Just put in the time
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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 just put in the time. Even if you don't know exactly what you will do in a chunk of time devoted to a long-term project, making space for that project frequently keeps your mind on that project, and that increases the chances that you will keep making progress. So I love writing books. Books also take a long time to write. They are planned out long ahead of time.

and publication often happens about a year after the initial manuscript is finished. But time keeps passing, and for most long-term projects, it pays to start early. So lately, I have been making space on my calendar regularly for two things. One is figuring out promotion strategies for my next book, currently called Big Time, which will be out in spring of 2026.

I block out time on my calendar to figure out who I'd like to reach out to or what promotional materials I can create. The second is to work on writing my next book, currently called The Golden Hours. That won't be out until 2027, but I will need to write it eventually. So I make some time on my calendar now to think about ideas and what I might like to include. There is nothing specific I need to do right now for either of those long-term projects.

Lots of things can change between now and when the deadlines will become more urgent. But here's the thing. By continuing to carve out time in my schedule for these projects, I keep thinking about them. I know that a few times a week I will be sitting down at my computer and making notes about the golden hours. So my brain is primed to come up with things I might like to include. I see things and make notes to write about them during my next session.

I know that the longer I spend thinking about the book and making notes for it, the better it will be when it is finally done. For longer projects, it really is best to just put in the time over the long haul. This is truly the crux of spending time on things that are important, but not urgent. There is nothing urgent about a book that comes out in two and a half years, but I want to do a good job on it.

So it is worth spending time now on it and spending time next week and so on. In time, I will come to see things that I couldn't at the beginning. If you've got a long-term project, I think it's worth it for you to just put in the time too. Are there other things you could be doing with that time? Absolutely. But one of the best reasons to plan your weeks before you are in them is so you can make space for the things you have to do now and make space for the unexpected

and things you'd like to do over the longer term. That way, the unexpected doesn't derail the longer-term priorities. Your week accounts for it all. Now, you probably don't have to carve out a ton of time. Because I don't have much specific yet on either of these projects, these tend to be 30-minute chunks a few times a week. When I'm really in the writing phase of the next manuscript, I'll make much more time for it. Right now, I'm just making sure I keep touching the projects, looking at them,

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 iHeartMedia.

For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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