Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to fight fatigue. Many people
Speaker 1: are staring down burnout these days, but it is possible
Speaker 1: to make life feel better and more doable, and maybe
Speaker 1: even keep your sense of optimism too. To say the
Speaker 1: last eighteen months have been rough is well an understatement.
Speaker 1: I know. These pandemic years have been especially rough for
Speaker 1: people who have lost loved ones or who have gotten
Speaker 1: sick themselves. They've been tough on parents who have been
Speaker 1: dealing with anxiety and scheduled disruptions. Small business owners in
Speaker 1: particular have been navigating all sorts of economic uncertainty and
Speaker 1: rules that seem to change just as you get used
Speaker 1: to the old ones. So we're tired, but it is
Speaker 1: possible to fight fatigue. Some of this is just physical
Speaker 1: self care. Forget the day at the spa. Let's focus
Speaker 1: on the basics. We're less tired when we get adequate sleep.
Speaker 1: If you can't change when you wake up, which many
Speaker 1: responsible adults can't do, then move what time you go
Speaker 1: to bed. Give yourself a nice early bedtime. Consider it
Speaker 1: a treat. Going to bed early is how grown ups
Speaker 1: sleep in. You will not solve the world's problems or
Speaker 1: your problems by staying up late to clear out your inbox,
Speaker 1: but you will be better able to solve problems in
Speaker 1: the morning if you're well rested. Second, get some physical
Speaker 1: activity each day. I get that you don't have time
Speaker 1: to go to the gym, but you can always do something.
Speaker 1: One of my cardinal time rules is to move for
Speaker 1: ten minutes every day by three pm. Because that rule
Speaker 1: gets you thinking strategically about the day. You look to
Speaker 1: see where activity can fit you take charge of your time.
Speaker 1: Just a walk will do just ten minutes. More is better,
Speaker 1: of course, but if more seems overwhelming, I promise even
Speaker 1: ten minutes will boost your energy levels and make life
Speaker 1: feel more doable. Third, eat like your body matters. You
Speaker 1: can take fifteen minutes for a meal rather than eating
Speaker 1: a candy bar at your desk. If you just can't
Speaker 1: make cooking work, well, maybe now is the time to
Speaker 1: try one of the myriad meal delivery services out there.
Speaker 1: Then there the psychological aspects of fatigue. We feel tired
Speaker 1: when we don't feel like we're getting anywhere, or maybe
Speaker 1: we even feel like we're making negative progress, but there
Speaker 1: are a few practical things we can do here too. First,
Speaker 1: see if you can offload even a few tasks. Yes,
Speaker 1: I know there is a labor shortage going on and
Speaker 1: it's really hard to hire people. But you might be
Speaker 1: able to contract with a virtual assistant for a few
Speaker 1: hours a week. Are bringing a student for a few
Speaker 1: hours of the easy stuff? Or maybe you could tackle
Speaker 1: everything with your business or your job if you had
Speaker 1: a bit more help on the home front. Do you
Speaker 1: need more childcare, help with the house cleaning. I think
Speaker 1: I already mentioned the meal delivery idea. Second, celebrate how
Speaker 1: far you've come. I mean, celebrate any when you can find.
Speaker 1: Maybe you've got a twenty dollar discount on a regular
Speaker 1: purchase that is straight to the bottom line. Maybe your
Speaker 1: business got mentioned on a local website. It doesn't need
Speaker 1: to be The New York Times to count. Any of
Speaker 1: this can be energizing when you activate your cheering section.
Speaker 1: And finally, when things are really hard, you can recognize
Speaker 1: that getting through the day is enough. Yes, there are
Speaker 1: a million other things that probably have to happen at
Speaker 1: some point, but if today happened and wasn't a total disaster,
Speaker 1: at least on the margins. Then all is okay. You
Speaker 1: will deal with tomorrow when it comes. How have you
Speaker 1: been fighting fatigue these last few months. I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear your strategies. You can reach me at Laura at
Speaker 1: Laura Vanderkamp dot com. 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
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