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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to aim for that line in the

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Speaker 1: song White Christmas. May your days be merry and bright.

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Speaker 1: It is easy to succumb to the stress of the

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Speaker 1: holiday season, particularly if you are the one in charge

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Speaker 1: of your family's schedule and celebrations, but being in a

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Speaker 1: good mood is one of the best presents you can

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Speaker 1: give your loved ones and yourself. This episode is first

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Speaker 1: airing in mid December, right in the middle of the

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Speaker 1: holiday business. Those of us with kids at home have

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Speaker 1: all the usual activities plus the special holiday ones like

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Speaker 1: concerts and parties. We want to make memories with trips

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Speaker 1: to see lights or Santa. People in all family situations

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Speaker 1: want to think through gifts and procure ones that will

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Speaker 1: make everyone we love delighted. Meanwhile, we may be trying

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Speaker 1: to wrap up the year's business at work, possibly hitting

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Speaker 1: certain numbers, and getting budgets and plans in place for

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Speaker 1: next year. All of it is wonderful. It is a

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Speaker 1: blessing to have people who want to make holiday memories

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Speaker 1: with you, and to have a high demand for your

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Speaker 1: time at work. It can also be a lot. When

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Speaker 1: we are stressed, even holiday fun can feel like one

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Speaker 1: more thing on the to do list. The people in

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Speaker 1: our lives can pick up on that stress. It can

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Speaker 1: cast a dark shadow over the whole holiday experience. Now,

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Speaker 1: I am not saying we can simply eliminate stress. I

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Speaker 1: also think that a lot of the advice out there

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Speaker 1: simply saying do less doesn't quite get it right. Someone

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Speaker 1: needs to shop for my five kids presence and go

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Speaker 1: to their holiday concerts and the like. Even the bare

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Speaker 1: minimum would be a lot, and hence doing more than

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Speaker 1: the bare minimum, with its promise of making memories, isn't

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Speaker 1: an order of magnitude different. The stress is there regardless,

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Speaker 1: But what those of us who are managing complex Christmas

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Speaker 1: is can do is to put being merry and bright

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Speaker 1: on the list like everything else, aim to find the

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Speaker 1: fun in whatever is on the list for each day.

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Speaker 1: There are many things we can do to add genuinely enjoyable,

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Speaker 1: relaxing aspects to any holiday activity. Treat yourself to a

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Speaker 1: festive cup of coffee while shopping, or meet a friend

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Speaker 1: for lunch and then wend your way through target together.

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Speaker 1: I once took a late afternoon to go to a

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Speaker 1: light display all by myself so I could look at

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Speaker 1: what I wanted to look at for the amount of

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Speaker 1: time I wanted to without pushing a stroller around everywhere.

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Speaker 1: Put on your favorite music while wrapping presents. During stressful times,

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Speaker 1: good habits become even more critical. In my recent book

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Speaker 1: Tranquility by Tuesday, I list three foundational time management habits

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Speaker 1: that I think have the biggest payoff. First, give yourself

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Speaker 1: a bedtime. Staying up late to do some online holiday

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Speaker 1: shopping isn't going to make the holidays go more smoothly.

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Speaker 1: It will just put you in a bad mood in

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Speaker 1: the morning. The second rule is to plan on Fridays.

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Speaker 1: Carve out time each week to think through the upcoming

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Speaker 1: week so you know what you need to do, and

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Speaker 1: also so you can make sure to plan in things

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Speaker 1: that are fun for you too. The third rule is

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Speaker 1: to move by three pm. Physical activity is a known

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Speaker 1: mood booster, particularly for those of us in places where

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Speaker 1: the days are getting very short. Getting outside to walk

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Speaker 1: for ten minutes in the middle of the day can

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Speaker 1: give the day a reset button. I always return in

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Speaker 1: a much better frame of mind. Ideally, everyone a on

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Speaker 1: us will also aim to be merry and bright. Unfortunately

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Speaker 1: that doesn't always happen, but moods are contagious. Being merry

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Speaker 1: and bright is a gift to those around us as

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Speaker 1: much as anything else we might give them. If you've

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Speaker 1: got a lot on your plate, it can be a

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Speaker 1: more challenging gift than buying a toy, but it is

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Speaker 1: a worthwhile one nonetheless. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's b the number four then breakfast.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That before Breakfast is spelled

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Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look

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Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Ye