. For instance, it
is quite possible to read in ten to fifteen minute chunks.
You can do a quick strength workout in ten to
fifteen minute chunks. You can call a friend in ten

(01:08):
to fifteen minute chunks. I often work on my puzzles
in ten to fifteen minute chunks. I know this requires
some planning ahead, which can be hard. I think it's
worth it, but I do know it is hard. That's said,
with just a little bit more intention, it might be
possible to minimize the existence of time confetti, not get

(01:30):
rid of it, but have less of it and have
longer chunks of time for leisure or deeper work. For instance,
as you are doing your weekly planning and figuring out
your professional and personal priorities for the next week, look
to see what is already on your schedule. Are there
little meetings stuck in the middle of otherwise open chunks

(01:52):
of time? Can these be moved or do they really
have to happen? Reach out and see what the person
wants to meet about. Maybe it's a quick question that
could be answered right then, or maybe you see meetings
with thirty minutes of chunks of time between them. While
too much back to back stuff can be rough, you

(02:15):
might prefer to have two meetings back to back and
then have two hours open for other things. Then a
different schedule configuration. You might also be more strategic in
your personal life. The other night, I decided that, with
a little help from my teenagers, I didn't need to
come home after dropping the eleven year old off at
something at seven ten and before picking him up at

(02:38):
eight twenty five, I would only have gotten about thirty
minutes at home, and I would have had to spend
an extra forty minutes in the car. By sitting in
the lobby of his class, I could work for forty
five minutes and read a magazine for thirty minutes, enjoying
this longer stretch of time. Whether it's a carpool, putting
activities close together, or hiring someone to help, you might

(03:00):
get yourself longer stretches of reasonably available space on weekends.
I also try to be mindful of preserving open blocks
of time. I've generally tried to put my kids' activities
in the morning or in the evening, so the afternoons
can be open for adventures if we want, rather than

(03:20):
driving people places with small chunks of time in between.
This doesn't always work, but if you are quick to
sign up for things when schedules open, you can often
get the times you want. Some time confetti is inevitable,
so it's worth making a list of activities you can
do in small chunks of time that don't feel like

(03:41):
a waste. But you might also be able to compress
things or move things around to minimize the amount of
confetti in your schedule. It is worth giving it a try.
In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

(04:08):
listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

(04:32):
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.