WEBVTT - Something might be more relaxing than nothing

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that something might be more relaxing than nothing.

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<v Speaker 1>When people are feeling tired and stressed, aiming to do

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<v Speaker 1>something specific and enjoyable might improve matters more than lying

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<v Speaker 1>on the couch. So we have all been there. You

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<v Speaker 1>are exhausted after a long week, You get to the

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<v Speaker 1>weekend and you want to do nothing. But what exactly

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<v Speaker 1>does nothing mean. It is impossible to literally do nothing

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<v Speaker 1>in the sense that you need to eat and sleep

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<v Speaker 1>at least. So what people mean when they say they

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<v Speaker 1>want to do nothing is that they don't have a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of energy and they don't want to do things

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<v Speaker 1>that they don't want to do. They want to fill

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<v Speaker 1>their hours with things they find relaxing and enjoyable, and

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<v Speaker 1>that is great. But if you ask people what they

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<v Speaker 1>find relaxing and enjoyable, they rarely say trying to fast

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<v Speaker 1>forward through a ton of political commercials or looking at

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<v Speaker 1>pictures of influencers on Instagram who are dressing their children

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<v Speaker 1>and matching outfits. People mention curling up with a good

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<v Speaker 1>book or baking or gardening or doing other hobbies like puzzles.

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<v Speaker 1>Even screen desires tend to be intentional things like watching

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<v Speaker 1>a movie, playing a particular video game with friends, watching

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<v Speaker 1>a favorite team play, or something like that. In other words,

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<v Speaker 1>what is relaxing and enjoyable is something specific rather than nothing,

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<v Speaker 1>which is impossible in any case. So if you are

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<v Speaker 1>feeling overwhelmed and tired, why not choose something specific that

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<v Speaker 1>you would like to do to recharge yourself. If you

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<v Speaker 1>have been staring at spreadsheets all week, baking an apple

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<v Speaker 1>pie might get your mind off of it, or going

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<v Speaker 1>for a long walk with your dog to see the

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<v Speaker 1>fall leaves. Decide that you are going to make a

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<v Speaker 1>Saturday night date with your favorite home renovation show and

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<v Speaker 1>watch a medley of episodes rather than just seeing what

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<v Speaker 1>is on. There are a few reasons to do this.

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<v Speaker 1>First chosen fun is almost universally going to be more

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<v Speaker 1>enjoyable than whatever just shows up in front of you.

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<v Speaker 1>We all like some things better than others. Consciously filling

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<v Speaker 1>our downtime with things we actually like might seem like

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<v Speaker 1>a no brainer, and yet when people get exhausted, they

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<v Speaker 1>don't do it. So it might be helpful to make

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<v Speaker 1>a list of what you truly enjoy sometime when you've

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<v Speaker 1>got a bit more energy. That way, you can pull

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<v Speaker 1>from the list during low energy times. But more importantly,

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<v Speaker 1>when you do something specific, it stands out in the

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<v Speaker 1>mind as you are doing it, and as you are

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<v Speaker 1>looking back over your downtime, you remember what happened. You

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<v Speaker 1>don't discount this time as smaller than it was or nonexistent.

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<v Speaker 1>When we are busy and tired, we can sometimes tell

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<v Speaker 1>ourselves a story that we just don't have any time.

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<v Speaker 1>You can spend three hours lying on the couch and

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<v Speaker 1>still tell yourself that you didn't do anything since it

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<v Speaker 1>was forgettable time. But if you buy fresh apples from

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<v Speaker 1>a farmer's market and then go bake a pie, it

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<v Speaker 1>is pretty hard to tell yourself the story that this

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<v Speaker 1>time didn't exist. I mean, the pie is sitting right

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<v Speaker 1>there at least until you eat it. Ultimately, having some

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<v Speaker 1>sense of autonomy is just a better story. I am busy,

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<v Speaker 1>but I do have some time for myself. That's a

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<v Speaker 1>more useful story than no time, because if you can

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<v Speaker 1>find sometime, maybe you can find a little bit more. So,

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<v Speaker 1>rather than thinking you will do nothing, think about what

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<v Speaker 1>something would be relaxing and enjoyable and figure out how

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<v Speaker 1>you might do that. You will feel a lot more

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<v Speaker 1>charged than if you just let your downtime happen. In

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<v Speaker 1>the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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<v Speaker 1>to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening

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<v Speaker 1>to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.