Today isn't the only day

A bigger project can be spread over quite a while

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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 today isn't the only day. If you
have a big, nebulous project you are taking on, whether

(00:25):
at work or in your personal life, it can feel overwhelming,
but it probably doesn't have to be finished tomorrow. If
you spread your tasks over the next few weeks or months,
or maybe the next year, it might all feel more doable.

(00:45):
I have been thinking about this topic lately because well,
I've been a bit behind in a few health screenings. Now.
In my defense, I spent a lot of time in
doctor's offices in the course of having five babies. Now
that that is all done, I've appreciated having a bit
of time off. But then even the people I had

(01:06):
been seeing on occasion closed offices or moved, and I
realized I didn't have a good plan or relationship with
any providers if I did get sick. So I probably
needed to get moving on all of that. But getting
up to date is kind of a process. I needed
to find a new primary care physician. I actually wound

(01:28):
up joining a concierge practice that's near me. And that
came well recommended. I needed to go in for two
appointments with them, and then I had various other screenings
that had to happen, a mammogram, a mole check, and
so on down the list. I am a healthy person,
but I'm also a busy person who has to take

(01:49):
five kids to doctor and dentists appointments. And this was
feeling like a lot. But then I realized, well, if
I hadn't been to the doctor in a few years,
I probably didn't have to get to everything tomorrow. If
I gave myself a few months or even until the
end of the year, I could probably get to everything,

(02:10):
and the pace would be a lot more sustainable. So
it goes for many things. Maybe one of your kids
has just been diagnosed with a learning challenge. There are
a lot of things that you know you need to do,
from finding providers and therapists and maybe investigating different schooling

(02:30):
options or after school programs or joining resource groups. And
those are all great ideas, but if you are still
trying to work and raise your family, including other kids,
it probably can't all happen tomorrow, and that's okay. You
can figure out what is most urgent or at least

(02:51):
needs to happen to make everything else possible, and then
you can start putting tasks on your to do list
over the next few weeks. Or maybe you are trying
to build out an entire new team at work. The
good news is that if this is in anticipation of
a project starting next season, then you don't actually have
to hire everyone tomorrow. You can put the various tasks

(03:15):
of figuring out what kind of skills you need and
reading through resumes and doing interviews and so forth over
the next few weeks and take your time with it.
You can spend the time necessary to get it right now.
To be sure, one reason people try to do stuff
right away is that they worry they will forget or

(03:35):
lose momentum, and I get that. But if you have
a good system for putting things on your to do list,
and you consider your to do list a contract with yourself,
then you can absolutely put something on your list for
the future and know that you will do it. You

(03:56):
keep your word, including to your self, so don't put
pressure on yourself that doesn't need to be there. Today
isn't the only day. Tomorrow isn't the only day either.
Most likely you will have other days, and what feels
overwhelming right now can be stretched over those other days

(04:20):
so it feels like something you can actually do in
the meantime. 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,

(04:44):
you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
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