BE: Should You Double Up on Tasks at Work?
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This is the Business English Podcast. Should you double up on tasks at work?

Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English. Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business. For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA. Hey.

Would you wear the same shoes for every occasion? Or rock the same outfit seven days a week?

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Good, Lindsay. Lindsay, do you have any efficiency hacks? Oh my gosh. Well, I do have a few, Michelle. We've been working here at All Ears English for 10 years working online. So I've been able to figure out a few things, but I do know that it's always best to be able to double up on tasks when I can. Like if I can achieve two goals, one goal with

two or two goals with one task that that's right right kind of to kill two birds with one stone yeah kind of yeah yeah so this can help you be more productive at work and stay effective and organized so guys we are so excited for you to hear this episode of all ears English today it's really going to help you describe being more productive when you're at work

Yeah, I love the fact that there's so much from the general English world that can help us at work, right? That is just a fact of life. We don't become robots when we walk into the workplace, right, Michelle? And so today we're going to show you and bring you an episode of All Ears English and show you exactly what this key idiom is and other ways to describe getting more than one task done at once. Yeah, right. All right. So make sure that you keep on listening until the end.

to hear us use one of the words to talk about something we have recently done at work. All right. So now we're going to go ahead and listen into the episode.

Hello, Michelle. How's it going today? How are you? I'm good. Everything is a little bit hectic. I was just telling Lindsay about how I'm in the process of moving. So I'm sure our listeners have experienced moving before and it's a little bit hectic, but that's okay. It's exciting too. Oh my gosh. I'm sure our listeners know exactly what you're going through, Michelle. But today's topic is a little bit different. What?

So, I mean, Lindsay, do you think that we should just kill two birds with one stone and we were going to have a meeting? Do you want to kill two birds with one stone and do the meeting on the same day as our next recording? That sounds good, Michelle. I mean, I'm not really a killer of birds, but like... But, you know, I'm sure that sounds like it would be efficient, an efficient way to spend our meeting time. Absolutely. Okay, great. Guys, today,

We are here to answer a really good listener question from YouTube. This is about an extremely useful and fun expression. Guys, this is going to be one of the top most used phrases I think that you will hear. I mean, do you hear people say kill two birds with one stone? Sure. And I say it all the time too. Absolutely. Because we're all about convenience. We're all about getting as much done during a period of time that we can. If we can double up and do two things during that period of time,

We love that in such a production-based society, right? We're such a task-less society.

task list society. Yes, exactly. So, Lindsay, would you like to read the question for us? Yes. This question comes from Bumi Kavat. And this was in YouTube. Again, don't forget, guys, we have a whole YouTube channel, which you could go and watch us on video right now. Right. You could go and hit subscribe over there and get an update every time we publish. So the student says, Hi, ma'am. I love your podcast. Could you make a video on the idiom kill two birds with one stone?

Yeah, it's a good question, Michelle. Let's do it. Yeah. Oh, it's perfect. Guys, we love these really specific questions about a specific phrase and a specific idiom that you hear. So definitely, you know, you can send your questions to us about YouTube. Also, if you comment on our YouTube videos, we'll catch them there too.

Yes. And before we get into the answer, I want to call out three very special listeners who reviewed us with a five-star review over in the Android app. Don't forget, guys, we have an Android iOS app and a special thank you to Edison Isaac, Raymac Sandres, and Jefferson Rivera. Guys, go over and review the podcast. It doesn't matter if you are using this podcast in the iOS or Android app.

or whether it's Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave us a review and tell us what you think about the show and we'll try to read your name out loud. Thank you. Yeah, these were great. We really appreciated everyone for the reviews. Thank you so much. Of course.

For sure. So Michelle, do you use this term yourself? I told you I do. What about you? Yeah, I do. I mean, I think it's just really, really useful to talk about logistics and like Lindsay said, efficiency and all of these things, planning, so many things that it's good for. But yeah, you never really stop and think about how morbid this expression is. It's awful. Yeah, why would we say this? This is terrible. It probably goes way, way back to the days when people were...

I don't know, hunting birds. I have no idea, Michelle, but it's not very pleasant if you actually think about the visual. But the fact is, even though it's not very pleasant, we still absolutely use it because we're a very, like I said before, we're a society that's very focused on productivity, getting things done. I think more so than other cultures, Michelle.

Oh, really? Yeah. I don't know exactly, but yeah, we're definitely like a go, go, go culture. Yeah. I think other cultures from my, this is what I've observed in my travels. I think other cultures are more focused on relationship building and

I know, of course, there are people that care about relationships in the U.S., but I think if you have to categorize a country into relationship focused or task focused, I think we would fall under task efficiency, getting things done, producing something. Yeah.

rather than building relationships. Again, super broad generalization, but I think there's some truth to that. Interesting. Yeah, we're definitely focused on efficiency. I would agree with that. So, but what, I mean, what does this mean? Kill two birds with one stone? Again, guys, we're not actually talking about killing birds. Yeah. Well, essentially the birds, let's just, the birds represent the things you need to do. And the stone is the action you take or the effort you put in.

So we have to be really clear about the meaning here of exactly what we're saying, right? If there's a goal or a thing you need to accomplish, we'll get into it, Michelle. We'll get some good examples here. Yeah. Okay. All right. Let's do some examples. It's interesting. I was trying to come up with examples and it's not that easy to think of the examples. It's more one of those expressions where in the moment, you know, to use it. But when you're thinking of examples, it's kind of...

It's interesting, but I gave it a go. So here we go. Okay. If we can have this meeting on Friday when I'm in the office anyway for payroll, we can kill two birds with one stone and work from home on Monday. Yeah. So just perfect. So this is good. So to be clear, the birds are the fact that you have to be at the office for payroll and you need to be at the office for a meeting anyways, right? So instead of... So I guess everybody just wants to work from home on Monday. So they figure, all right, let's kill two birds with one stone. Then we don't have to come in. Yeah.

Yes. Love it. Okay. Next one is she loved having a dog because she could kill two birds with one stone, get some exercise when the dog needs to go out. Anyways, that's a good feeling in your daily life. When you find these efficiencies where you accomplish kind of two things that need to happen with one action, right? You need exercise. The dog needs to go out, go for the walk. You get both, right? That's two for the price of one. Right. Yeah. Um,

Or one more example here is let's kill two birds with one stone and get the couch and the fridge delivered on the same day. And I'm thinking about that because I'm moving and I did get the couch and the fridge delivered on the same day. Yeah, anytime you can chunk your work. My favorite example here is this middle one that we said with the walking the dog because that's essentially you're doing one thing, but you're accomplishing two goals, right? That's how I see this phrase. One action achieves two goals.

preferred outcomes that you're looking for. Two different ones, right? That's the essence there. Yes, exactly. So yeah, you definitely know it more in the moment when these things come along that you can use expression. But yeah, these are some useful examples that would help you to understand it. Love it.

Okay, so what is this about here? Can we get into a little conversation about efficiency? Yeah. Right, exactly. This is about being efficient, thinking about smart ways to save time. Or like Lindsay said, I mean, if you can just accomplish two goals. So getting some exercise, getting some fresh air, and...

And you don't think about it as much because you have to take the dog out anyway. Right, right, right. For sure. Or another example, if you walk to get your groceries, you're getting your daily walk in, you're getting exercise, maybe a little weightlifting. Right, right. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And you're getting your groceries. It's like, again, you have two goals and you're doing you're accomplishing both goals with one single action.

Okay, right. Exactly. So and like we already mentioned, this is a huge cultural topic. I mean, I wonder if these expressions are if a similar expression is in other languages, all their cultures, because they I agree with you, Lindsay, is that go go go mentality. Yeah. And I would imagine for you, Michelle, as a mom, this comes up a lot, I would I would imagine certain scenarios where you can achieve two things you're trying to do.

in one action. Yeah? - Yes, for sure. I mean, always, you know, even something as simple as grabbing the coats, you know, grabbing all the jackets, getting everybody together, making the lunches, even, so guys, this doesn't need to be about some deep introspective thing. This can also just be about very simple little tasks that you need to get done. It can be used for small things or larger tasks.

Yes, exactly. And there are other ways because we're a culture that's so obsessed with efficiency and productivity and getting it done. There are other ways that we say this because we can't just always say the same thing. So, for example, Michelle, all in one go basically means the same thing. Right. Right. Yeah, exactly. It's not necessarily, though.

two things. I mean, it could just be, you know, it could be multiple things. Many things. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Usually two birds in one stone is really just remarking that there are two goals with one action getting achieved. But all in one go means you're doing it all at the same time altogether or things in a row. For example, should we get the kids and the dog all in one go or take two trips?

Yeah. I mean, when I come back from, you know, vacations, I love the idea if I'm driving into town, get my groceries on the way home, get my dog on the way home with the doggy daycare and then not have to go back out. Right. Right. But my partner prefers to come home.

and then go back out. So I just want it all in one go. I want to just get it all done and then be able to stay, be home and relax. I can understand that. Yeah, I can understand that for sure. Or another thing you could say is tackle two things at once. So to tackle, right, as sometimes it's not just about tackling in football, tackling can be getting something done. Right.

And that's another interesting reflection on our culture that we use these sports idioms to talk about productivity. I wonder if our listeners countries and languages do that too. That's really interesting. So for example, let's tackle two things at once, pick up the food and call the handyman on the way. Michelle, are you getting ready for a thing? Because we're recording this a few days before Thanksgiving.

I wonder if you're killing two birds with one stone in any sense with your preparations for, are you cooking the meal or like are you and Dan preparing the meal or going somewhere? What's your plan? We're going to Maryland to be with my family. Okay. So no major tasks to accomplish then in that case. Just the packing, just the packing. And it's, you know, I just trying to get my, you know, my moving in order and unpack some things. And then...

and okay now it's time to pack to leave again so now I just feel oh I wish I wish I had had maybe another week just to get things organized before Thanksgiving but that's all right that's how it goes when we came back from we just came back from Slovenia and the day we came back from Slovenia or the next day we're getting our bathrooms renovated you know it's just like one thing after the other it never falls perfectly with perfect breaks you know exactly exactly so and

And the last one is just be efficient, right? This isn't necessarily about a certain number of tasks and it can just be used more generally. But it's this idea of, you know, Lindsay, we talk about working smarter, not harder, right? Yes. Just getting things done, thinking about what things can be chunked together. So let's be efficient and pick up all the supplies in one trip.

Yeah, like if you're going to the other side of your neighborhood, maybe there's a grocery store and maybe there's a hair salon in the same area. You want to try to do both at the same time, that kind of thing. Yes, exactly. Exactly. So I think these are super useful expressions for talking about logistics, about planning, all of these things. Lindsay, would you like to try a role play? Let's do it, Michelle. So here we are sisters and we're getting ready to leave on a big vacation. Oh, I wonder where we're going. I wonder too. Yes. Okay.

Okay, so I can call the Uber. Okay, and if you can do that and get the bags all in one go, that would be great. Oh, yes, I'll be efficient. Okay, and I'm trying to tackle two things at once by making sure we are checked in for our flight and confirming the hotel. Thank you. Of course. You think we could kill two birds with one stone and grab some food for the plane while calling mom to ask her about the plans once we get there?

good idea okay so michelle i think we've said on prior episodes that you and i would never have a very we would if we traveled together there would be no planning uh getting done and we would just show up in the country be like what should we do but that's the way i like to do things right yeah whenever whenever we travel it's always dan doing all this research beforehand and i know and i do benefit from it but yeah

Yeah, I've realized over the years, my partner also is the one that does the research, tons of research and does a great job planning. And I've realized because now we take shorter trips, like 10 day trips. I used to travel for months at a time, like backpacking for a year. And I could just show up in that town, maybe take a nap at my hostel and then roll up and say, what do I want to do? But now I don't really have the time to do that. Yeah, it's true. Something is lost, but something is gained, I suppose. I love it. I love it.

it. All right. So sister, let's go through this role play. Okay, sister. Here we go. So you said, okay, and if you can do that and get the bags all in one go, so you're saying call, you're asking me to call the Uber and get the bags all at the same time? Yeah, basically like, you know, you'd be holding your phone and then grabbing the bags and you know how that is when everybody's trying to get out the door with all the bags. Oh yeah. It's always very awkward. Yes.

And then I said, yes, I'll be efficient. Okay, good. All right. This trip is starting off right, I think. And then I said, I'm trying to tackle two things at once by making sure we are checked in for our flight and confirming the hotel. So maybe, I don't know, maybe you're looking at me like, why are you sitting there staring at your phone? So I'm explaining what I'm getting done.

Exactly. And then you said, of course, you think we could kill two birds with one stone and grab some food for the plane while calling mom. So you're going to just basically go to the convenience store and shop for food and then also call your mom at the same time. Right. That's a useful thing. The fact that we can we have handheld mobile phones, of course, now and we can walk somewhere, achieve something else while talking. I know I always the only time that I really talk on the phone is when I'm in

you know, in transit. I, you know, I don't, I don't think that I really, or, or yeah. How often do you talk on the phone, Lindsay, where you're not doing something else at the same time? Oh,

I guess when I have friend dates, friend phone dates, I do actually kind of just like stay home and sit down and talk with them. But I know what you're saying. I mean, it's a good use of time. Well, you got to be careful when you're driving, of course, as long as you have like no handheld device and you can focus on the road. We're not endorsing this. It can be dangerous. We're not careful. But yeah, if you're on the train, if you're on an above ground train or something, you're walking to work, really good use of time. Yeah. Or even...

I'll call my mom while I'm making lunch, you know, because I might not have enough. So I'm making my lunch. Maybe I'm sitting eating my lunch, but I might not have time to sit down. I try and kill two birds with one stone. Not that calling my mom is killing a bird. I love to talk to my mom. But I think it's good, though, because it means it probably means you end up connecting with people you love more often because you don't say I have to have the perfect set.

Space of two hours where no one's going to buy that would you would never connect. Right. So you probably end up calling people more often, which is fantastic. Yeah, that's that's the thing. You know, I with the phone is my like my best friend. She just had a baby a few months ago and we've been playing phone tag.

just trying to talk for the first time. And I mean, for so long, we're playing phone tag. And I always think I have to sit down and have the two hour time. I wanna have the perfect conversation. But the other day I just said, enough already. I called her, I had 10 minutes. I said, I have 10 minutes, but I wanna hear your voice.

That's good. Sometimes that's it. That's what you have to do, right? When people's lives get busy 100%. Yeah, I love that. That's a good note to end on today. I mean, there is another episode though, that our listeners could check out if they're getting on this all ears English, you know, vibe and they're loving it. They want to keep listening. Where can they go? All right, guys, head on over. We did a Saturday episode. It was Are you on a wild goose chase for better English? Listen today.

Excellent. Any final thoughts on efficiency or connecting or getting things done? Yeah.

I think this is a huge cultural topic as Lindsay mentioned, and that's a big piece. So I'm definitely curious to hear from our listeners what it's like. Do you have any expressions like this that are similar with a similar idea to talk about productivity? Yeah. Send us an email or leave us a comment on YouTube or on any of our social channels and let us know the answer to that. Super interesting. All right.

Okay, good stuff, Michelle. Well, thank you for being on the episode today. Thanks. And thanks to our listener for this great question. All right. Talk soon. Bye.

Michelle, that was such a useful episode. What do you think? Yeah, I really, really liked that one. It's so useful for regular life, but also for business. Very, very useful. We want to be able to talk about how we get our work done, how we are efficient at work. And guys, there are

five new all ears English episodes a week and all of them are for free. So Lindsay, what should our listeners do? Yeah, right now guys, go ahead and open your search bar and type into your search bar all ears English. You will see the show pop up. Michelle and I are there on the cover and

Go ahead and click into that show, tap into that show and hit the follow button wherever you're listening, whether it's Spotify, whether it's Apple Podcasts or another player, or if it's YouTube, that's great too, right? So go ahead and hit the follow button or the subscribe button. You'll get five episodes a week over there where we focus on connection, not perfection. Right?

Right, Michelle? Yes. Love it. So much fun over there. So, Lindsay, let's do an example with the word efficient. Lindsay, what is one way you try to be efficient when doing your work?

Well, I try to block off time. So certain sections of time, I can't do random tasks. Like I can't check my email, for example, right? I have to do deeper work during those times. So I try to look at my week ahead and see, okay, Monday afternoon, what can I dedicate in terms of deep work to that time? And then I'll try not to check my email as much as possible because checking email really gets me kind of scattered. What about you, Michelle? Yeah.

Definitely. I don't know. You're really good about not checking your email when you say you're not going to. I mean, I know you say you don't have it on your phone. And so I think that's just really smart to be able to separate your from the email because it can be a huge distractor or when you're not at work, it can make you feel like you're always at work.

Oh yeah, exactly. And it's so important that we get our rest when we're not at work, right? So we come back to work refreshed and we feel like we have a better balance in our lives. Yeah. So important. Yeah. And so one way to have a better balance in your life is to build more natural English for every day for your everyday life. And that's what we do over on All Ears English. So one more time, open the search bar, type in All Ears English podcast and hit that follow button. We'll see you guys for our next episode over there.

All right. Thanks for listening. Bye, guys. Bye, Michelle. Bye.

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