WEBVTT - Often, rather than always

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that often is pretty much as good as always,

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<v Speaker 1>and often is a lot more achievable in a busy life.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip was inspired by someone who was wrestling with

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<v Speaker 1>the question of whether to pick her kid up at

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<v Speaker 1>school each day. She had a new job that allowed

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<v Speaker 1>her to work from home, and she had a reasonable

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<v Speaker 1>amount of control over her time, so it was theoretically

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<v Speaker 1>possible to pick her kid up at school at three

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<v Speaker 1>point thirty basically every day, but driving ten minutes to school,

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<v Speaker 1>waiting ten minutes in the car line, and then driving

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<v Speaker 1>ten minutes home was a thirty minute chunk out of

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<v Speaker 1>the afternoon at in time spent grabbing keys and shoes

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<v Speaker 1>and then gearing back up, and the chunk of time

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<v Speaker 1>got larger. Her kid could take the bus, but she

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<v Speaker 1>felt guilty then that she wasn't spending time with him

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<v Speaker 1>despite the flexible job. But I pointed out that none

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<v Speaker 1>of this was an either or situation. You can do

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<v Speaker 1>things often, but not always. Given that she did have

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<v Speaker 1>flexibility and autonomy with her time, she could structure different

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<v Speaker 1>days to look different. Maybe she could sign her kid

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<v Speaker 1>up for an after school activity that met at the

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<v Speaker 1>school one day a week, so she got a longer

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<v Speaker 1>uninterrupted work day on that day. Two days a week,

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<v Speaker 1>he could take the bus home, and then she would

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<v Speaker 1>say hello to him and then get back to work,

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<v Speaker 1>making the chunk of time taken out of work closer

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<v Speaker 1>to ten minutes rather than thirty. And then two days

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<v Speaker 1>a week she would pick him up at school and

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<v Speaker 1>just be done with work. Then she and her kid

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<v Speaker 1>could hang out and do something fun. She was driving

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<v Speaker 1>every day right at three point thirty, but she was

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<v Speaker 1>spending plenty of time with her kid and taking advantage

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<v Speaker 1>of her flexible schedule. I suspect that many times when

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<v Speaker 1>people say they always do something, they really mean often anyways,

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<v Speaker 1>people who say they always do family dinner often miss

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<v Speaker 1>a night here or there. They do not truly mean

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<v Speaker 1>that the primary breadwinner turns down absolutely all work dinners

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<v Speaker 1>or evening events. They do not mean that when a

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<v Speaker 1>family member goes to visit Grandma and the next date over,

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<v Speaker 1>everyone else zips over there for dinner too. What they

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<v Speaker 1>mean is that they generally eat dinner together unless there

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<v Speaker 1>is a good reason not to, but so it goes

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<v Speaker 1>for most things. Once you decide that often is generally

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<v Speaker 1>as good as always, you open up all sorts of possibilities.

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<v Speaker 1>I often go to bed at eleven PM. I consider

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<v Speaker 1>that my bedtime, but if I have a really good

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<v Speaker 1>book i'm reading, I might stay up later. I often

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<v Speaker 1>practice the piano, but I do not do it every

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<v Speaker 1>single day. I often put my kids to bed, but

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes I am traveling or doing other things at night,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is okay too. What might you choose to

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<v Speaker 1>do often rather than aiming for always? What might that

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<v Speaker 1>make possible in your life? Thinking more broadly is often

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<v Speaker 1>a good thing, because life is seldom either or In

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<v Speaker 1>the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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<v Speaker 1>to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening

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<v Speaker 1>to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at Laura Vancam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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