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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to remember that your time is your own.

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Speaker 1: We have responsibilities to other people and organizations, but your

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Speaker 1: time is fundamental yours and you could make choices with

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Speaker 1: how to spend it. So. I frequently hear from people

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Speaker 1: about their challenges and hopes for their time. One person

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Speaker 1: recently told me that if she were successful in making

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Speaker 1: over her schedule, she would feel that her time and

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Speaker 1: her life belonged to her again. Well, on some level,

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Speaker 1: I think that is an inspiring goal. It was also

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Speaker 1: sobering to hear because it implied that she didn't feel

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Speaker 1: like her time in her life belonged to her currently,

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Speaker 1: and I stand that feeling. I think a lot of

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Speaker 1: people feel like their time is not their own. When

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Speaker 1: you are at work, you might feel like that is

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Speaker 1: your employer's time. When you are cooking or doing laundry,

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Speaker 1: getting groceries, it's your family's time. Or maybe it's more

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Speaker 1: abstract than that. You may feel a vague sense of

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Speaker 1: obligation to no one in particular to keep a clean

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Speaker 1: house and make a balanced meal and send Christmas cards to.

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Speaker 1: When you're with your kids, it is their time, and

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Speaker 1: maybe when you're not with your kids, you may feel

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Speaker 1: like it should be. You feel like the time is

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Speaker 1: actually theirs, but you are borrowing it to wrap up

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Speaker 1: a work project. You may have friends you feel you

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Speaker 1: should get together with, or organizations for whom you are

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Speaker 1: overdue on a task you volunteered to do but haven't completed.

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Speaker 1: It can feel as if everybody else has a claim

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Speaker 1: on your time and there is none left for you.

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Speaker 1: But fundamentally, your time is yours. There are always consequences,

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Speaker 1: but over the long run, we have the power to

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Speaker 1: fill our lives with the things we want to see there.

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Speaker 1: If you feel like your time doesn't belong to you,

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Speaker 1: one of the first things I suggest doing is tracking

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Speaker 1: your time, which lots of people are doing with me

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Speaker 1: here in January. You may find times that could be

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Speaker 1: more obviously reclaimed as yours with a mindset shift. If

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Speaker 1: your kids are in bed at eight and you go

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Speaker 1: to bed at ten, at least an hour of this

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Speaker 1: could be yours. If you limit the housework, maybe you

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Speaker 1: work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays and your kids

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Speaker 1: are on the bus at seven point thirty. If your

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Speaker 1: calls don't start until nine, maybe this ninety minute gap

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Speaker 1: could be spent on whatever you'd like, as long as

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Speaker 1: you remind yourself that you will work a full day

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Speaker 1: at nine and the house can be cleaned up later.

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Speaker 1: As for things that do seem like obligations, sometimes it

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Speaker 1: helps to articulate your values and priorities. If your time

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Speaker 1: commitments to don't fit with these values and priorities, you

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Speaker 1: may need to make some adjustments. But if they do,

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Speaker 1: then perhaps you can connect your time with your purpose.

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Speaker 1: Working incredibly hard on a work project isn't about owing

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Speaker 1: time to your employer. It's that you want to have

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Speaker 1: an impact on your field and you see a direct

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Speaker 1: link between this project and people changing how they do things.

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Speaker 1: If you value having a smooth, functioning home, then a

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Speaker 1: solid laundry system isn't about owing time to Martha Stewart

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Speaker 1: or your mother or your home act teacher. It's something

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Speaker 1: you do so you and your family can get dressed easily.

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Speaker 1: Now I am not saying this is always easy, but

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Speaker 1: it might help, and you might even be able to

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Speaker 1: insert some pleasure in to moments of less pleasant obligation.

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Speaker 1: You value physical activity and friendship. So you drive your

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Speaker 1: kid to soccer, but maybe you get to listen to

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Speaker 1: your music or your audio books in the car. At

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Speaker 1: least some of that time can still feel like it

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Speaker 1: is yours. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.