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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to let your mind wander. When you

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Speaker 1: give yourself the space to day dream, you may boost

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Speaker 1: your creativity, increasing the chances that you come up with

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Speaker 1: lots of great ideas. And who doesn't need more great

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Speaker 1: ideas these days. This week, we've been talking about ways

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Speaker 1: to nurture our brains. If we want to take our

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Speaker 1: days from great to awesome, being on top of our

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Speaker 1: mental games can help a lot. Our brains are the

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Speaker 1: most important productivity tools we have now and in the

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Speaker 1: future too, so we want to keep these tools as

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Speaker 1: sharp as possible. One of the best things sharp brains

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Speaker 1: can do is come up with new ideas. Since many

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Speaker 1: of us do need to come up with lots of ideas,

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Speaker 1: it's important to pay attention to how this process happens.

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Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I come up with

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Speaker 1: a lot of great ideas when I am out running.

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Speaker 1: I don't listen to music, so my mind can just

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Speaker 1: wander as I'm running through my neighborhood or the trails

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Speaker 1: near my house. I think it's the lack of inputs

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Speaker 1: directing my conscious attention. I often wind up piecing together

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Speaker 1: different strands of things and coming up with solutions. Some

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Speaker 1: research has found that many of us experience the same thing.

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Speaker 1: One study that tested people's ability to come up with

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Speaker 1: novel uses for everyday items found that when people were

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Speaker 1: given an undemanding task, that is, one that allowed their

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Speaker 1: minds to wander, they improved their performance on this creativity test. Indeed,

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Speaker 1: they improved more than they did if given a demanding

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Speaker 1: task that didn't allow their minds to wander, or if

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Speaker 1: they were just allowed to rest and do nothing. It

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Speaker 1: seems our brains do our best divergent thinking when we

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Speaker 1: are just a tiny bit occupied enough to take the

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Speaker 1: edge off, but not so occupied that we can't think

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Speaker 1: about anything else. Let your mind wander, and it wanders

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Speaker 1: to intriguing places. This seems straightforward enough, and yet many

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Speaker 1: of us don't spend a whole lot of time in

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Speaker 1: this mind wandering state. Why. I think it's because we

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Speaker 1: can't stand boredom. You sit in a chair at home

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Speaker 1: meaning to stare out the window at the birds, and

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Speaker 1: next thing you know, the phone is out and you

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Speaker 1: are checking email. We listen to music or yes, podcasts

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Speaker 1: while running or walking or driving. And while this isn't

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Speaker 1: a bad thing, I'm glad you're listening to before breakfast.

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Speaker 1: When we feel all our time this way, we don't

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Speaker 1: have base for our minds to wander to intriguing places.

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Speaker 1: So the solution is to come up with situations where

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Speaker 1: you aren't really bored, you are just in a mind

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Speaker 1: wandering state. This is why running outside is better than

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Speaker 1: running on the treadmill. The treadmill is boring, so you

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Speaker 1: need a TV show to get through it. Running on

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Speaker 1: a trail through the woods, on the other hand, is

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Speaker 1: interesting enough that the miles pass without the need for

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Speaker 1: any inputs, so you can let your mind wander. I

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Speaker 1: had one of my best ideas of recent years while

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Speaker 1: jumping waves in the ocean. I couldn't exactly take my

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Speaker 1: phone with me there, but I was engaged with the

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Speaker 1: task of keeping the waves from crashing over my head.

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Speaker 1: That turned out to be a perfect setup for capturing

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Speaker 1: what had been elusive before. I've been experiencing a similar

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Speaker 1: feeling recently as I have been playing Christmas carols on

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Speaker 1: the piano. Now, learning a new piece of music would

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Speaker 1: engage huge chunks of my brain, but something like Joy

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Speaker 1: to the World, which I've played a hundred times, not

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Speaker 1: so much. My mind wanders. It's interesting to see where

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Speaker 1: it wanders too. I haven't come up with any great

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Speaker 1: new business ideas yet, but maybe someday. It's just a

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Speaker 1: matter of time. So today, try coming up with a

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Speaker 1: situation where you can let your mind wander. Go for

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Speaker 1: a walk outside without music. Try something like a jigsaw

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Speaker 1: puzzle or gardening that takes a little effort, but not

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Speaker 1: a huge amount of effort. Don't pick up your phone.

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Speaker 1: You might be surprised what comes to you in this state,

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Speaker 1: so be sure to keep a pen and paper handy.

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Speaker 1: The good ideas may start to flow. You've got your

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Speaker 1: brain working well and that is a good thing. In

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Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd

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Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

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Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

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Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E

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Speaker 1: the number four then Breakfast p o D. You can

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Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at

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Speaker 1: i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled

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Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look

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Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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Speaker 1: of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows a go