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 check the news once per day. Well.
Speaker 1: This is wise for productivity at any point, it is
Speaker 1: particularly important during times of widespread anxiety. I normally take
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast episodes a few weeks ahead. That helps me
Speaker 1: cope with unexpected disruptions to life and expected events too,
Speaker 1: like my fifth child's arrival in late December. We certainly
Speaker 1: have had more than a few unexpected disruptions now if
Speaker 1: my kids out of school for the next few weeks
Speaker 1: due to emergency measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Speaker 1: But I decided to swap in a few last minute
Speaker 1: episodes anyway in order to address what everyone is thinking about.
Speaker 1: Like many of us, I spent many hours of the
Speaker 1: past week or so looking at headlines trying to come
Speaker 1: to grips with what a glow bull pandemic might mean.
Speaker 1: I also then realized, at some point, when I was
Speaker 1: looking at the New York Times homepage yet again, and
Speaker 1: my beautiful three month old baby boy was giggling at
Speaker 1: his toys, that this was the wrong way to be
Speaker 1: spending my time. We are controlling what we can control
Speaker 1: in this household, continuing the kid's education at home, making
Speaker 1: sure we wash hands, avoiding crowds, and not making any
Speaker 1: rash financial moves. But if reading headlines doesn't do anything
Speaker 1: but produce anxiety, then there is no point spending more
Speaker 1: time on this than necessary. And so I have a
Speaker 1: new rule for myself. Check the news once per day.
Speaker 1: Back many years ago, this is about as often as
Speaker 1: we would have been able to get the news anyway,
Speaker 1: in a morning paper perhaps, or watching the evening news.
Speaker 1: I can remain an informed person by looking at what
Speaker 1: is going on in the world once. Other than that,
Speaker 1: I can help my children with their homeschooling, read books,
Speaker 1: play outside, and watch my baby learn new things every day.
Speaker 1: This is a much more productive use of time. Now,
Speaker 1: I will admit that this is not easy. Anxiety induces
Speaker 1: us to pick up the phone and see what the
Speaker 1: situation is and see if it has changed. But general
Speaker 1: mindfulness helps a lot. When I pick up the phone,
Speaker 1: I try to pause and ask why if I am
Speaker 1: just about to check the news again, well, time to
Speaker 1: scroll through baby photos or read something on the kindle
Speaker 1: app Eventually we will be on the other side of this,
Speaker 1: but I think checking news once a day remains a
Speaker 1: good rule. Indeed, I might suggest people try subscribing to
Speaker 1: a physical newspaper and building the day's news consumption into
Speaker 1: a morning ritual. Then you can spend the rest of
Speaker 1: the day focused on what you need to and not
Speaker 1: on things that won't change whether you read about them
Speaker 1: ten times a day or once, And maybe you could
Speaker 1: spend some of the freed up time looking at things
Speaker 1: that do remind you of what is still good in
Speaker 1: the world. Baby giggles and blooming flowers are doing that
Speaker 1: for me and for those I am grateful In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b the number
Speaker 1: four then breakfast p o D. You can also shoot
Speaker 1: me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much. I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit
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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.