1 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to vary your morning routine by having 4 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: a short form and a long form. Lots of people 5 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: pride themselves on their morning routines. Starting the day with 6 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: intentionality can set you up for success. I love reading 7 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,159 Speaker 1: about what the most successful people do before breakfast, like 8 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: anyone else. But here's the thing. You don't have to 9 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: start your day exactly the same way every single day 10 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: to reap the benefits. Indeed, starting every day with an 11 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: extensive morning routine may not be feasible or even desirable. 12 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: Having different versions of your routine can help make the 13 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: routine more sustainable. That's because, as I have observed from 14 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: time logs, even people who talk about their daily morning 15 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: routines seldom do the routines every single day. Daily tends 16 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: to mean Monday through Friday, except if the person is 17 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: on vacation or sick or running really late. So maybe 18 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: daily actually means something like two hundred times per year. 19 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: This is decidedly fewer than three hundred sixty five times 20 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 1: per year, and that is fine. But another approach is 21 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: to have a long form of your morning routine and 22 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: a shorter form. The shorter form accommodates the fact that 23 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: not all three hundred sixty five days need to look alike, 24 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: while allowing you to still get some of the benefits 25 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: of routine. The basic idea is that the long form 26 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: of your morning routine is your ideal. The short form 27 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: includes some essential elements, perhaps in a more abbreviated form. 28 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: For instance, someone's long form mourning routine might include a 29 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: few minutes of meditation, reading a chapter in a professional 30 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: development book, followed by a forty five minute run and 31 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: some strength training. The short form might include a few 32 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: minutes of meditation and a five minute toning routine that 33 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: doesn't involve any equipment. The person is still setting the 34 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: expectation of doing something in the morning and building that 35 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: muscle memory. But this allows for those mornings the seven 36 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: am flights, or when you're staying in a hotel without 37 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: a gym, or for those times when an ankle injury 38 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: or a bad cough renders a forty five minute run inadvisable. 39 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: Perhaps your long form routine might include an hour of 40 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,519 Speaker 1: creative writing. Your short form is taking a few minutes 41 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: to respond to a writing prompt just one hundred words, 42 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: you are still writing, but you could probably manage to 43 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: send one hundred words to yourself in an email while 44 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: you are writing the elevator up to your office when 45 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: you overslept and are running late. The advantage of having 46 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: a preplanned short form of your routine is that it 47 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: gives you the essentials of your routine on days when 48 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,239 Speaker 1: you have less time available without your having to deliberate 49 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: about what to cut. This makes it more likely that 50 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: you will continue to stick with your routine, even if 51 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: your routine doesn't look exactly the same day to day. 52 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: So tomorrow morning, as you go through your morning routine, 53 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: consider whether there are elements you would like to expand 54 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: on days when you have more time, or elements you 55 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: could skip or abbreviate on days when you need to 56 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: get out the door faster. By thinking through a short 57 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: form and a long form morning routine in advance, you 58 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: are able to get the benefits of intentionality and predictability 59 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: without feeling like a failure when the long form can't happen. 60 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: If you try using a short form and a long 61 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: form of your morning routine, I'd love to hear about it. 62 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com. 63 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 64 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 65 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from it. You can send me 66 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 67 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. 68 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: That's b E the number four, then break fast p 69 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: o D. You can also shoot me an email at 70 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast 71 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, 72 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is 73 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from 74 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 75 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.