Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is that rescheduling without a new date is actually just canceling. So if you truly want to do something, if you find the original time doesn't work, make sure to find a new time that will. I recently ran what I called a Better Workday Challenge to teach participants some of my favorite tips for making time at work more enjoyable. One of the strategies was to spend fifteen minutes each week deepening a work friendship. A number of people made plans to get coffee with a colleague, but then, as often happens, life got busy. They noted needing to reschedule, but their comments suggested that they hadn't found a new date. So let's be clear, that is not rescheduling. That is canceling. Now, I'm not saying you don't have the intention to schedule at some point, but until there is a new date on the calendar, this is no different from anything else that you have decided not to do. You've probably had plans that got rescheduled in this way, like my daughter is home sick today, so I need to reschedule our call. Or I'm swamped at work, so I need to reschedule our walk, Or since it looks like it's going to rain this afternoon, let's reschedule our playdate at the park. Instead of sending messages like these, get the ball rolling on rescheduling right away, as in, my daughter is home sick today, so I need to reschedule our call. Would tomorrow or Thursday at the same time work for you? Or I'm at work, so I need to reschedule our walk. Could you do Monday or Thursday morning of next week? You might also add thank you for your flexibility, or I'm sorry that I need to reschedule. If you are on the receiving end of a request to reschedule that doesn't actually include a new date, suggest one or invite the other person to do so. A simple no worries, how about tomorrow at the same time? Or sure one is good for you keeps you from having to start from scratch in remaking the plans you had already made. Now, there may be times when you don't want to keep the plans that are being rescheduled. In that case, if the other person reschedules in a way that is just canceling. Let the ball be dropped, move on, so it goes. But if you do want to reschedule, get a new date right away. I will add on here that people are particularly guilty of this phenomenon that is allegedly rescheduling something without a new date when it comes to plans and hopes they set for themselves. Maybe you plan to do some speculative work on Friday afternoon, then life gets busy. You tell yourself you are rescheduling this to some other point. But if there is no new date and time on your calendar, you have just canceled it. And maybe that is okay. Maybe you just don't have the capacity. But if you truly want to do something, almost universally that something will take time, there is no point in pretending it doesn't. So if you do want to do it, choose another time. Otherwise you are deciding that it won't get done, even if no one likes to admit that to themselves. 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. You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 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.

Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is that rescheduling without a new date is actually just canceling. So if you truly want to do something, if you find the original time doesn't work, make sure to find a new time that will. I recently ran what I called a Better Workday Challenge to teach participants some of my favorite tips for making time at work more enjoyable. One of the strategies was to spend fifteen minutes each week deepening a work friendship. A number of people made plans to get coffee with a colleague, but then, as often happens, life got busy. They noted needing to reschedule, but their comments suggested that they hadn't found a new date. So let's be clear, that is not rescheduling. That is canceling. Now, I'm not saying you don't have the intention to schedule at some point, but until there is a new date on the calendar, this is no different from anything else that you have decided not to do. You've probably had plans that got rescheduled in this way, like my daughter is home sick today, so I need to reschedule our call. Or I'm swamped at work, so I need to reschedule our walk, Or since it looks like it's going to rain this afternoon, let's reschedule our playdate at the park. Instead of sending messages like these, get the ball rolling on rescheduling right away, as in, my daughter is home sick today, so I need to reschedule our call. Would tomorrow or Thursday at the same time work for you? Or I'm at work, so I need to reschedule our walk. Could you do Monday or Thursday morning of next week? You might also add thank you for your flexibility, or I'm sorry that I need to reschedule. If you are on the receiving end of a request to reschedule that doesn't actually include a new date, suggest one or invite the other person to do so. A simple no worries, how about tomorrow at the same time? Or sure one is good for you keeps you from having to start from scratch in remaking the plans you had already made. Now, there may be times when you don't want to keep the plans that are being rescheduled. In that case, if the other person reschedules in a way that is just canceling. Let the ball be dropped, move on, so it goes. But if you do want to reschedule, get a new date right away. I will add on here that people are particularly guilty of this phenomenon that is allegedly rescheduling something without a new date when it comes to plans and hopes they set for themselves. Maybe you plan to do some speculative work on Friday afternoon, then life gets busy. You tell yourself you are rescheduling this to some other point. But if there is no new date and time on your calendar, you have just canceled it. And maybe that is okay. Maybe you just don't have the capacity. But if you truly want to do something, almost universally that something will take time, there is no point in pretending it doesn't. So if you do want to do it, choose another time. Otherwise you are deciding that it won't get done, even if no one likes to admit that to themselves. 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. You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 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.