Know what can go

Decide in advance what can be skipped

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to figure out each day what you
might be able to compress or skip if necessary. That way,

(00:26):
you can get mindfully back on schedule when your day
isn't going according to plan. I maintain that a great
many of the things that come up and that people
use as excuses are entirely foreseeable. Traffic during rush hour,
a snow day, a client asking for revisions. Who would

(00:51):
have thought? This is why true time management masters build
in buffers and make backup plans. They think about what
might come up, and they think about how they'll cope. However,
even if we are very careful, things can still disrupt
the schedule. Sometimes these are good things. If a new

(01:16):
client wants to spend the morning discussing potential projects, well
you probably do want to do that. If your back
up slot is later in the week, you might spend
a lot of time figuring out how to rework the schedule.
But there's another option you can try as well. Every day,
identify one or two things that you do plan to do,

(01:40):
but that you could eliminate or simplify if the need arose.
That way, you have an immediate plan of action that
you don't have to think too much about and can
possibly still be on track for the day, including for
things in our personal lives when work runs long. So,

(02:00):
for instance, when you plan your day, you look at
your afternoon meeting schedule and identify the one meeting that
is the least important. When something goes wrong or goes
fabulously right in the morning, you know exactly which one
you're skipping, and you already have a plan for how

(02:22):
you will deal with that. Or you know that in
the afternoon you plan to give that report another read over,
but you can also send it over to a direct
report who can give it one last set of eyes
instead of yours. The day stays on track and what
needs to get done gets done. Or maybe you planned

(02:45):
to cook a new to you dinner for your family
before going to your yoga class at night. When you
get caught in far worse than usual traffic coming home
from work, you know what you'll do. You switch the
planned menu to grilled cheese sandwiches and an emergency bagged
salad that you always keep in the fridge. Voila this

(03:08):
is a less than ten minute production. You can still
get to your class. When you think ahead of time
about what you can skip or minimize, then you don't
have to choose the most obvious thing to skip. The
default during a busy day would be to go to
whatever meetings are on the calendar and then stay late

(03:29):
at work to finish what didn't get done. Or you
might choose to chuck any personal evening priorities. But that
isn't the only option. When you think about what can
go ahead of time, you can think about the choices
more holistically. Of course, when you think ahead of time

(03:50):
about what could go in a pinch, you might decide
to eliminate those things even if the pinch doesn't happen.
I am fully supportive of that option. Don't accept meeting requests.
Automatically triage your schedule when you plan your week to

(04:11):
make sure that you're not just rescheduling things four times
in a row. If something keeps getting bumped, it's because
no one truly considers it a priority, so why not
just get rid of it for good. I'm also a
fan of being realistic in our personal lives. If you

(04:32):
frequently choose the same sphere for employing a shortcut like, Hey,
when things get crazy, I get my groceries delivered. Well,
why not just keep getting your groceries delivered? Maybe life
will stop being crazy, but I'm not so sure. In
any case, it is wise to be proactive and strategic

(04:53):
about our schedules. When we choose ahead of time what
can go, then we don't need to dither in the moment.
We also don't need to make choices under pressure that
seem obvious but aren't the only option. We can live
well even when time doesn't go as planned. That is

(05:16):
exactly what time management masters do in the meantime. This
is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear

(05:37):
from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's B the number four,
then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot

(05:57):
com that Before Breakfast is spelled out of all the letters.
Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio for
more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart
Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

(06:19):
favorite shows.