WEBVTT - Don't contaminate your leisure time

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 2>This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 2>tip is to try to keep your leisure time free

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<v Speaker 2>of little to dos. Yes, the to dos need to

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<v Speaker 2>get done, but by separating the two you can feel

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<v Speaker 2>productive and more relaxed. So I am sure that you,

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<v Speaker 2>like me, have a lengthy list of small tasks that

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<v Speaker 2>you need to tackle. For instance, I found myself on

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<v Speaker 2>a Saturday recently with a list that included buying a

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<v Speaker 2>train ticket, getting a new microphone, updating the week's childcare

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<v Speaker 2>schedule with some new information, buying a birthday present, and

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<v Speaker 2>so forth. These things do need to get done, and

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<v Speaker 2>for many people weekends and evenings are when they tend

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<v Speaker 2>to happen. But weekends and even also the time one

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<v Speaker 2>generally hopes to relax, and so this can create a conflict.

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<v Speaker 2>You might feel guilty if you are not purchasing that

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<v Speaker 2>train ticket, so then you are not totally relaxed. Or

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<v Speaker 2>you do it and then fifteen minutes later you remember

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<v Speaker 2>something else you were supposed to do, and this continues

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<v Speaker 2>for hours and you feel like you are always doing something.

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<v Speaker 2>So a better approach is to identify some spot of

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<v Speaker 2>your evening or weekend that would be hard to use

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<v Speaker 2>for anything fun. If you've got kids, this might be

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<v Speaker 2>time you are sitting on the sideline of a practice

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<v Speaker 2>waiting for them, or maybe you have gone to a

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<v Speaker 2>drop off birthday party but it's not worth it to

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<v Speaker 2>go home after dropping the kid off, just to turn

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<v Speaker 2>right back around, find a coffee shop, or get the

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<v Speaker 2>Wi Fi code for the gymnastics gym.

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<v Speaker 1>Bring your laptop and use this time to get to work.

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<v Speaker 1>If this doesn't describe your weekends, then maybe designate a

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<v Speaker 1>time that you probably.

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<v Speaker 2>Won't be using for anything exciting, say when your other

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<v Speaker 2>half is off exercising, or the two of you wouldn't

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<v Speaker 2>be doing anything together, or maybe earlier in the day

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<v Speaker 2>before you're likely to meet up with friends. Then use

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<v Speaker 2>this time to plow through your list. The upside is

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<v Speaker 2>that now you've used time that you wouldn't have been

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<v Speaker 2>using for particularly great leisure, and you have cleared the decks,

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<v Speaker 2>so it will be easier to just focus on having

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<v Speaker 2>fun the rest of the time. You don't have some

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<v Speaker 2>little part of your brain thinking train ticket which can

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<v Speaker 2>contaminate your leisure time. Now to be clear, I am

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<v Speaker 2>perfectly fine with you enjoying yourself, even if you haven't

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<v Speaker 2>purchased that train ticket yet. Sometimes, if my younger kids

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<v Speaker 2>are otherwise occupied, I actually tell myself, Okay, I am

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<v Speaker 2>not going to do any half to dos for the

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<v Speaker 2>next hour. Then I set a timer and relax and

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<v Speaker 2>then get to the to dos later. But I know

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<v Speaker 2>this is challenging for some people, just as some people

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<v Speaker 2>find it challenging to relax in a messy house. So

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<v Speaker 2>if that is the case for you, figure out how

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<v Speaker 2>to confine your to dos to a small period of

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<v Speaker 2>time so they don't contaminate everything else. Pure leisure is

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<v Speaker 2>really great if you can get it, and I absolutely

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<v Speaker 2>want that for you. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 2>our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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<v Speaker 2>got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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<v Speaker 2>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 2>production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

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<v Speaker 2>the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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<v Speaker 2>your favorite shows.