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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Good morning. This is Laura.
Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to spring clean your calendar.
In an earlier episode this week, we talked about why life isn't a set it and forget it phenomenon.
Today's episode is about how to scrub things clean.
Schedules, just like homes, tend to accumulate clutter over time.
Stuff comes in, and unless you are diligent about taking it out, new items will start to stack up.
Even if you are diligent about taking things out, there might be one -off projects to tackle, like putting away seasonal items or dusting spots that aren't in your regular rotation.
So it goes with time.
It is easier to start things than end them.
To avoid just getting busier and busier, we need to actively manage what is on the calendar.
So this week, as the weather in at least my part of the world starts to turn towards spring, take a good look at your schedule.
It is always a good idea to track your time for a week.
If you have done that recently, take a few minutes to look back at how you spent your time.
But if you haven't done a full -time audit, just look back at your calendar for the last few weeks.
Also think back to your past few weekends and what the weeknights have looked like too.
What did you enjoy?
What was okay? What felt like a drain?
What felt like a waste of time?
While we can't usually just zero out our calendars, it might help to look at each thing through this lens.
If someone proposed this right now, would you say yes?
Or, if given the opportunity to extricate yourself, would you move on?
People's lives look different, so it is hard to say for sure what is clutter.
But here are a few guidelines.
First, look at all recurring commitments carefully.
When things don't need to earn their place on your calendar each week, then sometimes they don't deserve a place on your calendar.
Not everything, of course.
I love my choir rehearsals, my scheduled session with my trainer.
But that Monday afternoon meeting with a team that is managing itself quite well may no longer be necessary.
If you and a colleague keep canceling a meeting because there is nothing new to discuss, maybe you just get rid of the meeting and evaluate in a few weeks if anything has gone wrong.
And sometimes we do wind up with recurring personal commitments that just aren't right for us anymore.
Maybe it's a volunteer commitment that you find yourself feeling kind of happy whenever it is canceled for weather or something like that.
If that is the case, it might be time to move on.
That doesn't mean the activity isn't important.
Honestly, it means it might be so important that if you can't be enthusiastically involved, it's better that your spot go to someone who can't be.
I'd also question things that you think you need to do, but maybe you don't.
I've had a few parents recently tell me that they aim to go to every practice and every game for their kids' sports.
While this is an interesting idea, it's often not true in reality.
If you have more than one kid, for instance, then you're going to miss something.
Because inevitably, their schedules will overlap.
You can be there for a lot, while not being there for everything.
One wise idea might be to create a carpool with other parents.
You drive to the twice -a -week practice for one week, and two other families take two other weeks.
Now, two out of every three weeks, you've opened up space in your evenings to relax and be more present with your family at other times.
And given that a lot of sideline time is just spent scrolling around on phones, this might be a massive life boost.
You can minimize lots of other things, too.
Maybe a meeting that is 60 minutes can take 30.
Maybe it can be a five -minute Zoom check -in or even tacked on to the end of another meeting that everyone will be attending.
Maybe your kids are doing an activity that they are not excited about.
Maybe that can go. Maybe someone else can take over a project.
Maybe time can be redeployed.
You decide that you'll make double of Monday night's meal, put it in the fridge and eat it Wednesday because you'll go to the gym after work on Wednesday.
Maybe you hire a weekly cleaning service and stop spending your weekends cleaning.
Maybe you decide to start going to a gym that's closer or shopping at a grocery store that's closer because it takes less time to get there, even if the prices are a tad higher.
Maybe you make a shopping list and go once a week rather than twice.
In any case, look at your schedule for anything that doesn't feel particularly meaningful or enjoyable.
Does it have to get done?
Maybe it does, but maybe it doesn't.
If you can ignore, minimize, or outsource it, you'll have more space and probably feel better about life as well.
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 lauravandercam .com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeart Media.
For more podcasts from iHeart Media, please visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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I'm A .J. Jacobs, and my current obsession is puzzles.
And that has given birth to my podcast, The Puzzler.
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We'll be right back.
