WEBVTT - Look out the window first

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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 that when you have a little spot

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<v Speaker 1>of time open up, you don't need to spend all

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<v Speaker 1>of it checking email. Take a minute to look out

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<v Speaker 1>the window first, and you just might start feeling a

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<v Speaker 1>little differently about life. I am writing this episode on

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<v Speaker 1>a lovely fall day, when the colors out my office

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<v Speaker 1>window are brilliant and rich. There's a bright red maple

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<v Speaker 1>staring back at me, and the little yellow oak leaves

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<v Speaker 1>scattered on the bushes look like celebratory confetti. With scenery

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<v Speaker 1>like this, I do find myself looking up more than usual.

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<v Speaker 1>I know in a few weeks it will all be

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<v Speaker 1>gray and brown for winter, but even so, on any day,

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<v Speaker 1>looking at the sky and the trees can provide a

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<v Speaker 1>little mental lift, a soothing sense that whatever problems I'm

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<v Speaker 1>dealing with our transient against the slowly changing seasons. I

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<v Speaker 1>also realized that I don't avail myself of this opportunity

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<v Speaker 1>to look out on a calming scene nearly as much

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<v Speaker 1>as I could. When a spot of time appears in

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<v Speaker 1>my schedule, I do what I suspect. Many people do

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<v Speaker 1>check my inbox. Sometimes there's something I need to deal

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<v Speaker 1>with there, but often it's something that could have waited

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<v Speaker 1>for one minute. Well, I looked out at the loveliness

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<v Speaker 1>for sixty seconds. If you'd like more tranquility in your life,

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<v Speaker 1>it might be worth trying to look out the window first.

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<v Speaker 1>In my new book, Tranquility by Tuesday, one of the

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<v Speaker 1>time management rules I explore is to do effortful fun

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<v Speaker 1>before effortless fun. When you've got the potential for leisure time,

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<v Speaker 1>do a few minutes of reading or hobbies are connecting

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<v Speaker 1>with friends before switching over to screen time. When people

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<v Speaker 1>made this one little habit switch, they were far more

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<v Speaker 1>likely to agree with the statement yesterday, I didn't waste

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<v Speaker 1>time on things that weren't important to me. We don't

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily think of leisure during the work day, though I

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<v Speaker 1>am pretty sure that traffic on many websites is higher

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<v Speaker 1>during the work day than afterwards. But in many cases,

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<v Speaker 1>quick email checks are the same sort of thing as

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<v Speaker 1>checking social media, if maybe even more insidious, because they

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<v Speaker 1>look like work. We want to see what's in there,

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<v Speaker 1>even if all we wind up doing with those moments

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<v Speaker 1>of time is deleting email newsletters we can't remember subscribing to.

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<v Speaker 1>It's often just the sort of effortless activity that doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>do much beyond provide a quick hit of feeling like

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<v Speaker 1>something has been done. So here's an idea. Before you

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<v Speaker 1>get to all that deleting, take just one minute to

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<v Speaker 1>look out the window first. Yes, staring at the clouds

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<v Speaker 1>can be a form of effortful fun in our distracted world.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got a window in your office, wonderful get

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<v Speaker 1>to know the world outside it. If you work at

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<v Speaker 1>a home office, you can curate this view, making it

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<v Speaker 1>a little more pleasant and intriguing over time. But even

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<v Speaker 1>if you are in an office park, there is probably

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<v Speaker 1>something of interest, a patch of sky, a tree, that

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<v Speaker 1>sort of thing. If you are working in a window

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<v Speaker 1>this cubicle, just get up and walk to a window.

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<v Speaker 1>Most buildings are required to have them somewhere not too

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<v Speaker 1>far away from you. It will be good to stretch

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<v Speaker 1>your legs in addition to taking in the outside world. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>this doesn't have to take long, sixty seconds would be fine.

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<v Speaker 1>Then go delete email as much as you want. The

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<v Speaker 1>point is simply to change up the automatic flow of

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<v Speaker 1>activities and to build little spots for renewal into your day.

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<v Speaker 1>I just looked up to watch a handful of bright

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<v Speaker 1>yellow leaves float to the ground. The email deletion can

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<v Speaker 1>wait a few seconds. The falling leaves are a lot

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<v Speaker 1>more tranquil in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. 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 the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media 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>should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast

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

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<v Speaker 1>from my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,

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