Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

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, 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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, 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.

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, 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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, 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.

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 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 favorite shows. Jack Day Girl, mm hmm.

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 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 favorite shows. Jack Day Girl, mm hmm.