1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:16,760 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: tip is to expand your time horizon. Anytime you are 4 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,759 Speaker 1: feeling crunched for time, or like you are neglecting one 5 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: area of your life, you might try looking at time 6 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: a little more broadly. It is quite possible that you 7 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: will feel like time is more abundant. So whenever someone 8 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: wants to talk about how pressed for time they are, 9 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 1: they tend to recount a crowded weekday as evidence for 10 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: this narrative. They're up early to get ready for work. 11 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: This is then followed by a commute, It's a long day, 12 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: making dinner, maybe getting kids to bed. Then, if the 13 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: person's going to do anything else, like exercise, or write 14 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: a novel, or learn French or talk with a partner, 15 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: it's going to need to happen alongside the tidying up 16 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: in that forty five minutes before lights out. No wonder 17 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: people feel starved for time, and trust me, I get it. 18 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: My life looks like that plenty of days too. Yet 19 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: I know that that is only one way we can 20 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: look at time. I remember when I first figured out 21 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: that a week has one hundred sixty eight hours. That 22 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: is twenty four times seven, something people say all the 23 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: time twenty four to seven and yet don't multiply it 24 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: through twenty four time seven is one hundred sixty eight hours. 25 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: Looking at time in terms of one hundred sixty eight 26 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: hours rather than twenty four suggests a slightly different arithmetic. 27 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: We are not looking at slivers of forty five minutes. Instead, 28 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: we might note that if you work forty hours and 29 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: commute even an hour each way, that comes out to 30 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: fifty hours. If you sleep eight hours per night, that 31 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: is fifty six hours per week. Subtract fifty and fifty 32 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: six from one hundred sixty eight and we get sixty 33 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 1: two hours for other things, and that sounds like quite 34 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: a bit of time. It suggests that at least it 35 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: might be possible to exercise for three hours and maybe 36 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: devote two hours to a hobby alongside one's other responsibilities. 37 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: Broadening the time horizon helps us see possibilities. Here's another 38 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 1: number to remember, eight thousand, seven hundred sixty That is 39 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: the number of hours in a normal year. There are 40 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: eight thousand, seven hundred eighty four hours in a leap year. 41 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: So in a regular year, if you work two thousand 42 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: hours and sleep two thy nine hundred twenty hours, that 43 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: leaves three thousand, eight hundred forty hours for other things. 44 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: Even if you subtract a case mute and showering and 45 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: whatever else, starts to seem like a fair chunk of time. 46 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: But it's not just about the math. It's about recognizing 47 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: that life isn't just lived in the crunched moments. Parts 48 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: of life are more expansive too. What seems typical is 49 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: often more of a story than anything else in the 50 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: context of life. I see this all the time in 51 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: the laments people share about their business. Consider someone who 52 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: needed to travel for work Monday to Thursday two weeks 53 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: a month. Now, that might feel like a fairly heavy 54 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: travel schedule. At first glance, it looks like fifty percent 55 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: of your work time, and so this story can become 56 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: that I am never home, and I agree it is 57 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: a pretty heavy travel schedule. But on the other hand, 58 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: three nights per week twice a month is about six 59 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: nights per month, or seventy two per year, maybe a 60 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: bit less if you exempt holiday and vacation weeks. Out 61 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: of three hundred and sixty five nights you are actually 62 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: home or with your family, pretty close to three hundred 63 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:19,239 Speaker 1: of them. That is the vast majority. Everything feels different 64 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: when you zoom out or consider people who have very 65 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: busy phases of the year. Someone who teaches might find 66 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: the month of September to be frenzied, but perhaps July 67 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 1: is less so. An accountant might find February in March 68 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: to feel like a marathon run at a sprinting pace, 69 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: but November feels more open. A year contains all these multitudes. 70 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: Even very intense and big projects feel smaller in the 71 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: context of big chunks of time. Lots of folks will 72 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: participate in National Novel Writing Month in November, when people 73 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: attempt to writ a fifty thousand word novel in thirty days. Generally, 74 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: people spend about two hours each day on this undertaking, 75 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:13,039 Speaker 1: so sixty hours. But in the context of three thousand, 76 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: eight hundred and forty non working waking hours in a year, 77 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: sixty hours doesn't really sound like that much. Maybe you 78 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: can even write more than one novel, who knows. When 79 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: it comes to time. On the one hand, it makes 80 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: sense that everything is a trade off. Time is absolutely limited. 81 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: We have eight thousand, seven hundred sixty hours in a year. 82 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: Time spent on one thing is often time not spent 83 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 1: on something else. But when we view time from a 84 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: limited perspective, like only looking at twenty four hours, we 85 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: often pit things against each other as trade offs that 86 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: in the grand scheme of things, really aren't. You know 87 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: how this goes. If I go out to drinks with 88 00:05:57,520 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: my team, then I am not putting my kid to bed. 89 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: I'm a terrible parent. But if I don't go out, 90 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: I'm a terrible team member. No one can have it all. 91 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: But if we look at a week and you're going 92 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: out one night and home six nights, this seems a 93 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: little less harsh. You can be a social team member 94 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: and be the kind of parent who is home almost 95 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: every night. And if we're talking going out with the 96 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: team twenty times a year or so, well, we get 97 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: to truly build relationships with our colleagues. But out of 98 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty five days, the vast majority are 99 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: spent doing the bedtime routine. Broaden the horizon and trade 100 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 1: offs don't look the same at all. In the meantime, 101 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making 102 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. 103 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach 104 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 105 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, 106 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 107 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.