Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 2: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 2: tip is to celebrate your golden hours, that is the
Speaker 2: hours after work and before bed. These evening hours can
Speaker 2: be hard to use well, but time is time, and
Speaker 2: with a little intention, these hours can be a favorite
Speaker 2: part of the week. So I hear from many people
Speaker 2: about their time, and I know that the hours after
Speaker 2: work and before bed can be a particular pain point.
Speaker 2: For many parents of young kids, this second shift can feel.
Speaker 1: Like a slog of feeding and bathing people and trying
Speaker 1: to convince them to go to bed so you can
Speaker 1: do it all over again the next day. For other folks,
Speaker 1: the evening can fill with mindless screen time and nothing
Speaker 1: more memorable than the knowledge that the day ended eventually.
Speaker 1: Not all time can be bliss, of course, but these
Speaker 1: post work hours comprise a reasonable proportion of people's leisure
Speaker 1: and family time. If you are home from work at
Speaker 1: five thirty pm and in bed at ten thirty pm,
Speaker 1: that is twenty hours spread over Monday to Thursday. That's
Speaker 1: a lot of time to spend unintentionally or worse, wishing
Speaker 1: it away. But what if we reimagine this time as
Speaker 1: our golden hours, What if we saw them as a
Speaker 1: potential source of pleasure, not in some future time, but now.
Speaker 1: I do think it is possible, and even a little
Speaker 1: planning can go a long way toward changing the experience
Speaker 1: of time. The phrase golden hour is often used in
Speaker 1: photography to describe that hour around sunset when the light
Speaker 1: makes everyone look good. But I also like the connotations
Speaker 1: of golden years, a phrase describing an era of active
Speaker 1: leisure in family time after a period of hard work.
Speaker 1: Golden years come in retirement, but golden hours could happen
Speaker 1: every day. I think this potential rebranding can be helpful
Speaker 1: for switching up our mindset. The Monday to Thursday golden
Speaker 1: hours can be made a lot more pleasurable by doing
Speaker 1: a few things. First, take a night off. If the
Speaker 1: second shift is feeling like a slog, make plans to
Speaker 1: skip it one night. I think all busy people should
Speaker 1: take one night for you and commit to something apart
Speaker 1: from work and family responsibilities. I sing and acquire most
Speaker 1: Thursday nights. You could take a salsa dancing class, or
Speaker 1: join a spiritual small group, or play pickleball. Figure out
Speaker 1: what would make you excited about life. Figure out the
Speaker 1: logistics and spend your golden hours doing that one night
Speaker 1: per week. Second plan little adventures. We start counting the
Speaker 1: hours toward bedtime when we're bored, so at least one
Speaker 1: night a week, why not bust the routine a little
Speaker 1: and do something more memorable. It can be a family
Speaker 1: walk or trip to a different playground, or a picnic,
Speaker 1: or a trip to a library branch. With evening hours,
Speaker 1: think about what family activities you might find enjoyable and
Speaker 1: pick a night to try. If you are not caring
Speaker 1: for small kids or aren't on some nights, you could
Speaker 1: try different adventures, meeting friends, trying a different workout class,
Speaker 1: they're going for an evening run, maybe cooking something elaborate.
Speaker 1: Evening hours often feel forgettable, but golden hours don't need
Speaker 1: to be. Third easier pain points. Part of honoring the
Speaker 1: golden hours is figuring out when you are most miserable
Speaker 1: and doing what you can to make those moments better.
Speaker 1: If you hate cooking while a toddler is pulling at
Speaker 1: your leg, why not get some easy to prepare foods
Speaker 1: that you are excited about. Lots of grocery stores sell
Speaker 1: reasonably healthy meals, like a piece of salmon with some
Speaker 1: veggies and a sauce that you just have to stick
Speaker 1: in the oven. If you dread bathtime, maybe kids don't
Speaker 1: need to bathe so often. Find bedtime stories you want
Speaker 1: to read. If you are stuck in a child's room
Speaker 1: waiting for them to go to sleep, feel free to
Speaker 1: read something lowbrow on the kindle lap. Set a timer,
Speaker 1: and refuse to spend more time on chores than that
Speaker 1: limited time so you don't feel like you are wasting
Speaker 1: your night. Fourth, upgrade your leisure. Some people have more
Speaker 1: leisure time during their golden hours than others, but everyone
Speaker 1: can make the most of the time they have. Stock
Speaker 1: up on easy reading material and indulge in some supplies
Speaker 1: for a favorite hobby. Make a list of favorite accessible
Speaker 1: activities like sitting outside by a fire pit or taking
Speaker 1: a bath, and make sure to do at least one
Speaker 1: of these during your golden hours each week. Finally, end well.
Speaker 1: One reason I recommend people set a bedtime, especially during
Speaker 1: the work week, is that an endpoint give structure to
Speaker 1: a day. You can be a bit more mindful of
Speaker 1: your golden hours if you know how many you have
Speaker 1: Verse viewing them as amorphous and un certain. You can
Speaker 1: also create a bedtime ritual that helps you feel cozy, calm,
Speaker 1: satisfied with your day. Drifting off to sleep early enough
Speaker 1: that you will feel well rested in the morning can
Speaker 1: make any day feel more golden. In the meantime, This
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com.
Speaker 1: That before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, look forward to staying in touch. Before
Speaker 1: Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
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