Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to try doing something for yourself that
Speaker 1: you're used to leaving to the pros. When you do
Speaker 1: something for the first time, like cutting your kid's hair
Speaker 1: or baking bread, you don't have to be afraid. Yes,
Speaker 1: people get better at things over time, so the pros
Speaker 1: will do it better. But much of day to day
Speaker 1: life isn't rocket science, and a reasonable job can be Okay,
Speaker 1: watch the videos, do your research, then take a deep
Speaker 1: breath and tell yourself you've got this now. I want
Speaker 1: to start this episode with the caveat that some stuff
Speaker 1: really does require the pros. When our heater broke before
Speaker 1: the recent cold snap, we were glad that certain residential
Speaker 1: construction and repair is categorized as essential. Some stuff is
Speaker 1: pretty dangerous to attempt yourself, like cutting trees, electrical work,
Speaker 1: or roof repair. I'll also state that in normal times,
Speaker 1: I'm a big believer in outsourcing chores that you don't
Speaker 1: want to do in order to preserve time for leisure
Speaker 1: and relationships. But with social distancing, it's definitely more difficult
Speaker 1: to just call someone or make an appointment than in
Speaker 1: the past. So consequently, when it comes to basic home
Speaker 1: repairs and grooming and the like, many people are having
Speaker 1: Bob the Builder movements. In the children's show, the characters
Speaker 1: often ask themselves, can we fix it? The answer is
Speaker 1: always yes, we can. Odds are good that this is
Speaker 1: the answer for you too. For instance, I'm pretty sure
Speaker 1: that you can color your own hair. I've actually been
Speaker 1: dyeing my own hair for years, since long before COVID.
Speaker 1: This is the sort of thing that I suppose could
Speaker 1: be intimidating, but I did my research and learned the
Speaker 1: bay sick stuff that's going to matter, like do you
Speaker 1: want warm undertones or cool undertones. I noted that in
Speaker 1: salons the colorists are often pulling strands of hair through
Speaker 1: some sort of cap, and I realized that this is
Speaker 1: how you create highlights, which would probably look better than
Speaker 1: just throwing the bottle on my head. By choosing an
Speaker 1: appropriate color and then imitating the highlighting technique, I think
Speaker 1: I've done an okay job, or at least I've saved
Speaker 1: a boatload of cash and time over the years. I've
Speaker 1: also realized that furniture, as simply is just not that
Speaker 1: big a deal. I started out with the occasional ikea bookcase.
Speaker 1: I wind about it, for sure, but then over time
Speaker 1: I became more confident wielding an Alan wrench and a
Speaker 1: Phillip's head screw driver. Recently, my ten year old son
Speaker 1: and I put together our new dining room table and
Speaker 1: the baby's crib. I built an outdoor table lots of fun.
Speaker 1: I hemmed our curtains, and now I'm pondering doing the
Speaker 1: same for my new jeans, since I doubt the tailor
Speaker 1: is opening soon. Learning skills always feels good if the
Speaker 1: parking lot at home depot is any indication. People are
Speaker 1: taking on all kinds of home projects, painting, landscaping, home repairs.
Speaker 1: Parents are realizing what their kids are capable of. The
Speaker 1: Internet is full of teenagers teaching themselves to sew and
Speaker 1: making face masks for those in their community. So if
Speaker 1: there's something reasonable that you've never tried before, do a
Speaker 1: few things. First, figure out if it's likely to end
Speaker 1: with you in the e er if you can safely
Speaker 1: do it. Then read up a bit on what matters
Speaker 1: the equivalent of warm versus cool undertones, watch a few videos,
Speaker 1: gather your materials and talk yourself through the steps. Then
Speaker 1: sees an uninterrupted period of time and do it. Yes,
Speaker 1: it might not go perfectly, but you can recover from
Speaker 1: a lot. We're having an excellent risotto for lunch today
Speaker 1: after it didn't quite make it to dinner last night.
Speaker 1: Turns out it needed to simmer, not come off the heat.
Speaker 1: The maide from scratch pizza dough needed some extra flour,
Speaker 1: but it was quite tasty. There are two good reasons
Speaker 1: for trying do it yourself projects, beyond the good feelings
Speaker 1: well and saving cash. First, we don't have to wait
Speaker 1: for whenever things get back to normal. I do believe
Speaker 1: that life will get back to normal, but who knows
Speaker 1: for sure when that will be. By learning how to
Speaker 1: do things for ourselves, we're able to live fuller, more
Speaker 1: comfortable lives in the meantime, or at least lives without roots.
Speaker 1: And Second, by building our skills when we do decide
Speaker 1: to outsource in the future, we'll know what a good
Speaker 1: job looks like. We are smarter consumers When we know
Speaker 1: what the problem is and how to solve it. We
Speaker 1: can ask smarter questions and troubleshoot the little things. So today,
Speaker 1: go ahead and figure out how you might tackle that
Speaker 1: project that seems slightly intimidating. Just like Bob the Builder,
Speaker 1: you may find yourself shouting can we fix it? Yes
Speaker 1: we can. If you've had any Bob the Builder triumphs
Speaker 1: inspired by social distancing, you can tell me about them
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's b E
Speaker 1: the number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can
Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at
Speaker 1: iHeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
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