Second Cup: Don't give yourself homework

Make life a little easier for Future You

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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 try not to give yourself homework. There
are ways to lighten the burden on future you while

(00:24):
still being a team player if you are strategic about it.
So I am sure many of us have had this experience.
In a meeting, someone asks you to send them a document.
You write down a note to yourself to do this.
Of course, your day is jam packed, so you don't

(00:46):
wind up getting around to executing on all these little
meeting follow ups until six pm or later, when you'd
like to be on your way home. Or maybe you
agree to an informational meeting with someone and agree to
help out, and then spend time afterwards sending lots of
introductory emails and information, only to find out that the

(01:08):
person hasn't used all of this. We want to be
team players, but there are ways to make being a
team player easier on ourselves. First, if you are asked
to fulfill a quick request and you are comfortable doing so,
do it right then. So, for instance, if you are

(01:32):
asked during a meeting to send the colleagues the agenda
from last year's annual meeting. Just find it and do it.
If someone wants to know the status of the department budget,
don't say you'll send a note later. Send a message
to the finance office during the meeting. They may reply
during the meeting so that you can report the answer,

(01:55):
but even if they don't, at least you will have
made the request, so the ball well is in someone
else's court at least for a while. Now. If you
are sitting with eight people in a conference room, this
only works for quick requests. You are probably not going
to pause everything for several minutes so you can do something.

(02:18):
But if you are meeting individually with a direct report,
or perhaps someone who is a little less tightly scheduled
than you are, you could even fulfill more extensive requests
right then. For example, if you are meeting with a
person who is interested in your industry and they ask
for recommendations of professional associations and publications, go ahead and

(02:43):
find that information, even if it requires a little googling
to get the names right. Don't find yourself writing a
lengthy email about the shape of the field at night
after your kids go to bed. If your direct report
has a document they want you to review, review it
during your check in time. That way, they get the

(03:06):
feedback as soon as possible. You can talk through any
areas of confusion rather than emailing back and forth. This
is really a win for both of you, and there
is no homework for you after the meeting. Another way
to avoid giving yourself homework is to make sure the

(03:28):
other person can take the next step independently. For example,
if you are talking with your neighbor and she asks
for the name of that karate studio you joined, tell
her the name and have her email it to herself.
You don't need to promise to send the link later
and take the risk of forgetting. You might also consider

(03:51):
leaving the ball in the other person's court to decide
on their own time whether they would like you to
follow up on anything. That way, you won't be spending
time following up on something that the other person may
not actually be all that interested in. For instance, you
might say, if after you look into this, you decide

(04:12):
that you'd like me to send you more information on
one or two of the groups I mentioned, let me
know and I'll be glad to do it. You may
have homework later, but only if the other person would
actually appreciate it, if they forget about it or decide
it wouldn't be helpful after initial research themselves, there is

(04:34):
nothing more for you to do. Of course, sometimes you
might not be sure you want to fulfill a request.
You might want to buy yourself time to think about it,
and that's fine. Giving yourself homework is better than doing
something hasty that you will regret. But when you probably

(04:57):
are going to do something like send your cop that
old report, then don't let that task make it onto
your to do list. Do it right away and feel
as free as a kid who got her homework done
during study hall. No need to break open the books.
It can be video games all night in the meantime.

(05:23):
This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of 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

(05:52):
is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.