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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of IHeart Radio.

Good morning.

This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is to know what you could get done if you have unexpected free time.

Just like you have a backup slot to make sure you have time available for important activities,

it is wise to have a backup task so you can put your time to good use,

even if what you are planning to do doesn't happen.

Today's tip comes from a participant in my September reset project. She realized that she

wanted to have a backup task in mind in case an appointment canceled. I really love that idea. Without a backup task planned,

when something cancels and we don't know what to do, it's easy to end up processing email,

tidying the house, or doing something else that feels productive, but probably doesn't need to

consume more time than it already is.

With a little forethought, though, you can be ready to pivot to a backup task

when an appointment cancels or unexpected free time comes up.

At work, you could have a list of professional development tasks that would help you build your skills.

Then, when you have unexpected free time, you could spend it learning.

You could create a spreadsheet listing learning opportunities,

videos you want to watch, articles you want to read,

then when you pursue one of the opportunities you could note the date,

...