Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to choose and track your media. As with
Speaker 1: so many aspects of life, mindfulness can make our leisure
Speaker 1: time feel much better. So with a lot of media consumption,
Speaker 1: we wind up being fairly passive. We see what headlines
Speaker 1: catch our eyes or what comes up on a social
Speaker 1: media feed. Even with old fashioned television, people often scroll
Speaker 1: around to see what's there. And that is fine, except
Speaker 1: there are so many options out there in the world,
Speaker 1: and while I believe we have a fair amount of
Speaker 1: leisure time in our lives, we don't have infinite amounts.
Speaker 1: If leisure time is supposed to be fun, then in
Speaker 1: in general, we are better off making sure that whatever
Speaker 1: media we consume during this time is in fact going
Speaker 1: to be fun. So be a thoughtful consumer. Curate your
Speaker 1: podcast library so that it only contains episodes you are
Speaker 1: really interested in listening. To keep your bedside tables stocked
Speaker 1: with books you really want to read, create a queue
Speaker 1: of shows and movies you want to watch. Go through
Speaker 1: your newsletters and social media feeds, and make sure you're
Speaker 1: prioritizing accounts with interesting content you want to consume. Being
Speaker 1: intentional about the content you take in is important for everyone,
Speaker 1: but it may be especially important if you are in
Speaker 1: a chapter of your life when you may not have
Speaker 1: much time to travel for pleasure, attend live performances, or
Speaker 1: see friends. What you read and watch is going to
Speaker 1: be a big chunk of the way you learn about
Speaker 1: the world. However, even if you have limited time, you
Speaker 1: probably have some time, and that's why I think it's
Speaker 1: especially important to track your media. Maintain records of what
Speaker 1: you have read, heard and watched, what you thought about it,
Speaker 1: and the insights you took away. The goal is to
Speaker 1: remember what you have consumed. There are lots of ways
Speaker 1: to do this. I know of one avid reader who
Speaker 1: writes the title and author of each book she reads
Speaker 1: on an index card, plus a sentence or two about
Speaker 1: her thoughts. Then she punches a hole in the card
Speaker 1: and puts it on a loose leaf ring that she
Speaker 1: keeps by her reading chair. It is a fun way
Speaker 1: for her to be able to remind herself of what
Speaker 1: she has read. You might prefer logging and sharing what
Speaker 1: you read on Goodreads or books to gram for movies, podcasts,
Speaker 1: or any sort of media. You could keep a list
Speaker 1: of what you have consumed in a print or digital
Speaker 1: journal or on a spreadsheet. Yes, you can record newsletters
Speaker 1: and social media on there too. I know it might
Speaker 1: not be quite so granular, but you could indeed write
Speaker 1: twenty minutes of Instagram after work on Thursday, mostly looking
Speaker 1: at interior design pictures. From time to time, you can
Speaker 1: review this list and see what it is that you
Speaker 1: always love, or if there's anything that is no longer
Speaker 1: worth your time. When you know you are going to
Speaker 1: log the media you consume, you may feel a nudge
Speaker 1: to choose something worth your time. You may not want
Speaker 1: to write down that you spent three hours watching YouTube shorts,
Speaker 1: and so you choose to do something else. But even
Speaker 1: more important, when you start to see your list of books, movies,
Speaker 1: podcasts and so forth grow, you may start to realize
Speaker 1: that you do have more leisure time than you thought,
Speaker 1: and you may start telling yourself a happier story about
Speaker 1: how you spend your time. So as we look ahead
Speaker 1: to summer and perhaps a little more leisure time than
Speaker 1: during other parts of the year, it's a great time
Speaker 1: to get intentional about what you consume and to consider
Speaker 1: tracking the content you took in. You will get more
Speaker 1: out of your media and maybe feel better about your
Speaker 1: time overall. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.