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 to make your own mini retreat. Getting
Speaker 1: away for just a little bit with a little bit
Speaker 1: of structure can give you the opportunity to ask important
Speaker 1: questions about your life. While a long retreat might be great,
Speaker 1: taking a mini retreat is more doable for people who
Speaker 1: can't just go sit in a cabin somewhere for a year.
Speaker 1: Since Thorough went to Walden Pond to contemplate life, many
Speaker 1: of us have idealized this idea of escaping from our
Speaker 1: usual routines to think deep thoughts. Organizations everywhere host annual
Speaker 1: retreats for their leaders to ponder strategy, often at some
Speaker 1: hotel with a view of the beach or the mountains.
Speaker 1: That can be great, but any corporate retreat will inevitably
Speaker 1: focus on futures within the organization and not big life
Speaker 1: decisions which might not include the organization, and many of
Speaker 1: us don't work for large companies. Anyway, We might crave
Speaker 1: space to think about our lives, but in the bustle
Speaker 1: of carpools and emails, this can be tough to do.
Speaker 1: But I do think it's possible. I've taken a few
Speaker 1: writing retreats, and I've got a Think Deep Thoughts professional
Speaker 1: retreat on the calendar soon too. Here's how to make
Speaker 1: these retreats fit in life, and how to optimize your
Speaker 1: time while you're doing them. First, privileged convenience over other factors.
Speaker 1: You might like to go to Malibu, but a quiet
Speaker 1: beach an hour from your house is perhaps a better bet.
Speaker 1: Or you might tack a few days onto a business trip.
Speaker 1: I took one writing retreat in jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, which
Speaker 1: is a cute mountain town about ninety minutes from my house.
Speaker 1: I did another writing retreat in a different part of
Speaker 1: the Poconos. When I was speaking at someone else's retreat,
Speaker 1: I just showed up two days early. When you've got
Speaker 1: a full life, you don't want to lose time to transit.
Speaker 1: Being just an hour away can be enough to remove
Speaker 1: you from your daily situation. Second, think short, but not
Speaker 1: too short. I think two nights is the minimum because
Speaker 1: it gives you at least one whole day during which
Speaker 1: you don't need to move yourself or your stuff. Three
Speaker 1: would be better, giving you two whole days with no
Speaker 1: transit the past. This there may be a point of
Speaker 1: diminishing returns. You want enough time to think and relax,
Speaker 1: but not so much that it's overwhelming and you start
Speaker 1: wasting time. Many of us do better when we have
Speaker 1: some limits. Third, go with a specific goal in mind.
Speaker 1: With both of my writing retreats, I wanted to devote
Speaker 1: whole days with no interruptions, to editing my book. Manuscripts
Speaker 1: were at the point where I could do that, and
Speaker 1: I was basically happy with what I'd written, but I
Speaker 1: wanted to experience this writing as a through reader, making
Speaker 1: notes and then addressing what I could. You might take
Speaker 1: a retreat with the goal of pondering your professional and
Speaker 1: personal goals for the next year. Or maybe you're thinking
Speaker 1: of switching careers and want to identify and rank what
Speaker 1: aspects of a new career would make you happiest. Just
Speaker 1: getting away sounds nice, but as a recipe for watching
Speaker 1: hotel movies rather than thinking deep thoughts. Fourth, prepare Do
Speaker 1: you need to read something before you go? Do you
Speaker 1: need to ask for other people's advice? If I had
Speaker 1: gone on my retreats with half a manuscript, they would
Speaker 1: have been much less productive, So I needed to get
Speaker 1: that done ahead of time. If you have a complex life,
Speaker 1: you also need to make sure the plans are in
Speaker 1: place for you to escape. Do you have child care,
Speaker 1: do you have backup childcare? If you have a partner,
Speaker 1: is this person on board? Ideally, because you've offered to
Speaker 1: reciprocate at some point, block off the days and be
Speaker 1: ruthless about keeping them blocked. Anticipate what could derail you,
Speaker 1: and make sure there's a plan to address those derailments.
Speaker 1: It might even help to create a backup slot for
Speaker 1: your retreat should your first choice of timing not work.
Speaker 1: If it's important, you deserve to give yourself that space.
Speaker 1: Fifth plan to work and think, but to do other
Speaker 1: things too. On both my retreats, I spent some time
Speaker 1: walking around outside. I hiked in the Poconos, and I
Speaker 1: visited little restaurants in jim Thorpe. Even on a retreat,
Speaker 1: you're not going to be able to work for twelve
Speaker 1: hours straight, so get a sense of when you'd like
Speaker 1: to take breaks. Meals are a good option, but you
Speaker 1: probably want something physical to give yourself a schedule of
Speaker 1: goals for each segment by noon, I want to have
Speaker 1: written this list by nightfall. I want to have explored
Speaker 1: the upsides and downsides of each idea. And finally, don't
Speaker 1: sabotage yourself. If you plan to think deep thoughts, put
Speaker 1: your phone in airplane mode or hide it somewhere. Don't
Speaker 1: get sucked into an email chain about something that will
Speaker 1: yank you right back to your office or the politics
Speaker 1: of your homeowners association board. By building in breaks, you
Speaker 1: can nix some of this temptation, but not all of it.
Speaker 1: That's on you. If you view your mini retreat as
Speaker 1: a gift you are giving yourself, perhaps you can appreciate
Speaker 1: it and honor it as a gift someone else might
Speaker 1: give you. You wouldn't smash it right in front of
Speaker 1: their eyes. Have you ever taken a mini retreat? I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear how you pulled it off. You can
Speaker 1: email me at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeart media dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: That's b the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from
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