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 use the tomorrow test to help
Speaker 1: you make better decisions. If an option doesn't sound like
Speaker 1: it would be appealing to you tomorrow, it is probably
Speaker 1: not going to be appealing for you ever, no matter
Speaker 1: how far in the future you look. Long time listeners
Speaker 1: may have heard me recommend using the tomorrow test for
Speaker 1: evaluating requests. When you are presented with a one off
Speaker 1: social event or a work or volunteer commitment, consider whether
Speaker 1: you would say yes if you would have to do
Speaker 1: this thing tomorrow. If you would say yes, go for it.
Speaker 1: If not, consider whether your future self is going to
Speaker 1: be upset with you for saying yes on his or
Speaker 1: her behalf. Now. Of course, you may be thinking that
Speaker 1: you couldn't do it tomorrow because you are busy tomorrow,
Speaker 1: But your future self is going to be busy too.
Speaker 1: If you wouldn't rearrange your schedule to say yes tomorrow,
Speaker 1: don't say yes for the more distant future either. You
Speaker 1: can use the tomorrow test for longer term professional projects
Speaker 1: or personal commitments as well. If you don't have time
Speaker 1: in your schedule to start a new project within the
Speaker 1: next week or so, When will you realistically have the
Speaker 1: time for it. Unless you have a project with a
Speaker 1: clear end date coming up, you probably don't want to
Speaker 1: take on a new project unless you have the time
Speaker 1: an inclination to get started on it right away. The
Speaker 1: same goes for a new book club, or softball team
Speaker 1: or wire. If you can't make it to the next
Speaker 1: choir practice, do you really have the time and desire
Speaker 1: to join the choir at all? Not only does the
Speaker 1: tomorrow test keep us from making commitments we end up regretting,
Speaker 1: it can save us from bad purchases too. When you
Speaker 1: buy a new item of clothing that you love, you
Speaker 1: usually want to wear it the next day, or at
Speaker 1: least on the next appropriate occasion. You may even invent
Speaker 1: an occasion to wear it. But if you don't wear
Speaker 1: something on the next appropriate occasion, it is probably never
Speaker 1: going to be a favorite. So if you are shopping
Speaker 1: and contemplating buying a new pair of shoes, ask yourself,
Speaker 1: will I wear these tomorrow? If the answer is not
Speaker 1: a resounding yes, they are probably not for you. This
Speaker 1: is equally true for interesting ingredients at the grocery store bacon,
Speaker 1: onion jam or chilly crisp may seem fun to try,
Speaker 1: but if you don't plan to try them tomorrow, save
Speaker 1: your money in your pantry space for something else. Aspirational
Speaker 1: ingredients don't make your meals special when they never get enjoyed.
Speaker 1: If a new book catches your eye but you wouldn't
Speaker 1: start reading it tomorrow, don't buy it. Put it on
Speaker 1: your to be red list, and you can remind your
Speaker 1: future self about the book and let her decide whether
Speaker 1: she wants to read it. The good news is that
Speaker 1: in this era of e books, you will be able
Speaker 1: to purchase the book immediately as soon as you decide
Speaker 1: you do want to read it, so you don't need
Speaker 1: to add it to the night standpile now. The tomorrow
Speaker 1: test knowledge is that we are still going to be
Speaker 1: the same people in the future. I am not saying
Speaker 1: people don't change at all, because they sometimes do, but
Speaker 1: life is not going to be magically less complicated at
Speaker 1: some later date. You won't magically have more energy. So
Speaker 1: when you are making any sort of decision, evaluate how
Speaker 1: enthusiastic you would be tomorrow. That is a much more
Speaker 1: accurate representation of future you than anything else. If you
Speaker 1: try the tomorrow test, you can let me know how
Speaker 1: it goes at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the
Speaker 1: number four, then breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia
Speaker 1: dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio.
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