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Today's tip is powered by National University.
As a listener of Before Breakfast, you know my goal is to help you make the most of your day without sacrificing work or family time.
That's why I'm so happy to introduce an institution that shares the same values.
If you are thinking about going back to school, you're probably wondering how to fit it all in.
National's flexible online formats, four- and eight-week courses and monthly class starts help you begin your degree sooner, finish faster and do it all on your own schedule.
So you have more options for managing work, family, and school.
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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 to put travel time on your calendar.
Traveling between places takes time.
So you may as well account for it.
Since I write about time management, I am fascinated by exactly why people are late to things.
Sometimes something comes up that was truly unexpected.
But more frequently people simply have not built all the constituent steps for getting somewhere into the equation.
A key problem here is that people rely on their calendars, but their calendars don't include the comprehensive amount of time involved in an activity.
If your calendar notes a book club meeting at 7 pm at your friend Mira's house, you then have to build in the appropriate amount of time to get there.
Some people are good at remembering this.
Some are not.
But it is not necessary to rely on memory or guesswork.
When you put something on your calendar, you can also put any necessary travel time around it.
There are two ways to do this.
One is to include the travel time in the event itself.
So rather than put a 7 pm book club meeting on your calendar, you have it start at 640 to account for the 15-minute drive and five minutes to get in your car and park on the other end.
And you can end 20 minutes after you think the event will be over.
Then you put in the description travel time included, so you know and don't accidentally leave even earlier.
This note that travel time is included is particularly helpful if anyone else, like an assistant or your spouse, has access to your calendar.
Another approach is to create distinct calendar events for travel to the event, the event itself, and travel home from the event.
So, with this approach, there would be a calendar event for 640 to 7 for traveling to Miras, another for 7 to 830 for book club and another for 830 to 850 for traveling home.
When you book the event initially, you can schedule travel time to and from wherever you are likely to be.
Then if you end up having an appointment elsewhere beforehand or if you'll be going somewhere else afterwards, you can adjust your calendar events to reflect how long it'll take to get to and from these new locations.
Even if an appointment is just on another floor at work, it is not a bad idea to schedule in five minutes of travel time, because you cannot be in two places at once, even at the same address.
Now I know this is a bit of extra work, but it is frustrating to be constantly running behind.
It is frustrating to be the person running behind and it is frustrating to try to work with or be friends with someone constantly running behind.
And even if you are normally running on time, putting travel time on the calendar allows you to fully account for how much time activities take.
And that can keep you from feeling rushed.
No one likes to be rushed.
Travel takes time.
So there is no point pretending it doesn't.
Put travel time on the calendar and your schedule is a bit more likely to reflect reality.
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.
Today's tip is powered by National University.
As a listener of Before Breakfast, you know my goal is to help you make the most of your day without sacrificing work or family time.
That's why I'm so happy to introduce an institution that shares the same values.
If you are thinking about going back to school, you're probably wondering how to fit it all in.
National's flexible online formats, four- and eight-week courses and monthly class starts help you begin your degree sooner, finish faster and do it all on your own schedule.
So you have more options for managing work, family, and school.
With over 150 degrees, credentials and certificates to choose from, they have a program that fits your career goals.
Learn more today at nu.edu.
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