How to spring clean your calendar

Smart questions can help you figure out what can go

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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 about how to spring clean your calendar. In
an earlier episode, this week, we talked about why life

(00:24):
isn't a set it and forget it phenomenon. Today's episode
is about how to scrub things clean. Schedules, just like homes,
tend to accumulate clutter over time. Stuff comes in and
unless you are diligent about taking it out, new items

(00:45):
will start to stack up. Even if you are diligent
about taking things out, there might be one off projects
to tackle, like putting away seasonal items or dusting spots
that aren't in your regular rotation. Goes with time, It
is easier to start things than end them. To avoid

(01:06):
just getting busier and busier, we need to actively manage
what is on the calendar. So this week is the
weather in at least my part of the world starts
to turn towards spring. Take a good look at your schedule.
It is always a good idea to track your time
for a week. If you have done that recently, take

(01:27):
a few minutes to look back at how you spent
your time But if you haven't done a full time audit,
just look back at your calendar for the last few weeks. Also,
think back to your past few weekends and what the
weeknights have looked like too. What did you enjoy, what
was okay? What felt like a drain, what felt like

(01:48):
a waste of time? Well, we can't usually just zero
out our calendars. It might help to look at each
thing through this lens. If someone proposed this right now,
would you say yes? Or if given the opportunity to
extricate yourself, would you move on? People's lives look different.

(02:10):
So it is hard to say for sure what is clutter,
but here are a few guidelines. First, look at all
recurring commitments carefully. When things don't need to earn their
place on your calendar each week, then sometimes they don't
deserve a place on your calendar. Not everything, of course,

(02:31):
I love my choir rehearsals, my scheduled session with my trainer,
But that Monday afternoon meeting with a team that is
managing itself quite well may no longer be necessary. If
you and a colleague keep canceling a meeting because there
is nothing new to discuss, maybe you just get rid
of the meeting and evaluate in a few weeks if

(02:51):
anything has gone wrong. And sometimes we do wind up
with recurring personal commitments that just aren't right for us anymore.
Maybe it's a volunteer commitment that you find yourself feeling
kind of happy whenever it is canceled for weather or
something like that. If that is the case, it might
be time to move on. That doesn't mean the activity

(03:13):
isn't important, Honestly, it means it might be so important
that if you can't be enthusiastically involved, it's better that
your spot go to someone who can't be. I'd also
question things that you think you need to do, but
maybe you don't. I've had a few parents recently tell
me that they aim to go to every practice in
every game for their kids' sports. Well, this is an

(03:36):
interesting idea. It's often not true in reality. If you
have more than one kid, for instance, then you're going
to miss something because inevitably their schedules will overlap. You
can be there for a lot while not being there
for everything. One wise idea might be to create a
carpool with other parents. You drive to the twice a

(03:59):
week practice for one week and two other families take
two other weeks. Now two out of every three weeks,
you've opened up space in your evenings to relax and
be more present with your family at other times. And
given that a lot of sideline time is just spent
scrolling around on phones, this might be a massive life boost.

(04:20):
You can minimize lots of other things too. Maybe a
meeting that is sixty minutes can take thirty. Maybe it
can be a five minute zoom check in, or even
tacked on to the end of another meeting that everyone
will be attending. Maybe your kids are doing an activity
that they are not excited about. Maybe that can go.
Maybe someone else can take over a project. Maybe time

(04:44):
can be redeployed. You decide that you'll make double of
Monday night's meal, put it in the fridge, and eat
it Wednesday because you'll go to the gym after work
on Wednesday. Maybe you hire a weekly cleaning service and
stop spending your weekends cleaning. Maybe you decide to start
going to a gym that's closer or shopping at a
grocery store that's closer, because it takes less time to

(05:05):
get there, even if the prices are a tad higher.
Maybe you make a shopping list and go once a
week rather than twice. In any case, look at your
schedule for anything that doesn't feel particularly meaningful or enjoyable.
Does it have to get done? Maybe it does, but

(05:26):
maybe it doesn't. If you can ignore, minimize, or outsource it,
you'll have more space and probably feel better about life
as well. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks

(05:53):
for 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,

(06:15):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.