WEBVTT - Say yes to an open hour

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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 to say yes to an open hour, even

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<v Speaker 1>if there is work you could be doing. Sometimes it's

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<v Speaker 1>good to see what you fill time with in the

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<v Speaker 1>absence of doing obvious to dos. So a few weeks ago,

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<v Speaker 1>I went to Boston for about twenty four hours. I

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<v Speaker 1>chose to leave my laptop at home. A lot of

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<v Speaker 1>this was about having really light bags, since I knew

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<v Speaker 1>I would be going to a concert right after getting

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<v Speaker 1>off the plane. I brought a magazine to read on

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<v Speaker 1>the plane, and of course I had my phone with

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<v Speaker 1>me for checking email. But I was still kind of

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<v Speaker 1>kicking myself on Saturday when I wound up getting to

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<v Speaker 1>the airport quite early due to the checkout time of

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<v Speaker 1>my hotel and the happy lack of traffic. If I'd

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<v Speaker 1>had my laptop, I could have gotten ahead on my

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<v Speaker 1>podcast scripts or my newsletters and so forth for the week.

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<v Speaker 1>What a waste to have a kid free ninety minutes

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<v Speaker 1>and not use it. But then I figured I could

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<v Speaker 1>challenge myself to do something else with this time. I

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<v Speaker 1>was in an airport which had several bookstores. As a

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<v Speaker 1>book author, I should be seeing what book titles are

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<v Speaker 1>being prominently displayed in bookstore front tables. I should see

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<v Speaker 1>what cover designs catch my eye as I am figuring

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<v Speaker 1>out the art for my next book. So I spent

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<v Speaker 1>a leisurely thirty minutes perusing one of those bookstores and

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<v Speaker 1>doing some research. Then I looked closer at a shelf

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<v Speaker 1>of nonfiction titles and saw one title called on Time

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<v Speaker 1>and Turtles by Si Montgomery. I'd read her book The

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<v Speaker 1>Soul of an Octopus, so I thought i'd pick this

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<v Speaker 1>other book up. I paged through and saw there were

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<v Speaker 1>some interesting quotes about as you would imagine time in turtles,

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<v Speaker 1>which was randomly something I was going to write about

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<v Speaker 1>in my next book. Believe it or not, there is

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<v Speaker 1>a brief turtle mention, And now I had more material.

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<v Speaker 1>So I bought that Montgomery book, spent a fun time

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<v Speaker 1>on the airplane reading it, and got some fodder for

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<v Speaker 1>my writing projects. Anyway, So it was work, even if

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<v Speaker 1>it wasn't the work I was thinking I was going

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<v Speaker 1>to do, and it was work that I tend to

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<v Speaker 1>not do enough of anyway. Now, obviously you could go

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<v Speaker 1>overboard here. I mean, I can't spend all my time

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<v Speaker 1>looking through books at bookstores, or I'd never write my

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<v Speaker 1>own book. But it was a reminder that sometimes it

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<v Speaker 1>is okay to say yes to an open hour. You

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<v Speaker 1>will fill that hour with something, But if you don't

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<v Speaker 1>fill it with the most obvious thing, you will no

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<v Speaker 1>doubt come up with something else. And sometimes that something

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<v Speaker 1>else might be worth spending time on. So think about

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<v Speaker 1>when you might have an open hour and be open

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<v Speaker 1>to a new way to spend that time. You never

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<v Speaker 1>know what might happen, and sometimes that is a good thing.

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>listening 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.