Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to make a plan for how you'll
Speaker 1: follow through on your intentions. When we think through what
Speaker 1: we want to do, how we'll do it, and what
Speaker 1: obstacles we might encounter, we've got a much better chance
Speaker 1: of making intentions become actions. For the last year, I've
Speaker 1: been working on my next book, Tranquility by Tuesday, which
Speaker 1: will come out in the summer of two thousand twenty two.
Speaker 1: I've asked real life people to test out nine rules
Speaker 1: I've developed for making the most of our time and energy.
Speaker 1: During the Tranquility by Tuesday project, I shared each rule,
Speaker 1: specifics about how people could apply the rule, and an
Speaker 1: explanation of why the rule worked. I hope these little
Speaker 1: essays were inspiring, but I didn't want to leave that
Speaker 1: to chance, so I asked people to make a plan
Speaker 1: for how they would apply each rule, what challenges they
Speaker 1: might encounter, and what they do if these challenges came up.
Speaker 1: For instance, one rule is to do effortful fun before
Speaker 1: effortless fun. You've probably heard me talk about that here.
Speaker 1: Before you get glued to a screen, spend a little
Speaker 1: time pursuing a hobby like playing the piano or reading,
Speaker 1: or having a real conversation with your partner. We all
Speaker 1: know that once the TV goes on or a social
Speaker 1: media app comes out, it is hard to do anything else.
Speaker 1: Effortful fun, like a hobby, is well effortful. It takes effort.
Speaker 1: Once we are absorbed in the easy, passive entertainment of
Speaker 1: our screens, we are unlikely to pull ourselves away to
Speaker 1: do something harder. By doing the full fund first, we
Speaker 1: make sure it happens because the phone and TV can wait.
Speaker 1: Sounds great, right, But if you want to make this
Speaker 1: good intention happen, it helps to make a plan. So
Speaker 1: that's what I asked Tranquility by Tuesday participants to do.
Speaker 1: They identified effortful fund that they'd like to have more
Speaker 1: of in their lives. They reflected on what they actually
Speaker 1: do with their leisure time, including whether they sink a
Speaker 1: lot of time into screens. Then they committed to the
Speaker 1: type of effortful fund that they wanted to try. First,
Speaker 1: they reflected on the challenges they might encounter and how
Speaker 1: they could overcome them. They had a plan for what
Speaker 1: specifically they would do the next time they were about
Speaker 1: to pick up their phones or the remote control. I
Speaker 1: learned from behavioral scientist Katie Milkman's recent book How To
Speaker 1: Change That this thought process is called a planning prompt.
Speaker 1: It also turns out to be a good idea. Of course,
Speaker 1: you don't have to wait for someone else to give
Speaker 1: you a planning prompt. You can prompt yourself to make
Speaker 1: a plan for acting on your intentions, say for exercising
Speaker 1: three times a week or reading more professional journal articles.
Speaker 1: Think through the context for making your plans happen. When
Speaker 1: are you going to do it? Perhaps you plan to
Speaker 1: exercise on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Maybe you will
Speaker 1: read professional journal articles on Thursday nights while you sit
Speaker 1: in your car in the parking lot during your son's
Speaker 1: baseball practice. In addition to thinking about the context, also
Speaker 1: consider the specifics of how you'll do it. For instance,
Speaker 1: if you want to exercise three times a week, well,
Speaker 1: what kind of exercise do you plan to do? Are
Speaker 1: you going to do something different if it's raining, is
Speaker 1: childcare an issue for you? Figure out how you'll execute
Speaker 1: your plan, including how you'll address any challenges. You can
Speaker 1: also use planning prompts with your kids. For instance, if
Speaker 1: you get a cat with the understanding that your son
Speaker 1: is going to scoop its litter box every day, prompt
Speaker 1: your son to plan when he will do that. If
Speaker 1: something prevents him from doing it, then when else can
Speaker 1: you handle this responsibility. By prompting yourself and others to
Speaker 1: plan how to follow through on good intentions, you decrease
Speaker 1: the likelihood of forgetting. By planning to deal with the obstacles,
Speaker 1: you decrease the chances of getting derailed, and that makes
Speaker 1: success far more likely. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the number four, then
Speaker 1: breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com.
Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the i heart radio, app,
Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.