WEBVTT - The Friday email that’s fun to send 

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my 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 send an email on Friday about

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<v Speaker 1>the weekend to anyone who spend the weekend with. Knowing

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<v Speaker 1>what's coming up and when everyone can have their fun

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<v Speaker 1>can vastly increase the chances that days off will be

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<v Speaker 1>spent well. Long time listeners know that I am a

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<v Speaker 1>big fan of planning weekends. No, this does not defeat

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<v Speaker 1>the purpose of weekends. I am not saying plan every minute.

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<v Speaker 1>And we should also be clear here that planning doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>only mean planning things you don't want to do. I

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<v Speaker 1>am on a mission to rescue planning's reputation. We want

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<v Speaker 1>to plan things that you you want to do. If

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<v Speaker 1>you have a busy life with kids in particular, thinking

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<v Speaker 1>through weekends ahead of time is the only way to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure that the adults can enjoy themselves as well.

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<v Speaker 1>I am something of the cruise director in my family,

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<v Speaker 1>and I suspect many listeners of this podcast serve this

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<v Speaker 1>role in their families too. Now, sometimes this can feel

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<v Speaker 1>unfair because it is labor, and it is often unacknowledged.

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<v Speaker 1>Labor but there are upsides. If you are the cruise director,

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<v Speaker 1>you get to decide what happens and when it happens,

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<v Speaker 1>and there is some real power in that. Indeed, if

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<v Speaker 1>you put at least some thought into making sure that

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<v Speaker 1>any other people in your household get some time for

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<v Speaker 1>their pursuits, you will almost never be challenged on a

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<v Speaker 1>weekend plan. So on Friday afternoons, I plan my week ahead.

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<v Speaker 1>I think about what I want to do professionally, in

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<v Speaker 1>my relationships, and personally too. I think about where these

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<v Speaker 1>things can go. I also take a look at my weekend.

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<v Speaker 1>Some things are already set, like kids sports practices or lessons,

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<v Speaker 1>or in non COVID times, things like birthday parties. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>we've arranged for outdoor, masked play dates and such. I

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<v Speaker 1>look at the weather and I think I built what

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<v Speaker 1>I'd like to do and what my husband might want

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<v Speaker 1>to do runs for both of us, sometimes a date

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<v Speaker 1>night if we have babysitter coverage, must us like grocery runs,

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<v Speaker 1>or if it's football season and he'll want to watch

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<v Speaker 1>Texas A and M something like that. It all goes

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<v Speaker 1>on the plan. Then I send my husband an email

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<v Speaker 1>with the itinerary for the weekend, including any questions like

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<v Speaker 1>do you want to drive our six year old to

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<v Speaker 1>rock climbing or should I. If we have long stretches

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<v Speaker 1>of open time, we might decide to rally the kids

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<v Speaker 1>for a family activity like a walk or a visit

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<v Speaker 1>to a zoo or a botanical garden. We make our reservations.

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<v Speaker 1>There are a few upsides to doing this ahead of time. First,

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<v Speaker 1>if we wake up on Saturday and don't know what

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<v Speaker 1>we're doing, we can burn a lot of energy deciding

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<v Speaker 1>which is energy we might need to execute on any

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<v Speaker 1>family activities involving five children. We also can't as easily

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<v Speaker 1>see the whole lay of the land, so then maybe

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<v Speaker 1>one person gets to run outside, but the rain starts

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<v Speaker 1>midday Saturday, and so the other person gets stuck using

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<v Speaker 1>the treadmill, or we don't see opportunities like that. I

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<v Speaker 1>need to get some work done, so it would be

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<v Speaker 1>best for me to take the six year old to

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<v Speaker 1>rock climbing and right while I wait there, which is

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<v Speaker 1>what I am doing right now. The second upside is

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<v Speaker 1>that we can look forward to things. If we know

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to a favorite park or cooking a special meal,

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<v Speaker 1>we can enjoy the anticipation. There's plenty of research finding

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<v Speaker 1>that anticipation accounts for the lion's share of happiness gained

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<v Speaker 1>from any event. Eventually, all good things are over. Eventually

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<v Speaker 1>it will be Monday morning. By planning, we can stretch

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<v Speaker 1>out the time when the good things exist in our

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<v Speaker 1>mental universes. Best to maximize the pleasure anyway we can.

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<v Speaker 1>If you tend to be the planner in your family,

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<v Speaker 1>you might try sending this Friday email too. Once everyone

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<v Speaker 1>has the schedule and answers any lingering questions, you can

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<v Speaker 1>all be on the same page. You can adjust the

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<v Speaker 1>schedule if needed beforehand, which keeps you from burning an

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<v Speaker 1>hour on Saturday arguing, and you'll probably start spending weekends

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<v Speaker 1>better with more time for adult fund around all the

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<v Speaker 1>kid activities. That is a major wind in my book.

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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 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>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>I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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