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 take a few moments every Monday
Speaker 1: morning to review the week that just ended. By thinking
Speaker 1: about what happened, you can cement memories, feel gratitude, or
Speaker 1: make changes if that's what needs to happen. Long time
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast listeners know that I have been tracking my
Speaker 1: time for over six years now. I use weekly spreadsheets
Speaker 1: with half hour blocks that go from five am Monday
Speaker 1: to four thirty am Sunday, well really early Monday morning.
Speaker 1: Every Monday morning, I finished the time log from the
Speaker 1: previous week, that is filling in how I spent the
Speaker 1: latter half of day for the most part, and then
Speaker 1: I archived the log and open a new one. I
Speaker 1: used to do this in a fairly utilitarian fashion, but
Speaker 1: as this ritual has become more ingrained over the years,
Speaker 1: I've decided to become a bit more mindful about it. Now.
Speaker 1: Before I archive the week's log, I look it over.
Speaker 1: I look at what I did. I think about high
Speaker 1: moments and the memories I'd most like to take with
Speaker 1: me from the week. I also sometimes let myself be
Speaker 1: reminded of all that can fit in a hundred sixty
Speaker 1: eight hours. It is important to me to be a
Speaker 1: good steward of time, and so I look to make
Speaker 1: sure that I am following my own time advice. Am
Speaker 1: I building in at least one big adventure and one
Speaker 1: little adventury tweak? Am I taking a few hours away
Speaker 1: from work and family to do something that's important for me?
Speaker 1: Am I getting some physical activity each day? Am I
Speaker 1: spending some time with each of my kids when it's
Speaker 1: a good week. The answer to these questions is yes.
Speaker 1: I archived a week this morning that featured three runs
Speaker 1: on local trails, which is great in crisp fall weather,
Speaker 1: plus a hike around a gorgeous lake and upstate New York,
Speaker 1: where we traveled for the weekend. There was apple picking.
Speaker 1: I read an entire chapter book with my six year
Speaker 1: old during his bedtimes, I sang with my choir. I
Speaker 1: pause to think about these things, and this provides motivation
Speaker 1: to keep making these things happen in future weeks. And
Speaker 1: if there is something that I don't like, well, I
Speaker 1: can think about how I can change that in the future.
Speaker 1: I know that most people don't track their time, though,
Speaker 1: I think that most people should try. Knowing where the
Speaker 1: time goes gives us a lot of insight about our
Speaker 1: time and our lives. However, even if you don't keep
Speaker 1: a time log, you probably do have a calendar of
Speaker 1: some sort. You can look back over your calendar for
Speaker 1: the past week and see what made it on there.
Speaker 1: If you have a planner, you can look at that
Speaker 1: and see what happened. If you keep any sort of journal,
Speaker 1: you could look at that, or you could crowdsource your memories.
Speaker 1: You might take a few minutes over breakfast on Monday
Speaker 1: to chat with family members about highlights from the previous week. Yes,
Speaker 1: I am suggesting an actual breakfast on Monday morning. Couple
Speaker 1: it with some chat about what you're looking forward to
Speaker 1: during the coming week, and you'll have a wonderful ritual
Speaker 1: to launch everyone off into their separate days. Absent that,
Speaker 1: you can even just pause for a few moments on
Speaker 1: Monday morning to think about what happened during the previous week.
Speaker 1: Memories do disappear at some point, like water under the bridge,
Speaker 1: but they might still be fresh from the previous sixty
Speaker 1: eight hours. This little ritual will give you a chance
Speaker 1: to make these memories a little deeper so they won't
Speaker 1: float away quite so fast. Now, I do know that
Speaker 1: not all time is blissful. Sometimes thinking about the previous
Speaker 1: week will drudge up some unpleasant memories. But it's best
Speaker 1: to approach this realization with a spirit of curiosity. What
Speaker 1: is done is done. What matters now is what you
Speaker 1: learned from it. So if there is a stretch of
Speaker 1: time or a series of activities that didn't go so
Speaker 1: well during the previous week, ask what could happen differently
Speaker 1: next time. If there is an answer, then the disappointment
Speaker 1: served as a lesson. So it is quite useful in
Speaker 1: that way. When we review the week that was, we
Speaker 1: can make changes if we need to and feel great
Speaker 1: full for what goes well. That is a lot of
Speaker 1: payoff for a few minutes, so why not give it
Speaker 1: a try. In the meantime, This is Laura, Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p O D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at iHeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yea.