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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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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 try things for three to six months. If you are not sure about something, aim to do it for a trial period and see how it goes.
Few things have to be done forever, but you also want to give things enough runway that they can take off if they are going to. In Big Time, my new book about time management, I talk about being open to serendipity. Creating a rich and full life means being open to new opportunities and adventures and relationships, some of which could turn out to be fantastic.
Of course, it's hard to know what will be a good use of your time and what won't be. You might join a volunteer group looking to make more friends and find it tough going. You may take a pottery class and feel frustrated with the work. You might start a newsletter hoping to build a platform about a book idea, but it can feel like a slog.
You don't really know if something is the right thing to do or not. So why not try it as an experiment? You want to give things enough time to get somewhere, but you also don't want to feel oppressed that you're going to have to do something forever. You should feel free to pull the plug if you want after enough time. So give things three to six months.
When you start new projects, you can explicitly say to yourself that you will go all in for three to six months, and then you will evaluate. Is anyone reading your newsletter? Or perhaps the overall readership isn't great, but certain posts get a ton of engagement. This is good information to know too. And it wasn't a waste of time to figure that out.
If you decide to try running, you could try running for six months and see how it goes. It definitely takes a few weeks for running to feel comfortable. But by six months in, you will be over a lot of that and regularly running a few miles at a time if you want. At that point, you can evaluate.
If you enjoy it more than other forms of exercise or if all things considered, you'd like to keep doing Pilates classes instead.
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Chapter 2: What is the main tip for trying new things?
I find three to six months is a long enough period of time that you can really try things out. Some stuff takes longer. and some probably takes less. But this is a good enough amount of time that daily mishaps are absorbed into the overall experience. On the other hand, you can see the finish line.
Chapter 3: How can a trial period help in decision-making?
It doesn't feel infinite. If you really find yourself not happy with how things are going, you can decide that come December you will stop doing the thing guilt-free. It will be December before long. In many cases, people quit things that could have worked out if they'd stuck with it. In many cases, a little bit more resilience and discipline would be wise.
There are good returns to not getting distracted too early. On the other hand, we don't need to stick with things forever. So if there is something you are thinking of trying, see if you can structure the project to do it for three to six months. You will learn a lot and may have something new and wonderful in your life.
Or if not, you haven't wasted much time and you have probably learned something if you pay attention, like at least what you don't like. Often that is worth knowing too. 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 LauraVanderkam.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.