📙 Part 2: Describe a way/change that helps you save a lot of time

This episode's vocabulary

Planner (noun) - a list or chart with information that is an aid to planning.

To stand out (phrasal verb) - to be very noticeable.

To reflect (verb) - to think carefully, especially about possibilities and opinions.

Task (noun) - a piece of work to be done, especially one done regularly, unwillingly, or with difficulty.

Routine (noun) - a usual or fixed way of doing things.

Schedule (verb) - to arrange that an event or activity will happen at a particular time.

To catch someone off guard (idiom) - to surprise someone by doing something that they are not expecting or ready for.

Time-consuming (adj.) - taking a lot of time to do or complete.

To lie ahead of (someone) (phrasal verb) - to be in the future.

Beforehand (adverb) - earlier (than a particular time).

To note (verb) - to take notice of, give attention to, or make a record of something.

Extension (noun) - the fact of reaching, stretching, or continuing; the act of adding to something in order to make it bigger or longer.

To invest (verb) - to put money or effort into something to make a profit or achieve a result.

To get more out of something - to receive additional benefits from something.

Questions and Answers

R: I mean, I find having a diary planner to be the most useful thing in my life. I have a new one every year, and they're usually bought from the same shop with similar colours, like black or dark blue, although my most recent one is actually silver to help it stand out. It's like a big notebook with a list of all the dates for the calendar year in it. But I heavily modify mine to reflect my daily tasks and routines, I also add in key events on the dates that they are scheduled for and some notes to remind me to prepare for them, so I'm not caught off guard by something I should have known about before it happens. When it comes to how I go about doing it, I took some time to think about all the tasks I need to do every day, and just write them down in the diary as soon as I get it. It's a bit time-consuming, but after about three days, it's almost done for the entire year. And then I can add in all the day-specific things that I need to do, like laundry and finalizing accounts and so on. It requires a lot of advanced planning, but once it's done, I feel more certain about how my year will go and what lies ahead in the weeks and months to come. I wouldn't say it's a particularly difficult thing to do. It just takes a lot of concentration and preparation beforehand, but after that, then it's just a case of doing the tasks listed there and being careful to note any changes and prepare for them beforehand. I suppose that's more about memory than actually using the diary, but they're hard to separate, in my opinion, since the planner really is an extension of my ability to remember things, or to remember to do things, at least. I have to say, I've felt pretty good about things since I've made this change. It seems a lot of time, or rather, it needs a lot of time invested to prepare, and some people might prefer to use their phones or calendar app on their computer to do that. And I have them too. I just get more out of using something physical. There's less risk this way, in my opinion. If I hadn't started doing it, I don't think I'd be so organized, and life would be a lot less enjoyable.

M: And what do your friends think about it?

R: Well, my friends always make fun of me, but they're not nearly as organized as I am.