1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to make a plan for how you'll 4 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,240 Speaker 1: follow through on your intentions. When we think through what 5 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,319 Speaker 1: we want to do, how we'll do it, and what 6 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: obstacles we might encounter, we've got a much better chance 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: of making intentions become actions. For the last year, I've 8 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: been working on my next book, Tranquility by Tuesday, which 9 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: will come out in the summer of two thousand twenty two. 10 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: I've asked real life people to test out nine rules 11 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: I've developed for making the most of our time and energy. 12 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: During the Tranquility by Tuesday project, I shared each rule, 13 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: specifics about how people could apply the rule, and an 14 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: explanation of why the rule worked. I hope these little 15 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 1: essays were inspiring, but I didn't want to leave that 16 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: to chance, so I asked people to make a plan 17 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: for how they would apply each rule, what challenges they 18 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: might encounter, and what they do if these challenges came up. 19 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: For instance, one rule is to do effortful fun before 20 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,839 Speaker 1: effortless fun. You've probably heard me talk about that here. 21 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: Before you get glued to a screen, spend a little 22 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: time pursuing a hobby like playing the piano or reading, 23 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: or having a real conversation with your partner. We all 24 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 1: know that once the TV goes on or a social 25 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,639 Speaker 1: media app comes out, it is hard to do anything else. 26 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: Effortful fun, like a hobby, is well effortful. It takes effort. 27 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: Once we are absorbed in the easy, passive entertainment of 28 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: our screens, we are unlikely to pull ourselves away to 29 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: do something harder. By doing the full fund first, we 30 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: make sure it happens because the phone and TV can wait. 31 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: Sounds great, right, But if you want to make this 32 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: good intention happen, it helps to make a plan. So 33 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: that's what I asked Tranquility by Tuesday participants to do. 34 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: They identified effortful fund that they'd like to have more 35 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: of in their lives. They reflected on what they actually 36 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: do with their leisure time, including whether they sink a 37 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: lot of time into screens. Then they committed to the 38 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,079 Speaker 1: type of effortful fund that they wanted to try. First, 39 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: they reflected on the challenges they might encounter and how 40 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: they could overcome them. They had a plan for what 41 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: specifically they would do the next time they were about 42 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 1: to pick up their phones or the remote control. I 43 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: learned from behavioral scientist Katie Milkman's recent book How To 44 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: Change That this thought process is called a planning prompt. 45 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: It also turns out to be a good idea. Of course, 46 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 1: you don't have to wait for someone else to give 47 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: you a planning prompt. You can prompt yourself to make 48 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: a plan for acting on your intentions, say for exercising 49 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: three times a week or reading more professional journal articles. 50 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,359 Speaker 1: Think through the context for making your plans happen. When 51 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: are you going to do it? Perhaps you plan to 52 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: exercise on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Maybe you will 53 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: read professional journal articles on Thursday nights while you sit 54 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: in your car in the parking lot during your son's 55 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: baseball practice. In addition to thinking about the context, also 56 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: consider the specifics of how you'll do it. For instance, 57 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: if you want to exercise three times a week, well, 58 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: what kind of exercise do you plan to do? Are 59 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: you going to do something different if it's raining, is 60 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: childcare an issue for you? Figure out how you'll execute 61 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: your plan, including how you'll address any challenges. You can 62 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: also use planning prompts with your kids. For instance, if 63 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: you get a cat with the understanding that your son 64 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: is going to scoop its litter box every day, prompt 65 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: your son to plan when he will do that. If 66 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,719 Speaker 1: something prevents him from doing it, then when else can 67 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: you handle this responsibility. By prompting yourself and others to 68 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,160 Speaker 1: plan how to follow through on good intentions, you decrease 69 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 1: the likelihood of forgetting. By planning to deal with the obstacles, 70 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:40,600 Speaker 1: you decrease the chances of getting derailed, and that makes 71 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: success far more likely. In the meantime, this is Laura. 72 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,280 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of 73 00:04:51,279 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. 74 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. 75 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 76 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the number four, then 77 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an 78 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com. 79 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. 80 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch. 81 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,480 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For 82 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,280 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the i heart radio, app, 83 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.