Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that alarms aren't just for waking. They can
Speaker 1: also be helpful when you need to transition from one
Speaker 1: thing to the next. They allow you to not think
Speaker 1: about the upcoming transition, at least until the moment when
Speaker 1: you need to so as a sudden loud noise. Alarms
Speaker 1: serve a useful function of waking people from sleep. But
Speaker 1: more broadly, what an alarm does is that it gets
Speaker 1: your attention at a specific time. That can be quite
Speaker 1: useful if you need to do something at a specific
Speaker 1: time and want your attention directed then but only at
Speaker 1: that point. So, for instance, if you want to leave
Speaker 1: at two twenty for a three o'clock appointment, you could
Speaker 1: set an alarm for two ten to give yourself a
Speaker 1: few minutes to wrap up what you're doing. Or maybe
Speaker 1: you need to start dinner at five thirty to have
Speaker 1: it on the table at six when everyone is available,
Speaker 1: so you set that alarm for five thirty. Or you
Speaker 1: need to start an important video conference at ten thirty
Speaker 1: and you want a reminder to review your notes and
Speaker 1: get in the zone at ten ten, so you set
Speaker 1: an alarm for it. And here's the thing. You go
Speaker 1: to sleep after setting an alarm, even if you have
Speaker 1: to be up for something really important, because you believe
Speaker 1: that the alarm will reliably get your attention at the
Speaker 1: appointed time, so you are free to not focus, that is,
Speaker 1: to sleep until that time. This is absolutely true for
Speaker 1: daytime alarms as well. When you don't have to watch
Speaker 1: the time, you can be become totally absorbed in a
Speaker 1: work task that you are doing, or a book you're reading,
Speaker 1: household chores, yoga, meditation, or anything else you are not
Speaker 1: constantly watching the time. Instead, you can rely on the
Speaker 1: alarm to let you know when it is time to
Speaker 1: do the next thing. I find this is particularly helpful
Speaker 1: if you are going to have a conversation with someone
Speaker 1: and don't want to be looking at your phone or
Speaker 1: a watch to know what time it is. If you
Speaker 1: are meeting a friend for coffee at two thirty and
Speaker 1: you absolutely have to leave at three point fifteen for
Speaker 1: a school pickup, just set an alarm for three twelve
Speaker 1: or so and you can give yourself freely over to
Speaker 1: the conversation until then. You won't worry about sneaking a
Speaker 1: peek or wondering if you've talked too long. You will
Speaker 1: just enjoy yourself until the alarm directs your attention to
Speaker 1: the time. People think this is weird maybe, but it
Speaker 1: is nice to focus fully and so that is a
Speaker 1: mitigating factor. And sometimes it is nice to force a
Speaker 1: break into any conversation. If your alarm goes off forty
Speaker 1: five minutes into an hour long meeting that has been dragging,
Speaker 1: it is just possible that the person you are meeting
Speaker 1: with will on their own start getting to the point
Speaker 1: that would be a welcome outcome. Indeed, and hey, if
Speaker 1: you're in an open plan office and extra sound is
Speaker 1: annoying to people, maybe do it as a buzz or
Speaker 1: a flashing light or something like that. It can still
Speaker 1: work as an alarm. Setting alarms can be a great
Speaker 1: way to keep yourself on schedule and stay fully engaged
Speaker 1: in one task until it's time to shift to the
Speaker 1: next one. In the meantime, this is low Biah. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our talks. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod. You
Speaker 1: can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts.
Speaker 1: At iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 1: My dead Day h