1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: tip is to figure out how long your weekday evenings 4 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: are so you can make the most of them. One 5 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: of my core beliefs of time management is that evenings 6 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,480 Speaker 1: are a real time of day. Whenever you leave work, 7 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: and even if you have a commute, you probably have 8 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: at least a few hours before bedtime. Sure, that time 9 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: may need to include meal prep and clean up, bathing 10 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: kids and putting them to bed, and chores like laundry, 11 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: but the evening is still a significant chunk of time. 12 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: Desires can exist alongside requirements, and so it pays to 13 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: be intentional about where that time is going. I am 14 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: convinced that almost everyone can build in meaningful time for 15 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: relationships and hobbies in the evenings with a little planning. 16 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: For many people, the first step in the process of 17 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 1: enjoying their evenings more is figuring out how much time. 18 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: We are actually talking about. How long are your evenings? 19 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: This might seem like a straightforward question, but I am 20 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: guessing that you have not really counted this out. Consider 21 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: when you typically finish work and when you typically go 22 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: to bed, then do some math. How many hours do 23 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: you have in a typical evening. If you end work 24 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:39,919 Speaker 1: at five o'clock and go to bed at ten thirty, 25 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: that is five and a half hours. If you end 26 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: work at eight and go to bed at eleven, that 27 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: is still three hours. Now, when I do these calculations, 28 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: one of the first objections people have is, well, what 29 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: about the commute. The good news is that the average 30 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,559 Speaker 1: commute is less than half an hour. It doesn't actually 31 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: change the calculations all that much. I also think that 32 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: commuting time is real time that can be used for 33 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: personal pursuits if you want, but that is a different topic. 34 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: So if you are generally commuting, let's go ahead and 35 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: subtract that time from your evenings. If you finish work 36 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: at five thirty and have an hour long commute and 37 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,399 Speaker 1: go to bed at ten thirty, your evenings are four 38 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: hours long. Once you know the average length of a 39 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: weekday evening for you, you can figure out how much time 40 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: you have each week. There are four weekday evenings Monday 41 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: through Thursday, so if your evenings are four hours long, 42 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: then each week you are clocking sixteen evening hours. If 43 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: you work forty nine weeks per year. We are looking 44 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: at seven hundred and eighty four hours, and I can 45 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: tell you that in my time diary projects, many people's 46 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: weekday evenings are longer than that. For many people, we 47 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: might be talking almost one thousand hours a year. It 48 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: is a fair chunk of time. Knowing the cumulative number 49 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: can nudge us to start thinking about how we would 50 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: like to use this time. Yes, there are half to dos, 51 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: but probably not seven hundred to one thousand hours worth 52 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: of half to dos. When we are looking at this 53 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,639 Speaker 1: block of time, we can become intentional about our choices. 54 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: Probably there is space to plan in fun things and 55 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: develop some hobbies beyond the electronic hobbies that I know 56 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: feel a lot of this time. What would you like 57 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: to do? Maybe you can schedule an outing with friends 58 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: on occasion and find something like puzzles or art to 59 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: do quietly at home. You can have good books available 60 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: to make this time pleasant as well, and honestly, even 61 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: the have to do is don't have to be terrible. 62 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: You might think through pain points. If you don't like cooking, 63 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: maybe you can make meal prep quicker and easier. Or 64 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: if you do like cooking, maybe you can arrange to 65 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: be undistracted some nights so you can really relish it, 66 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: read stories to your kids that you like too. But 67 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: all that happens after figuring out the volume of time 68 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: we are working with. Many people assume that in the 69 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: busyness of weekday life, there is no space at all. 70 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: It is true that when we get to the evenings 71 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: we are often tired, but that doesn't mean that the 72 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: time isn't there. So figure out how long your evenings are. 73 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: Figure out how much time you have each week over 74 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,479 Speaker 1: the course of the year. I think seeing these numbers 75 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: will nudge you to be intentional with this time and 76 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: a little more present during these hours. In the meantime, 77 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:55,799 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 78 00:04:55,839 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. 79 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach 80 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 81 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, 82 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 83 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.