WEBVTT - Book the sitter (literally and metaphorically)

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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 create the conditions for fun. Put systems

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<v Speaker 1>in place to make fun easy, and you are more

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<v Speaker 1>likely to do the things that will bring you joy.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip, like several this week, comes from my most

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<v Speaker 1>recent book, Big Time, A Simple Path to Time Abundance.

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<v Speaker 1>In the book, I share an example of a couple

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<v Speaker 1>who had a set of grandparents offer to come over

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<v Speaker 1>every Friday night to babysit. Previously, if the couple wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to go out on a Friday night, it involved the

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<v Speaker 1>logistics of booking a sitter and then paying the sitter

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<v Speaker 1>for her time. To make this all worth it, they

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<v Speaker 1>had to be pretty sure that the date night they

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<v Speaker 1>were dreaming up was going to be wonderful. But with

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<v Speaker 1>the grandparents coming over every Friday night, this calculation changed.

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<v Speaker 1>They didn't have to justify going out. They were going

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<v Speaker 1>out on Friday night regardless. So rather than debating whether

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<v Speaker 1>something was worth the time and effort, they started looking

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<v Speaker 1>for ways to fill this time. And as a result,

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<v Speaker 1>they had a lot more unexpected and varied fun. I

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<v Speaker 1>love the idea of booking the sitter literally and metaphorically.

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<v Speaker 1>How do you put the pieces in place so the

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<v Speaker 1>default is to do something fun? For starters, if you

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<v Speaker 1>do have young kids, I think there is something to

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<v Speaker 1>booking a literal sitter. Maybe you decide one night a

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<v Speaker 1>week is date night. You schedule a sitter to keep

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<v Speaker 1>your kids every Friday. And suddenly, every Friday is date night.

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<v Speaker 1>Like for the couple in my book. If you already

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy a lot of time with your partner or if

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<v Speaker 1>you don't have a partner, you could book a literal

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<v Speaker 1>sitter so that you can go out with friends or

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<v Speaker 1>pursue a hobby on a regular basis. But I think

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<v Speaker 1>we can also interpret book the sitter metaphorically. What structures

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<v Speaker 1>can you put in place in your life so that

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<v Speaker 1>fun is easy? For instance, if you decide you are

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<v Speaker 1>getting together with friends every Wednesday evening, Maybe you don't

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<v Speaker 1>schedule work meetings to start after 4 o'clock, so you

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<v Speaker 1>know that you can make a 5.30 p.m. happy hour meetup.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't agree to volunteer commitments on Wednesday evenings. You

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<v Speaker 1>don't even plan to pick up the dry cleaning. The

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<v Speaker 1>time is protected. Likewise, if you want to spend more

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<v Speaker 1>time at museums, you could schedule yourself to get into

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<v Speaker 1>work an hour or so early every Thursday and then

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<v Speaker 1>block off noon to 2 o'clock for a lunchtime museum visit.

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<v Speaker 1>The time is already protected. No video calls, no dentist appointments,

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<v Speaker 1>no work lunches. So when Thursday lunch rolls around, all

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<v Speaker 1>you have to do is decide what exhibit you want

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<v Speaker 1>to go see. When you get something on your calendar

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<v Speaker 1>in a recurring way and have all the pieces in

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<v Speaker 1>place to make it work, you are a lot more

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<v Speaker 1>likely to do the special thing you set out to do.

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<v Speaker 1>If you didn't have your Thursday long lunch blocked off,

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<v Speaker 1>an exhibit would have to be really important to you

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<v Speaker 1>before you would be willing to rearrange work meetings to go. Likewise,

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<v Speaker 1>the couple in my book had a high bar for

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<v Speaker 1>scheduling date nights before the grandparents started keeping the kids

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<v Speaker 1>every week. But when the time is already booked and

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<v Speaker 1>the infrastructure is in place, you are open to more possibilities,

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<v Speaker 1>and you will probably have a lot more fun. If

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<v Speaker 1>you try booking the metaphorical sitter, I would love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear about what activity you want to do more of

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<v Speaker 1>and what you do to make it easy. You can

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<v Speaker 1>tell me about it at laura at lauravandercam.com. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening. And here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions... ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at laura at lauravandercam.com. Before Breakfast is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the

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<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

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<v Speaker 1>favorite shows. you