WEBVTT - How long are your evenings?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to figure out how long your weekday evenings

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<v Speaker 1>are so you can make the most of them. One

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<v Speaker 1>of my core beliefs of time management is that evenings

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<v Speaker 1>are a real time of day. Whenever you leave work,

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<v Speaker 1>and even if you have a commute, you probably have

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<v Speaker 1>at least a few hours before bedtime. Sure, that time

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<v Speaker 1>may need to include meal prep and clean up, bathing

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<v Speaker 1>kids and putting them to bed, and chores like laundry,

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<v Speaker 1>but the evening is still a significant chunk of time.

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<v Speaker 1>Desires can exist alongside requirements, and so it pays to

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<v Speaker 1>be intentional about where that time is going. I am

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<v Speaker 1>convinced that almost everyone can build in meaningful time for

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<v Speaker 1>relationships and hobbies in the evenings with a little planning.

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<v Speaker 1>For many people, the first step in the process of

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<v Speaker 1>enjoying their evenings more is figuring out how much time.

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<v Speaker 1>We are actually talking about. How long are your evenings?

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<v Speaker 1>This might seem like a straightforward question, but I am

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<v Speaker 1>guessing that you have not really counted this out. Consider

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<v Speaker 1>when you typically finish work and when you typically go

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<v Speaker 1>to bed, then do some math. How many hours do

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<v Speaker 1>you have in a typical evening. If you end work

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<v Speaker 1>at five o'clock and go to bed at ten thirty,

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<v Speaker 1>that is five and a half hours. If you end

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<v Speaker 1>work at eight and go to bed at eleven, that

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<v Speaker 1>is still three hours. Now, when I do these calculations,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the first objections people have is, well, what

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<v Speaker 1>about the commute. The good news is that the average

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<v Speaker 1>commute is less than half an hour. It doesn't actually

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<v Speaker 1>change the calculations all that much. I also think that

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<v Speaker 1>commuting time is real time that can be used for

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<v Speaker 1>personal pursuits if you want, but that is a different topic.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you are generally commuting, let's go ahead and

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<v Speaker 1>subtract that time from your evenings. If you finish work

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<v Speaker 1>at five thirty and have an hour long commute and

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<v Speaker 1>go to bed at ten thirty, your evenings are four

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<v Speaker 1>hours long. Once you know the average length of a

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<v Speaker 1>weekday evening for you, you can figure out how much time

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<v Speaker 1>you have each week. There are four weekday evenings Monday

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<v Speaker 1>through Thursday, so if your evenings are four hours long,

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<v Speaker 1>then each week you are clocking sixteen evening hours. If

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<v Speaker 1>you work forty nine weeks per year. We are looking

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<v Speaker 1>at seven hundred and eighty four hours, and I can

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<v Speaker 1>tell you that in my time diary projects, many people's

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<v Speaker 1>weekday evenings are longer than that. For many people, we

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<v Speaker 1>might be talking almost one thousand hours a year. It

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<v Speaker 1>is a fair chunk of time. Knowing the cumulative number

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<v Speaker 1>can nudge us to start thinking about how we would

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<v Speaker 1>like to use this time. Yes, there are half to dos,

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<v Speaker 1>but probably not seven hundred to one thousand hours worth

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<v Speaker 1>of half to dos. When we are looking at this

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<v Speaker 1>block of time, we can become intentional about our choices.

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<v Speaker 1>Probably there is space to plan in fun things and

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<v Speaker 1>develop some hobbies beyond the electronic hobbies that I know

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<v Speaker 1>feel a lot of this time. What would you like

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<v Speaker 1>to do? Maybe you can schedule an outing with friends

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<v Speaker 1>on occasion and find something like puzzles or art to

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<v Speaker 1>do quietly at home. You can have good books available

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<v Speaker 1>to make this time pleasant as well, and honestly, even

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<v Speaker 1>the have to do is don't have to be terrible.

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<v Speaker 1>You might think through pain points. If you don't like cooking,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe you can make meal prep quicker and easier. Or

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<v Speaker 1>if you do like cooking, maybe you can arrange to

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<v Speaker 1>be undistracted some nights so you can really relish it,

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<v Speaker 1>read stories to your kids that you like too. But

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<v Speaker 1>all that happens after figuring out the volume of time

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<v Speaker 1>we are working with. Many people assume that in the

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<v Speaker 1>busyness of weekday life, there is no space at all.

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<v Speaker 1>It is true that when we get to the evenings

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<v Speaker 1>we are often tired, but that doesn't mean that the

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<v Speaker 1>time isn't there. So figure out how long your evenings are.

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<v Speaker 1>Figure out how much time you have each week over

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<v Speaker 1>the course of the year. I think seeing these numbers

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<v Speaker 1>will nudge you to be intentional with this time and

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<v Speaker 1>a little more present during these hours. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.