Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to read in the mornings. If you're up
Speaker 1: a little before your alarm clock, spending a little time
Speaker 1: reading can be a great way to make this time
Speaker 1: feel satisfying. So this episode is airing right around the
Speaker 1: summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, when the days are
Speaker 1: the longest that they are going to get. The sun
Speaker 1: is up early, and while maybe some people have great
Speaker 1: blackout shades and imasks, I tend to just accept that
Speaker 1: I will wake up earlier during the summer that I
Speaker 1: might during the winter. If you are up before you
Speaker 1: truly need to be up, what you do? I know
Speaker 1: a lot of us pick up our phones and scroll.
Speaker 1: It is easy, it is brainless, But then it can
Speaker 1: feel like this bonus time was just thrown at something
Speaker 1: you might not have actively chosen. Especially if your partner
Speaker 1: or kids are still sleeping, You probably don't want to
Speaker 1: get up and create a lot of noise. That's what's
Speaker 1: so appealing about the phone. You can use it without
Speaker 1: getting up or turning on the lights. But your phone
Speaker 1: is good for more than headlines, text threads, and social media.
Speaker 1: One of the best things you can do on your
Speaker 1: phone is read books. Reading an ebook on your phone
Speaker 1: is absolutely as easy as opening any other app, and
Speaker 1: has the benefit of feeling a bit more satisfying than
Speaker 1: many other apps. Lots of people say they would like
Speaker 1: to read more if you're up a little early with
Speaker 1: the sun during the summer, this is a great way
Speaker 1: to get just a few more minutes in minutes. Add
Speaker 1: up fifteen minutes a morning for just four mornings a
Speaker 1: week is an extra hour, which means that in a
Speaker 1: month you could read an extra book over the course
Speaker 1: of the summer. That's three more books on the summer
Speaker 1: reading list that you just might get through. I tend
Speaker 1: to buy a lot of e books through Amazon. They
Speaker 1: are cheaper than hardcover books and get delivered instantly. Here's
Speaker 1: a little hack that might get you reading more. You
Speaker 1: can get a free sample of most e books, and
Speaker 1: it's a pretty generous sample. So even if you're not
Speaker 1: sure you're going to like a book, or if you
Speaker 1: want to invest the money in buying it, you can
Speaker 1: get the sample, and that way you're going to know
Speaker 1: by about ten percent into the book. If you are
Speaker 1: going to want to read more. If you don't, no harm.
Speaker 1: You're not out any money, but you still spend the
Speaker 1: time reading instead of doing something else. So other retailers
Speaker 1: like Barnes and Noble also sell ebooks for their eReading apps,
Speaker 1: and you should check them out as well. You can
Speaker 1: use the Libby app and borrow ebooks from your library.
Speaker 1: This is completely free, though, as with anything that is
Speaker 1: free in monetary terms, sometimes you pay in waiting time.
Speaker 1: It's going to be harder to get a popular book
Speaker 1: on Libby because there will be a line for it.
Speaker 1: That's why I tend to buy ebooks, as these are
Speaker 1: pretty cheap entertainment in the grand scheme of things. But
Speaker 1: in any case, you want to make sure you've got
Speaker 1: ebooks ready to go in the morning. That way, if
Speaker 1: you open your phone early in the morning in this
Speaker 1: extra time, you will be ready to read. If you
Speaker 1: somehow forgot to get in an e book, just go
Speaker 1: to Amazon and get the free sample of whatever the
Speaker 1: hot new title is and start reading that now. If
Speaker 1: you are up hours before you need to be up,
Speaker 1: that's a slightly different matter. Maybe you want to go
Speaker 1: do a workout in that time, or start a big
Speaker 1: creative project. But if it is really just a few minutes,
Speaker 1: reading is probably your best bet. It feels better than scrolling,
Speaker 1: but handled right really doesn't take any more effort. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Las, Laura vandercam
Speaker 1: dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.