Second Cup: A good week starts on Friday

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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 that a good week starts on Friday. By
taking a little time on Friday to think through the

(00:23):
upcoming week, you can feel more tranquil and get a
lot more done. About a year ago, I published a
book called Tranquility by Tuesday, which was about nine time
management rules that can help anyone calm the chaos and
make time for what matters. Rule number two has long

(00:44):
been one of my favorites. Plan on Fridays. Indeed, if
anyone ever asks me, how do you do it? Quite
the question, I tell them about my Friday planning sessions.
Here's how that works. At some point on Friday, I
pull out my calendar as a reference tool, and I

(01:05):
create a page in my planner for the upcoming week.
I list my professional priorities for the week on the
left hand side of the page, and my personal priorities
for the week on the right side. Those are things
that I'd like to see happen with my family, friends,
or for myself. Sometimes these priorities are already on the calendar.

(01:26):
For instance, the week I recorded this one personal priority
was my dentist appointment. Not exciting, to be sure, but
I had finally made myself make the appointment, so I
wanted to notice it and celebrate that it was making
this healthy choice. I would also be running with a friend,
and so I thought about how long we should go

(01:47):
and what our goals might be for that run. I
would be going to a back to school night for
one of my kids. I wanted to be sure to
ask that particular child what I should pay attention to
at her school. This was all pretty straightforward. I'd see
the calendar entry and note the priority. But sometimes these
priorities are not on the calendar. For instance, on the

(02:11):
work front, i am working on the proposal for another book.
There's no particular deadline for this, so I'm simply noting
that I want to devote time to it. By listing
it as a priority, I know that I will make
time for it. I also figure out what I need
to do and any logistical challenges that need to be solved.

(02:31):
For instance, it became clear that between having the kids
out of school for a day and a babysit are
on vacation for a few days, and then my husband
being gone for a while too, my work hours were
going to be compressed, so I knew I needed to
carve out some time on Sunday when my youngest was
watching a movie to get started on things that would
not fit in the rest of the week. This helped

(02:53):
me feel a little less frantic and guaranteed that if
I was going to work on Sunday that work had
a p I wouldn't just be randomly checking email and
doing anything that seemed to be flashing brightest. That unhappy
state of affairs leads to not relaxing, but not getting
anything important done either. I teach these tranquility by Tuesday

(03:16):
rules and particularly this one to plan on Fridays, to
others as well, because it truly does make life feel
more in control. With planning, the image I like to
use is that of a three ring circus. Yes, we
all have a lot going on in our lives, but
the ring master knows where everyone is supposed to be.

(03:37):
And when the ring master knows how to deal with
things going slightly wrong, like the tigers taking longer to
get into place than anticipated, no problem. Send out the
clown to do his second funny act that you don't
do if you don't need it, but you do if
you do. To have this sense of control, you need
to step outside your life for just a little bit

(03:59):
to look at what is import important and then what
is happening. The more you do this, the more likely
that things that are important are already starting to appear
on your calendar as priorities. During your past week's Friday planning,
you've thought about what you'd like to do in the future.
You've planned it in That makes the weekly planning even easier.

(04:21):
These days, this planning doesn't take me much time. My
personal planning takes twenty minutes or so. Planning out the
family schedule takes another twenty minutes. That's not nothing, but
in less than forty five minutes, I know I will
not be living in chaos. Even with five active kids
in four different schools, to working parents and a host

(04:41):
of things I enjoyed doing in my personal life, it
all fits. And that is because a good week starts
on Friday. So today, see if you might take some
time to try this tranquility by Tuesday rule. Carve out
twenty to thirty minutes, ask what is most important for
you to accomplish this week professionally and personally. Ask what

(05:05):
you need to do, do you know, and everything will happen.
Have you solved any logistical challenges? Make sure you have
something to look forward to the first week or two.
It might be challenging to look at the whole week
at a time, but doing so allows you to plan
life more holistically and not get caught up in daily crises.

(05:28):
And it will get easier over the next few weeks
as life becomes more like a well run three ring circus.
A good week starts on Friday, so why not give
this Friday planning a shot In the meantime, This is Laura.
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

(05:51):
our time. Thanks 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

(06:14):
production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
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