Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to ask for the gift of time.
Speaker 1: If you have been feeling overwhelmed or burned out, a
Speaker 1: little bit of time away from your responsibilities can feel
Speaker 1: nothing short of miraculous. If you know that you won't
Speaker 1: just take that time, then specifically requesting it as a
Speaker 1: holiday present from your family can take away the guilt.
Speaker 1: I recently took a short editing retreat to Cape May,
Speaker 1: New Jersey, which is a little less than two hours
Speaker 1: away from my house. The goal was to work through
Speaker 1: the manuscript of Tranquility by Tuesday, my next book. It
Speaker 1: was good to be productive and get that done, but
Speaker 1: I also wanted to have the mental space to edit,
Speaker 1: which meant getting away from the bedtime battles and morning
Speaker 1: rush at my house. I worked twelve hours a day,
Speaker 1: but those days still felt like a vacation. I returned
Speaker 1: in a much healthier state of mind. Maybe you too
Speaker 1: have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. Many of us
Speaker 1: have spent a lot more time being on call for
Speaker 1: our families. Over the last twenty months or so, as
Speaker 1: work and school and such have happened from home. Work
Speaker 1: for many people might be stressful right now with places
Speaker 1: being understaffed and with supply chain disruptions. That said, there
Speaker 1: is a process for asking for days off from work,
Speaker 1: which you should definitely avail yourself of. Home is another
Speaker 1: thing altogether. It is hard to get away from family responsibilities,
Speaker 1: and even though we dearly love those around us, it's
Speaker 1: nice not to be constantly needed, at least for a
Speaker 1: little while. Getting away is hard, but probably not impossible
Speaker 1: for many of us. I made arrangements and my husband
Speaker 1: covered the non school hours so I could get away.
Speaker 1: If you would like to do something similar, but you
Speaker 1: don't have the excuse of needing to edit a book,
Speaker 1: then why not ask for a few days away as
Speaker 1: a holiday present. You probably don't really want another sweater
Speaker 1: or scarf, and you would really like the time away.
Speaker 1: The trip itself can be cheap. Stay in an offseason
Speaker 1: hotel nearby or cheap airbnb, or even borrow a friend's
Speaker 1: house while she's traveling. It's not so much the expense,
Speaker 1: it's the logistics. You are asking for the support of
Speaker 1: others in your life to take over your responsibilities. For
Speaker 1: just a little while. For most people, this would be
Speaker 1: your spouse or your partner that you are asking, though
Speaker 1: there are two obvious caveats here. First, if you don't
Speaker 1: have such a person, perhaps you can ask an extended
Speaker 1: family member for the gift of space, or maybe you
Speaker 1: want to take your spouse with you on your getaway.
Speaker 1: If that is the case, you would have to ask
Speaker 1: for space from grandparents or someone like that. But you
Speaker 1: could even in theory swap with friends. Maybe not necessarily
Speaker 1: for an overnight, though you could, but a full day
Speaker 1: away somewhere could still be lovely. You'd have your friends
Speaker 1: kids over for the day and then you do the
Speaker 1: same for them as a coordinated gift exchange. Much better
Speaker 1: than exchanging mugs. Right, So why not asked for the
Speaker 1: gift of time off? And hey, if you are listening
Speaker 1: to this and you are not in an overwhelmed stage
Speaker 1: of life, consider giving the gift of time off to
Speaker 1: someone in your life who does need it. While two
Speaker 1: nights away might be perfect, they'd probably take a weekend
Speaker 1: afternoon off too, and that might be more manageable. It
Speaker 1: feels good to give a gift that is truly appreciated.
Speaker 1: This is one that would be in the meantime. This
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making the
Speaker 1: moves of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com
Speaker 1: that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
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