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March 22, 2019 5 mins

This simple planning habit changed Laura’s life, and it can change yours too.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good morning. This is Laura. Today's tip is to plan
your weeks on Fridays. So this will probably not surprise you,
But I like to plan. Okay, fine, I love to plan.
There is nothing I like more than sitting down to
plan what I'm going to do with myself, what my
family members are going to do with themselves. Shockingly, my

(00:23):
family members don't always go along with these plans. Imagine
that must be fun to be married to or parented
by me. Anyway, just because you're planning doesn't mean you're
doing it in the most effective way. A few years ago,
I made a change in how I plan that has
really made a difference in my life and might be
helpful for you as well. So to start my story,

(00:47):
A long, long time ago, I read the late Stephen
Covey's book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It's
really a great book if you haven't read it. He
talks about planning your life in weeks, and I think
this is really smart. Weeks are the cycle of life
as we actually live it, not days. I mean, what's

(01:07):
a typical day for you? Is it Tuesday or is
it Saturday? They both occurred just as often, and they
both have the same number of hours, but I'm guessing
they look pretty different for you. Weeks give you an
accurate picture. So after reading Seven Habits, I started sitting
down on Sunday evenings and planning the upcoming week. Then

(01:29):
a few years after that, I got the chance to
interview David Allen. A lot of listeners of this podcast
probably know him as the author of Getting Things Done.
That's also a great book. I mentioned my Sunday planning
to him, and he told me that a lot of
his clients reviewed and planned their weeks on Fridays. So
I decided to try Fridays, and specifically Friday afternoons. I'm

(01:53):
a big fan of the switch. Sunday planning is great,
but Friday afternoon is even better. Here's why. First, I
don't know about you, but Friday afternoon is not exactly
my peak productivity time. I am usually doing nothing of
consequence by Friday afternoon. I am sliding into the weekend.
I'm not answering my phone, I am hiding out so

(02:15):
no one can find me. It is really hard to
start anything new on Friday afternoon, but I can usually
summon the energy to think about what future me should
be doing. And by taking a few minutes on Friday
afternoon to plan the week ahead, I turn what would
have been wasted time into some of my most productive
minutes of the week. Friday planning also gives me better

(02:36):
weekends in two ways. First, even if you love your job,
you can always feel a little bit of Sunday trepidation.
You know what this is. There's like an avalanche of
work waiting for you on Monday, but you don't know
exactly what or know how you're going to deal with it.
If you make a plan on Sunday night, well, you've
spent much of the weekend cohabitating with that sense of unease.

(03:00):
If you plan Monday morning on Friday, though, well you've
got a plan so you don't have to spend your
weekend worrying about it. And just as a side note,
if this plan involves meeting with people. Making your plan
on Friday means that you can call or email them.
They're probably still at their desks so they'll respond, which
might not be the case if you try and get
in touch with them on Sunday night. Second, if you

(03:23):
haven't thought about your weekend, Friday planning gives you a
chance to call friends, make reservations, buy tickets, whatever you
need to do. This vastly increases the chances that your
weekends are awesome rather than forgettable. So if you plan
on Fridays, then I hope you will just take a
few minutes to think about the week ahead. Make yourself

(03:44):
a short three category priority list career, relationships, self. Making
a three category list reminds us that you should put
something in all three categories. It is pretty hard to
make a three category list and then leave one of
the categories blank, So that right there is going to

(04:07):
nudge you to have a more balanced life. But anyway,
just a short list two to three items in each,
look at the next week, see where they can go,
plan them in. Just like that, you're putting first things
first in your life. I think Stephen Covey would approve
of that. This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's

(04:28):
to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
love to hear 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

(04:49):
four then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot
me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media
dot Com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
in touch. H

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Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam

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