WEBVTT - Plan a night of 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 if life has been feeling a little busy,

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<v Speaker 1>you might choose to plan a night of nothing as

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<v Speaker 1>a chance to recharge. It is impossible to actually do nothing,

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<v Speaker 1>but having no scheduled commitments can sometimes be nice. If

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<v Speaker 1>you've been listening to Before Breakfast for a while, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I love the idea of planning little adventures into life.

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<v Speaker 1>Especially if your life features a lot of have to dos.

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<v Speaker 1>It's important to put in some want to dos alongside

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<v Speaker 1>those things. But if you've got a lot of community commitments, kids, sports,

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<v Speaker 1>and so forth, sometimes life can start to feel very full.

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<v Speaker 1>There is downtime, perhaps after your commitments are done in

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<v Speaker 1>the evening, but it doesn't feel like as much as

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<v Speaker 1>you want. That's where a night of nothing comes in.

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<v Speaker 1>I recently encountered this term night of nothing to describe

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<v Speaker 1>an intentionally planned night for staying home and chilling. Now again,

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<v Speaker 1>to be clear, I have seen thousands of time logs,

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<v Speaker 1>and I can tell you that most people do a

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<v Speaker 1>so called night of nothing again and again. It looks

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<v Speaker 1>like the routine of dinner, getting kids to bed if

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<v Speaker 1>you have kids, and then watching TV or doing some

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<v Speaker 1>other sort of screen time. Most people could massively benefit

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<v Speaker 1>from joining some sort of community activity that would involve

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<v Speaker 1>leaving the house once a week and planning in little

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<v Speaker 1>adventures to break up the monotony. But if you happen

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<v Speaker 1>to be in a season of life where most evenings

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<v Speaker 1>are spoken for, then you might like to proactively plan

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<v Speaker 1>in what we will call a night of nothing here

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<v Speaker 1>and there. For some families, this looks like using one

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<v Speaker 1>night each week where no activities get scheduled, or if

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<v Speaker 1>that doesn't work, maybe each partner gets one night of

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<v Speaker 1>nothing a week while the other parent handles all activities.

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<v Speaker 1>If you tend to wind up with a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>community or social plans, you might block out a night

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<v Speaker 1>in advance and politely decline or try to move things

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<v Speaker 1>from it if possible. Then once the time is free,

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<v Speaker 1>think about what you'd like to do with it. I

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<v Speaker 1>know why people like this night of nothing terminology, but

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<v Speaker 1>it is impossible to do nothing with your time. You

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<v Speaker 1>will do something, So figure out what something would feel

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<v Speaker 1>low key and RESTful. For some people, that might be

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<v Speaker 1>reading a book or doing something at home with the family.

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<v Speaker 1>If it's going to be screen time, think about what

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<v Speaker 1>would be an enjoyable, relaxing version of this. Do you

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<v Speaker 1>have a particular show you'd like to watch, a particular game?

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<v Speaker 1>Would you like to watch a movie? As you are

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<v Speaker 1>experiencing your so called night of nothing? See what it

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<v Speaker 1>feels like, what do you like, what doesn't work? If

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<v Speaker 1>you find you particularly like having a long time to read,

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<v Speaker 1>you might see how you can make space for this

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<v Speaker 1>in your regular life. My guess is that you can

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<v Speaker 1>if you try. Being intentional about time helps us see

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<v Speaker 1>all kinds of things, and sometimes a night of nothing

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<v Speaker 1>can offer useful answers about what we feel like we

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<v Speaker 1>are missing in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks

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

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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