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 make yourself a haven, some spot
Speaker 1: of your home where you feel calm and you're not
Speaker 1: constantly feeling like you should be doing something else. Back
Speaker 1: before two thousand twenty ended Conferences for the Foreseeable Future,
Speaker 1: I gave a lot of time management speeches, and one
Speaker 1: of my biggest laugh lines came when I talked about
Speaker 1: saving time by lowering your housekeeping standards. I riff that
Speaker 1: people would tell me that they couldn't relax if their
Speaker 1: home was a mess. Okay, I said, clean one room,
Speaker 1: shut the door, and sit in there. I said it
Speaker 1: as a joke, but I think there is real merit
Speaker 1: to this idea. Lots of people find it hard to
Speaker 1: relax when they see undone work. Whether that's your laptop
Speaker 1: up sitting there, or a pile of dishes or something
Speaker 1: that is clearly in the wrong place. The instinct is
Speaker 1: to go deal with the problem so that then you
Speaker 1: can fully relax. But you can see how this plays out.
Speaker 1: It takes a long time to clean a whole house
Speaker 1: or put everything away, and then it might come out again,
Speaker 1: raising the very real possibility that you will never relax,
Speaker 1: and that doesn't sound good. So if you know this
Speaker 1: is a problem for you, you you might choose one room
Speaker 1: that is relatively easy to put in order, and then
Speaker 1: consciously treat this as your closed door haven. Keep it
Speaker 1: pretty minimalists there's less stuff that way to put away.
Speaker 1: If you have kids, maybe a master bedroom could be
Speaker 1: good for this. Don't make it a magnet for kid toys.
Speaker 1: Shove them out as soon as they wind up in there.
Speaker 1: Fold laundry elsewhere. Usually it's possible to keep the clutter
Speaker 1: under control. When you need a respite, shut the door
Speaker 1: and sit in there. If that doesn't work, If you
Speaker 1: happen to have a house that's big enough to have
Speaker 1: a formal living room, sometimes these get less use and
Speaker 1: hence attract fewer active projects that then look undone, so
Speaker 1: that room can become your haven. An enclosed porch could
Speaker 1: serve this function, as long as you store the outdoor
Speaker 1: gear and projects somewhere else. In a pinch, even a
Speaker 1: small apartment could offer some spot. Or you can't see
Speaker 1: the clutter or the work, turn a chair to a
Speaker 1: window and make the space in front of it minimal
Speaker 1: and relatively clear. Maybe put some fresh flowers there, as
Speaker 1: long as that's not going to make you feel like
Speaker 1: you need to change the water or trim the stems.
Speaker 1: So maybe a house plant that doesn't need much care,
Speaker 1: or a fake plant. We can waste all kinds of
Speaker 1: time puttering around the house picking up things here and
Speaker 1: there without any purpose except a vague pursuit of order.
Speaker 1: I suggest people stop doing that, but I know that's
Speaker 1: harder for some folks than others. And if that sounds
Speaker 1: like you, creating a little haven can be a real
Speaker 1: strategy for putting some actual rest into your life, and
Speaker 1: that is well worth doing. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four, then
Speaker 1: breakfast p O D. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast Podcast at i heeart media dot
Speaker 1: com 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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