Second Cup: How not to overcommit

Planning helps you see how much space you have

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about one way to keep yourself from
over committing. By thinking through each week ahead of time,
you can see what is already happening or needs to happen,

(00:31):
and so you won't add on anything new unless there
is a really good reason, because most likely there won't
be any space. On Friday, a few weeks ago, I
was planning my upcoming week as I usually do, and
I was reminded that it was going to be a

(00:52):
tight week. I was gone much of Monday and Tuesday.
Wednesday was booked solid with local events. I had Thursday
and Friday to be at my desk, but we were
leaving Saturday for a family trip, so all the packing
would have to fit in there too. In other words,

(01:12):
I had approximately half a week to fit in not
only the stuff from that week, but anything that had
to happen in advance of the week i'd be gone
as well. When I saw that, I quickly opted not
to schedule a phone call that I wanted to do
but didn't need to happen immediately. It could take place

(01:34):
after I was back at my desk two weeks later.
At least that was one fewer things stacked onto the pile.
I am guessing that you too, wind up with weeks
like that. Every minute is accounted for or will need
to be spent preparing for something happening in the near future.
The problem happens when we don't realize we are going

(01:57):
to have such weeks. If I were just making things
day by day, I might have seen that I was
free after three pm on Wednesday, so that would be
a good time for the call. But at three pm
on Wednesday, I was going to need to do all
the work that didn't happen Monday and Tuesday, and likely

(02:18):
a lot of the stuff I would have done on
Thursday and Friday too, since those days wound up booked
up with calls that did need to happen. We over
commit when we don't know exactly what is on our plates.
If you plan your weeks ahead of time, though, and
see what's going on personally and professionally, you will be

(02:41):
able to make more rational choices about what fits and
what doesn't. You might still decide to take something on,
but you will know you are squeezing it in and
you will know that most likely something else will need
to go to do this weekly planning on Fridays for

(03:02):
a lot of reasons, but whenever you do it, make
sure you look at everything that is happening in the
upcoming week. Make sure you know what it is. Then
look ahead a little and see if you are about
to face any crunches coming up. If so, figure out
what you need to do to get ahead of those.

(03:25):
Then you can see what space is left. My guess
is that many times the answer is not much. So
that can nudge you to not take on optional things
or to push things forward if they can be pushed forward.
When you do that, you'll have a lot on your plate,

(03:45):
but you won't be over committed, and that increases the
chances that everything that needs to get done will get
done in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening,
and here's to making the most of our times.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
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 E the number four then breakfast Pod.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

(04:31):
podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled
out with all the letters, thanks so much, should I
look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

(04:54):
favorite shows. Jack Day Girl, mm hmm.