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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is about one way to help yourself feel

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Speaker 1: a little more relaxed. Set a timer for when it's

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Speaker 1: time to move on so you can stop worrying about

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Speaker 1: what's next. For Mother's Day this year, I asked for

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Speaker 1: and received a hammock. It is quite lovely, But of

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Speaker 1: course owning a hammock doesn't magically create the time to

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Speaker 1: use that hammock. Between work, kids, and various chores. I

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Speaker 1: don't exactly have huge quantities of leisure time to relax

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Speaker 1: out there. I do have some time, for sure, but

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Speaker 1: and I am sure you can relate to this as well.

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Speaker 1: Whenever I go out to lie in the hammock, I

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Speaker 1: start thinking of what I still need to do in

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Speaker 1: the near future and what time that needs to happen.

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Speaker 1: If I have ten minutes before I need to start

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Speaker 1: rallying the troops to get in the minivan, I will

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Speaker 1: look at my phone to see what time it is

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Speaker 1: several times so I am not late. It is hard

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Speaker 1: to feel relaxed while doing that, so I decided to

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Speaker 1: try a different tactic. If I know I have ten

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Speaker 1: minutes to relax in the hammock, I will set a

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Speaker 1: timer on my phone for ten minutes. When it beeps,

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Speaker 1: I know it is time to move on to the

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Speaker 1: next thing. But until it beeps, I don't have to

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Speaker 1: think about it. I don't have to keep looking at

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Speaker 1: the time. I can look up at the trees and

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Speaker 1: the clouds and let my thoughts wander. This makes the

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Speaker 1: experience far more rejuvenating. If you two are all He's

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Speaker 1: keeping track of the time because you need to make

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Speaker 1: the trains run on time in your life, then perhaps

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Speaker 1: you will find this approach helpful as well. If you

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Speaker 1: have carved out a few minutes to relax, think about

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Speaker 1: how long you have and set a timer for that amount,

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Speaker 1: then truly revel in this downtime, even if it's only

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Speaker 1: a few minutes. If you've got ten minutes to have

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Speaker 1: that quiet cup of coffee on the porch, set the

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Speaker 1: timer and listen to the birds. If you've got fifteen

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Speaker 1: minutes to read before you need to go pick up

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Speaker 1: a kid somewhere, set the timer so you won't miss

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Speaker 1: pick up, but you won't have to pull yourself out

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Speaker 1: of the book to check the time until you absolutely

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Speaker 1: need to now. Perhaps on some level this sounds counterintuitive.

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Speaker 1: Setting a timer sounds like the opposite of relaxation. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you're on the clock. And if your life doesn't involve

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Speaker 1: a lot of time constraints and responsibilities, well, great, spend

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Speaker 1: all afternoon on the hammock. Enjoy it for all it

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Speaker 1: is worth. But I know many people listening to this

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Speaker 1: podcast are managing folks at work and managing folks at home.

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Speaker 1: You need to meet with your direct reports and check

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Speaker 1: in on their progress, and you need to dial into

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Speaker 1: that virtual meeting with the team in Asia at nine pm.

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Speaker 1: You need to pick up the kids at camp for

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Speaker 1: school and see that they get to piano lessons or

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Speaker 1: home from soccer practice. All of these are meaningful things,

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Speaker 1: but they require that you know what time it is

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Speaker 1: and what you need to do next. As responsible people,

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Speaker 1: we don't want to drop the ball on these things,

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Speaker 1: so our brains will keep us on high alert until

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Speaker 1: we do them. The only way to dial down this

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Speaker 1: high alert is to assure our brains that you will

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Speaker 1: move on at the right time. When an alarm is set,

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Speaker 1: this piece of the puzz is taken care of. Our

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Speaker 1: brains can calm down and relax for a while. No

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Speaker 1: need to think about the schedule. It is all under control,

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Speaker 1: at least for the next ten minutes, so it is

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Speaker 1: okay to just stare at the sky in the meantime.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the

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Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart

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Speaker 1: media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with

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Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, Flora to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

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Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart

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Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

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Speaker 1: favorite shows. Yea