Set a life maintenance time

Choose a preferred time for appointments

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to set a life maintenance time. By
having a spot on the calendar that you generally choose

(00:25):
for life maintenance tasks, you can make steady progress on
these and keep them from taking over your life. I
recently realized that I was past due for a number
of life maintenance things. My hair needed to be cut,
I needed to visit the dermatologist. My car needed its

(00:47):
annual inspection. I needed to get my eyes checked and
get new contacts. We all need to go to the dentist.
There are different schools of thought on how to deal
with this reality. Some people might try to schedule everything
at once, but taking days off to deal with all
your personal life issues can make you feel even more

(01:08):
behind at work, or you feel like you are using
vacation days for stuff that is not really fun and
not everyone can take whole days off with limited consequences,
so I am a fan of a different method. Aim
to take care of one life maintenance thing every few weeks,

(01:30):
or maybe once a week if you're catching up. Ideally,
choose a particular spot during the week that is your
first choice for scheduling such things that more or less
works with your work schedule. That way, you know there
is a time that generally works, that you can ask
for and that you can build into your schedule and

(01:50):
into your expectations. There are many potential options here. Many
people like to take care of appointments first thing, when
viders are less likely to be running behind. If that
is the case, early Thursday or Friday morning might be good.
The week tends to be a little less busy towards
the end, and hopefully you have tackled your top priorities

(02:14):
Monday and Tuesday morning, so you don't need this morning
energy by then. An alternative is a late afternoon spot,
say Thursday, a bit before you have any after school duties. Yes,
providers might be running late by the afternoon, but then
you get most of the work day to focus before
you need to be answering emails from a waiting room.

(02:36):
Or perhaps you can shift your work schedule to start
a little earlier on these days so you don't need
to take official time off. If weekends are the only
time that will work for you, choosing an early morning
slot can still keep the rest of the day open.
As long as you are done by noon on Saturday,
you can still enjoy a mostly relaxing weekend knowing that

(03:01):
you are making progress on all those personal to dues. Now, obviously,
you don't always get the times that you ask for.
Sometimes providers are so booked up that you don't have
a choice, but if you are scheduling far ahead, you might.
In some places, like maybe hair salons or a pharmacy

(03:23):
where you're getting a booster shot, might be a bit
more flexible. And even if a provider only has a
few slots, if you know that your preferred time is
early morning later in the week, you can ask them
to look forward a few weeks from the first time
you are offered to see if any of your preferred
spots are available. You might periodically think through any appointments

(03:48):
you need to make and then assign yourself one each
week during your weekly planning time. I plan on Friday afternoons,
so I use that time to make an appointment for
the following week once I have determined which life maintenance
thing i'd like or need to do. I am happy
to report that I recently had a long list that

(04:10):
I needed to tackle. But now I have everything scheduled.
Since it's only been one life maintenance item per week,
I don't feel like I'm losing my life to car
inspections and I exams, but I am getting them done.
It's no fun, but it's part of adulthood and we

(04:31):
may as well make it work for our lives. In
the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd
love to hear from it. You can send me your tips,

(04:53):
your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram at the for 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
iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with

(05:14):
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 i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.