Second Cup: Set a timer

Use your snooze button — and other timers — to help you focus

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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 use a timer to help you
feel more relaxed while moving things along. Most of us
don't set too many timers in life, except for one

(00:24):
specific instance, the snooze button. In the morning, you hit
snooze on your phone and nine minutes later it will
start beeping again. Long time Before Breakfast listeners know that
I think snoozing is a terrible idea. Either get up
the first time, or set your alarm for the time
you actually intend to get up. But one listener, Carlo,

(00:46):
rode in to remind me that a snooze button can
actually be used for good as long as you're not
using it to go back to sleep. Carlo, for instance,
uses his snooze button to segment his morning activities in
a more efficient way. He and his kids need to
leave the house at a certain time, so he segments
the hour before they leave into six nine minutes segments

(01:07):
with a little time change left over. He uses one
segment to get himself dressed, he uses another to help
the kids get dressed. He uses a segment to eat
a quick breakfast. He uses a segment to do some
morning house chores and a segment to make lunches for everyone.
Then the last segment is devoted to gathering everyone and
everything together to get ready to go. This way, he

(01:30):
doesn't have to keep watching the clock, but he also
knows quickly if they're running behind, and he can course
correct before the morning goes off the rails. Carlo reports
that he's used his snooze button at worked two when
he's in a time crunch. I set up an alarm
at a specific time, say four o'clock, and use the
snooze to plan two or three activity bursts, he says,

(01:51):
such as answering a complicated email by the first snows,
sending all his meeting invitations for the next day by
the second snooze, and planning the next morning's to asks
by the thirds news. As he reports, this way, I
have finished several menial tasks and I can feel organized
for what comes ahead. I think this is a great idea.

(02:12):
Of course, if nine minutes doesn't work for you, feel
free to set your phones time or for any other
amount of time. Lots of people swear by the Pomodoro technique,
where you set a timer for twenty five minutes, focus
on something intensely for that time, and then take a break.
You can set alarms for other things too. Say you're
in a meeting and you know you need to leave

(02:32):
on time, but you really want to focus on the
other person instead of trying to sneak peaks at the
clock here and there, set an alarm for a few
minutes before you need to go. The other person will
hear the alarm too, and so it provides an opening
to move things along and end things. But you can
completely relax up until that point. It's a way of

(02:54):
being off the clock while still being on the clock too.
Do you set timers? Let me know for what You
can reach me at Before Breakfast Podcast at i heeart
media dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks
for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

(03:20):
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 four, then Breakfast p
o D. You can also shoot me an email at
Before Breakfast Podcast at i heeart media dot Com that

(03:43):
before Breakfast is spelled out with 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 my Heart Radio, visit the art Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

(04:06):
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