WEBVTT - Win at your witching hour

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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 that if there is a time in your

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<v Speaker 1>day that is frequently frustrating, figure out how you might

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<v Speaker 1>make it better. When you win at your witching hour,

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<v Speaker 1>you may find that your whole day feels more manageable

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<v Speaker 1>and less stressful. When I ran a time tracking challenge

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<v Speaker 1>in January, during which thousands of people track their time together,

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<v Speaker 1>some folks discovered that there were particular times of day

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<v Speaker 1>when they consistently experienced frustration or wasted a lot of time.

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<v Speaker 1>For parents of little kids, late afternoon or early evening

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<v Speaker 1>is a common witching hour. Everyone is hired and hungry,

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<v Speaker 1>and fussiness inevitably ensues. Your witching hour may be at

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<v Speaker 1>a different time of day. Getting out the door in

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<v Speaker 1>the morning, the commute, dinner, kid bedtime, late evening are

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<v Speaker 1>common pain points, times when things just seem to go

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<v Speaker 1>wrong despite your best efforts. After realizing there was a

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<v Speaker 1>time in their day that was consistently rough, some time

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<v Speaker 1>tracking participants decided to invest time, money, or effort in

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<v Speaker 1>making those tricky times go more smoothly. The hope was

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<v Speaker 1>that by removing one major source of irritation, the whole

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<v Speaker 1>day could feel more blissful. Just from a mathematical perspective,

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<v Speaker 1>if you are mostly at a seven or eight on

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<v Speaker 1>a ten point happiness scale, yet one hour seems to

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<v Speaker 1>feel like a negative six, your happiness average is going

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<v Speaker 1>to rise significantly if you get that drain up too.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's say a three. It's not great, but it is

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<v Speaker 1>not soul suckingly terrible either. You can see how this

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<v Speaker 1>might play out. For instance, maybe your kids can never

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<v Speaker 1>find their shoes and backpacks when it is time for

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<v Speaker 1>the bus. This means that they missed the bus at

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<v Speaker 1>least once a week, throwing your entire morning into chaos.

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<v Speaker 1>If that is the problem, see if you can establish

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<v Speaker 1>a place where shoes and backpacks always go and simply

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<v Speaker 1>do not move from. Any shoe, jacket, or backpack found

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<v Speaker 1>elsewhere must immediately be returned to the launching pad before

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<v Speaker 1>anything else can happen. It might take a while, but

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<v Speaker 1>eventually there might be fewer missed buses. Or maybe your

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<v Speaker 1>witching hour is right before you leave work in the afternoon,

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<v Speaker 1>when you seem to get slammed by requests that need

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<v Speaker 1>to be completed by the end of the day. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>you could do a walk around at four o'clock or

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<v Speaker 1>so and ask your colleagues if they need anything so

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<v Speaker 1>that you have time to handle any requests before it

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<v Speaker 1>is the end of the day and you are rushing

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<v Speaker 1>to after care pickup. Alleviating the negative from a rough

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<v Speaker 1>point of day is one option. Another option is adding

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<v Speaker 1>something pleasant to a part of the day that, by

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<v Speaker 1>its nature, is just not going to be that much fun.

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<v Speaker 1>If doing the dishes after dinner leaves you feeling like

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<v Speaker 1>all you do is chores, but the dishes do still

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<v Speaker 1>need to get done, could you listen to your favorite

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<v Speaker 1>comedian while you load the dishwasher to add some laughs

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<v Speaker 1>and lighten your mood. If your commute is frustrating and

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<v Speaker 1>you always find yourself stressed that you will be late

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<v Speaker 1>for your morning meeting, could you carpool with a friend

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<v Speaker 1>or listen to your favorite podcasts while you drive to

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<v Speaker 1>distract yourself from the traffic. If there is a specific

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<v Speaker 1>time in your day that just isn't working for you,

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<v Speaker 1>don't assume you have to suffer through it. Consider how

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<v Speaker 1>you can remove pain points, or add efficiency, or add

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<v Speaker 1>some joy. Levity or connection, you just might be able

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<v Speaker 1>to make it better. And if you improve the worst

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<v Speaker 1>hour of your day, there may be cascading benefits to

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<v Speaker 1>other parts of your day, and you may improve how

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<v Speaker 1>you feel about your time overall. I am not saying

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<v Speaker 1>you will be singing blissfully while getting the kids on

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<v Speaker 1>the bus, but if something goes from terrible to okay,

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<v Speaker 1>that is often as big a boost in life as

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<v Speaker 1>taking something from good to great. If you figure out

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<v Speaker 1>how to win at your witching hour, I would love

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<v Speaker 1>to hear how you do it. You can reach me

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<v Speaker 1>at at Laura Vanderkam dot com. In the meantime, this

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

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear

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<v Speaker 1>from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p O D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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