WEBVTT - Even a busy day has downtime

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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 even a full day can have downtime.

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<v Speaker 1>Even if some of this downtime is contaminated as the

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<v Speaker 1>phrase goes or is chopped up, it's often still there

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<v Speaker 1>to some degree. By learning to see this time and

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<v Speaker 1>use it intentionally, it is possible to enjoy life a

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<v Speaker 1>lot more. Because I have tracked my time for eleven

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<v Speaker 1>years now, I have become quite aware of the give

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<v Speaker 1>and take aspects of time. Some days feel very full,

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<v Speaker 1>with lots of work or activities stretching into the evening.

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<v Speaker 1>Others feel more open. But I can see that almost universally,

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<v Speaker 1>even the busy days have some amount of time that

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<v Speaker 1>is not claimed by things I need to do. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>it's that I'm in my bed at ten twenty but

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<v Speaker 1>don't turn off the light until ten forty five, That

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<v Speaker 1>is twenty five minutes. Or maybe it's a different sort

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<v Speaker 1>of stretch, like I'm waiting at a kid's concert for

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<v Speaker 1>twenty five minutes because I had to drop the kid

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<v Speaker 1>off early and the actual performance hasn't started yet. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>the chunks are small. I need to have my little

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<v Speaker 1>guy get his shoes on at eight forty five am

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<v Speaker 1>if I'm driving him to school and it's eight thirty five,

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<v Speaker 1>so I don't really have time to start focused work,

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<v Speaker 1>And so I don't, but that time will be spent

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<v Speaker 1>on something. Any given day might feature all three of

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<v Speaker 1>these sorts of available space. They don't look like a

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<v Speaker 1>day at the spa for sure. So if my idea

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<v Speaker 1>of leisure time is a day at the spa, I

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<v Speaker 1>might be tempted to say I have no free time,

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<v Speaker 1>but that's not true. These chunks do add up to

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<v Speaker 1>an hour. So what do I want to do at

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<v Speaker 1>that time? I'll admit that I generally do what most

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<v Speaker 1>of us do, which is read headlines, check texts and emails,

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<v Speaker 1>watch short videos, and generally putter around on my phone.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you told me, hey, Laura, you'll get an

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<v Speaker 1>hour for some sort of hobby today, even on this

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<v Speaker 1>busy day, what would you like to do with it?

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<v Speaker 1>I am not sure that reading comments on an article

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<v Speaker 1>online and deleting emails would be my first choice. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't think it would be my second or third choice either.

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<v Speaker 1>So the key breakthrough is to stop writing off these

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<v Speaker 1>smaller contaminated bits of time as unusable. They are not

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<v Speaker 1>completely discretionary. Of course, I'm not going to play the

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<v Speaker 1>piano right before bed if kids are sleeping, nor will

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<v Speaker 1>I sing if I am waiting for someone Elsa's concert

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<v Speaker 1>to start. Ten minutes is not enough time to get

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<v Speaker 1>changed for a full workout and do that. But there

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<v Speaker 1>is a big difference between something and nothing. That hour

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<v Speaker 1>of downtime, chopped up as it might be, will be

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<v Speaker 1>used for something. The question is what longtime listeners know that.

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<v Speaker 1>One of my favorite suggestions is to put ebooks on

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<v Speaker 1>your phone. I love reading things in print, It's really

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<v Speaker 1>my first choice, but the convenience of ebooks is hard

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<v Speaker 1>to beat. You can get them instantly if you have

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<v Speaker 1>internet access and you have your phone with you all

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<v Speaker 1>the time. It is as easy to open an ebook

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<v Speaker 1>as to open Instagram or email. So if you can

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<v Speaker 1>train yourself to do that, you could easily get an

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<v Speaker 1>extra hour of reading time each day. That would be

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<v Speaker 1>enough to read an extra one to two books per week.

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<v Speaker 1>One of my big breakthrough the last few years has

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<v Speaker 1>been to listen to things during this downtime with some intention.

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<v Speaker 1>Listening to an hour of music. A day is enough

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<v Speaker 1>time to get through all the works of Mozart in

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<v Speaker 1>a year if I know that's what I want to

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<v Speaker 1>do and put in the right cave number. When some

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<v Speaker 1>downtime shows up, you could do something creative. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>write a line or two an a journal if you've

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<v Speaker 1>got your phone, take some interesting photos. Sometimes needlework is

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<v Speaker 1>easy to pick up in small bits of time, as

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<v Speaker 1>is coloring. But the first step in all of this

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<v Speaker 1>is noticing when this time is happening. So, even if

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<v Speaker 1>today is busy, do try to notice every thirty minutes

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<v Speaker 1>or so look at what you are doing. Is it

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<v Speaker 1>something required like work, housework, childcare, personal care, or travel

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<v Speaker 1>time related to those things, or is it something more morphous?

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<v Speaker 1>If so, could this time be repurposed for intentional leisure.

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<v Speaker 1>If that doesn't do it for you, here's another trick.

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<v Speaker 1>Start reading a real page turner of a book. You

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<v Speaker 1>will magically start turning your downtime into reading time because

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<v Speaker 1>you want to find out what happens. Take note of

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<v Speaker 1>when these potential reading moments happen. They might be usable

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<v Speaker 1>other days for other sorts of leisure too. Yes, life

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<v Speaker 1>is busy. We have a lot of responsibilities, but even

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<v Speaker 1>a full day generally has some downtime, if not much.

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<v Speaker 1>By seizing these bits of time, or time that isn't perfect,

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<v Speaker 1>we can make space for a lot more fun in life,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is worth celebrating in the meantime. This is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

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