WEBVTT - Short form, long form

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to vary your morning routine by having

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<v Speaker 1>a short form and a long form. Lots of people

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<v Speaker 1>pride themselves on their morning routines. Starting the day with

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<v Speaker 1>intentionality can set you up for success. I love reading

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<v Speaker 1>about what the most successful people do before breakfast, like

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<v Speaker 1>anyone else. But here's the thing. You don't have to

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<v Speaker 1>start your day exactly the same way every single day

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<v Speaker 1>to reap the benefits. Indeed, starting every day with an

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<v Speaker 1>extensive morning routine may not be feasible or even desirable.

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<v Speaker 1>Having different versions of your routine can help make the

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<v Speaker 1>routine more sustainable. That's because, as I have observed from

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<v Speaker 1>time logs, even people who talk about their daily morning

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<v Speaker 1>routines seldom do the routines every single day. Daily tends

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<v Speaker 1>to mean Monday through Friday, except if the person is

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<v Speaker 1>on vacation or sick or running really late. So maybe

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<v Speaker 1>daily actually means something like two hundred times per year.

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<v Speaker 1>This is decidedly fewer than three hundred sixty five times

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<v Speaker 1>per year, and that is fine. But another approach is

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<v Speaker 1>to have a long form of your morning routine and

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<v Speaker 1>a shorter form. The shorter form accommodates the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>not all three hundred sixty five days need to look alike,

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<v Speaker 1>while allowing you to still get some of the benefits

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<v Speaker 1>of routine. The basic idea is that the long form

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<v Speaker 1>of your morning routine is your ideal. The short form

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<v Speaker 1>includes some essential elements, perhaps in a more abbreviated form.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, someone's long form mourning routine might include a

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<v Speaker 1>few minutes of meditation, reading a chapter in a professional

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<v Speaker 1>development book, followed by a forty five minute run and

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<v Speaker 1>some strength training. The short form might include a few

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<v Speaker 1>minutes of meditation and a five minute toning routine that

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't involve any equipment. The person is still setting the

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<v Speaker 1>expectation of doing something in the morning and building that

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<v Speaker 1>muscle memory. But this allows for those mornings the seven

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<v Speaker 1>am flights, or when you're staying in a hotel without

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<v Speaker 1>a gym, or for those times when an ankle injury

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<v Speaker 1>or a bad cough renders a forty five minute run inadvisable.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps your long form routine might include an hour of

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<v Speaker 1>creative writing. Your short form is taking a few minutes

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<v Speaker 1>to respond to a writing prompt just one hundred words,

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<v Speaker 1>you are still writing, but you could probably manage to

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<v Speaker 1>send one hundred words to yourself in an email while

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<v Speaker 1>you are writing the elevator up to your office when

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<v Speaker 1>you overslept and are running late. The advantage of having

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<v Speaker 1>a preplanned short form of your routine is that it

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<v Speaker 1>gives you the essentials of your routine on days when

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<v Speaker 1>you have less time available without your having to deliberate

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<v Speaker 1>about what to cut. This makes it more likely that

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<v Speaker 1>you will continue to stick with your routine, even if

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<v Speaker 1>your routine doesn't look exactly the same day to day.

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<v Speaker 1>So tomorrow morning, as you go through your morning routine,

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<v Speaker 1>consider whether there are elements you would like to expand

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<v Speaker 1>on days when you have more time, or elements you

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<v Speaker 1>could skip or abbreviate on days when you need to

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<v Speaker 1>get out the door faster. By thinking through a short

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<v Speaker 1>form and a long form morning routine in advance, you

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<v Speaker 1>are able to get the benefits of intentionality and predictability

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<v Speaker 1>without feeling like a failure when the long form can't happen.

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<v Speaker 1>If you try using a short form and a long

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<v Speaker 1>form of your morning routine, I'd love to hear about it.

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<v Speaker 1>You can reach me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from it. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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<v Speaker 1>That's b E the number four, then break fast p

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<v Speaker 1>o D. You can also shoot me an email at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.