Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to get to three.
Speaker 2: I maintain that anything you do three times a week
Speaker 2: is a habit. So if you want to have something
Speaker 2: be a regular part of your life, just see if
Speaker 2: you can squeeze it in three times a week. You
Speaker 2: might be surprised at what you can do. Today's tip,
Speaker 2: like a few others, recently comes from my new book
Speaker 2: Tranquility by Tuesday. Nine Ways to calm the chaos and
Speaker 2: make time for what matters. In this book, I explore
Speaker 2: what happened when one hundred and fifty people learned nine
Speaker 2: of my favorite time management rules over nine weeks. One
Speaker 2: Tranquility by Tuesday rule rule number four, to be exact,
Speaker 2: was that three times a week is a habit. We
Speaker 2: can argue over how regularly anything needs to happen to
Speaker 2: be part of your identity, but three times a week
Speaker 2: is fairly regular. It isn't daily, but most things don't
Speaker 2: need to be. Indeed, I've found that many people who
Speaker 2: claim to have daily habits often don't. They do things
Speaker 2: Monday through Friday, which is five times a week, not daily.
Speaker 2: If the person skips fridays or holidays or vacations, we
Speaker 2: wind up a lot closer to three than to seven.
Speaker 2: In any case, aiming for three times a week can
Speaker 2: be liberating. We might not be able to find space
Speaker 2: for things daily, and particularly at the same time every
Speaker 2: single day, but we don't need to. Three spots over
Speaker 2: the course of the one hundred sixty eight hours in
Speaker 2: a week can be enough. So for instance, let's say
Speaker 2: you used to play an instrument and you would like
Speaker 2: to get back to it. You could lament that you
Speaker 2: can't play the piano for an hour every day like
Speaker 2: you did during your most serious studies, but why is
Speaker 2: that the accepted standard. Could you find twenty minutes three
Speaker 2: times a week to play a low cost electronic keyboard?
Speaker 2: Perhaps you could. That is just one total hour out
Speaker 2: of one hundred sixty eight It seems doable. Or maybe
Speaker 2: you'd like to do some creative writing. You don't have
Speaker 2: hours to hole yourself up in a garret, but could
Speaker 2: you write for twenty to thirty minutes three times a week.
Speaker 2: It's just sixty to ninety minutes. Skip a show or
Speaker 2: two and you're there. Or maybe you fantasize about regular
Speaker 2: family meals. You want to be the kind of family
Speaker 2: that eats together, but between work and kids schedules, there
Speaker 2: is no six pm pot roast being unveiled on its
Speaker 2: platter Monday through Friday. So what, maybe you all eat
Speaker 2: pancakes together on Saturday morning and Sunday dinner together before
Speaker 2: the week begins. Just find one other time that works,
Speaker 2: maybe a late Tuesday dinner if that's a day when
Speaker 2: the activities are over early, and just like that, you
Speaker 2: are a family that eats together. Just get to three.
Speaker 2: I know. I have found that this mindset is incredibly
Speaker 2: helpful as I try to make space for things in
Speaker 2: my life. Once upon a time I ran every day.
Speaker 2: That is no longer happening in this season of my life.
Speaker 2: But I can definitely run three times a week, and
Speaker 2: that means I am still a runner. Our family meals
Speaker 2: happen as they can, but they do generally happen three
Speaker 2: times a week. We are a family that eats together.
Speaker 2: I practice the piano three times a week. I blog
Speaker 2: at least three times per week. None of this needs
Speaker 2: to be daily to count, but because it is regular,
Speaker 2: it can be a part of who I am what
Speaker 2: would you like to have be a regular part of
Speaker 2: your life. You might not need to wait for some
Speaker 2: future time when life will calm down. Life isn't going
Speaker 2: to calm down next week. It might not calm down
Speaker 2: next year. But if you survey your life, you might
Speaker 2: already be doing what you desire one a week or so.
Speaker 2: Just get to three. That is doable, and when you
Speaker 2: do it, your life will feel better. In the meantime.
Speaker 2: This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our talks. 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 pod. You can also shoot me an email at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
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Speaker 1: your favorite shows.