WEBVTT - How to be happier, with Cassie Holmes 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:09.280 Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:14.720 This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:16.799 episode is going to be a longer one part of 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.840 the series where I interview fascinating people about how they 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:22.680 take their days from great to awesome and any advice 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:25.279 they have for the rest of us. So today I 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.560 am delighted to welcome Cassie Holmes to the show. Cassie's 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:31.720 a professor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. She is 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:35.280 also the author of the book Happier Hour. So, Cassie, 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:36.159 welcome to the show. 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:39.760 Thanks so much, Laura. I' it's a treat to join you. 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:42.159 Well, I am so excited to have you as well. 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:43.919 Why don't you tell our listeners a little bit more 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:44.640 about yourself. 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:49.960 Yeah, So, I am currently a professor at UCLA in 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:54.560 the Business School, and I stay currently because I started 0:00:54.600 --> 0:01:00.520 my career as a professor back in Philly where to 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:07.959 you geographically, But throughout my career I've been studying happiness 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:10.560 and looking at what's the role of time and how 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:15.959 does that play into things? And the last no offense 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:19.800 to us academics, but nobody reads their academic papers and 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.679 so about six years ago I was like, well, gosh, 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.959 there's actually a lot of insight from the research, not 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:30.120 just my own, but from across the field. So I 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:33.720 decided to pull it together and develop a course that 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:38.120 I've been teaching to our MBAs and executive MBAs at 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:41.440 UCLA called Applying the Science of Happiness to Life Design. 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:46.559 And when I saw the impact on my students, both 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.240 how they you know, their happiness and satisfaction and fulfillment 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:54.120 during the course, but also hearing from them years following 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.480 the course, I was like, oh, my gosh, this is 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:59.080 really exciting. And then when I was approached to write 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.520 a book, I was like, yes, because then more people 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:06.080 who gets it in my done week course can gain 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:10.919 from the learnings. And so I wrote Happier Hour, which 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:13.720 came out a couple of years ago, which is sort 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:17.639 of captures both the research as well as the assignments 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:20.920 that I give my students, some of which are very 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:25.720 much like those that you encourage in your work, Laura, 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:31.560 and so folks can sort of have some tools to 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:35.480 beat distraction, expand their time, and focus on what matters most. 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:36.280 I love it. 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:39.080 Those are all things we are very excited about here. 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:42.320 On this show, and I will confess that I've actually 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:45.920 read some of your papers, Cassie, so you and like 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:48.880 three others exactly exactly. 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:50.600 But I want to. 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:52.600 Talk a little bit about some of your research because 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:54.280 I think a lot of it is very fascinating and 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:58.799 does have practical implications for people. So a couple of them. 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.239 Just I pulled out a of happier hour that I 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:03.960 think would be really helpful for people. One of my 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:08.480 favorite ones is about treating our weekends like a vacation, 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.440 So talk about that. What does that mean and why 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.680 is that a new mindset that people might want to adopt. 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.520 Yeah, it's I love this work because it is so 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:24.359 easy to implement and I continue to and it sounds 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:27.639 like others do as well. And so it was actually 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.880 sort of spurred out of the research that shows that 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:36.800 taking vacation is so important for creativity and even satisfaction 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:39.560 and engagement at work. But so often people don't take 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:41.920 vacation because they don't feel like they have the time, 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:47.240 more the money, while they absolutely should and it is 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.680 something to devote time to. And even in the Gallup data, 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:55.080 the people's responses to whether they prioritize time for vacation. 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:59.760 It is a has a very strong relationship with satisfaction 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:07.440 in life and enjoyment. But given that we don't always 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:10.440 feel like we can take the time, we were actually like, well, 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.000 what if we actually made more of the time off 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:17.320 from work that we do have? Like every week most 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.359 Americans get the weekends quote unquote off from work, but 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:24.200 it doesn't feel like the break that it maybe should. 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:28.279 And so we ran experiments that showed this effect. So 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.400 in the experiment, we randomly assigned and it was among 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:35.640 full time American workers on a regular Friday leading into 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.719 a regular weekend. We gave some these set of instructions 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:43.880 treat this weekend like a vacation, and then we told 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.800 others treat this weekend like a regular weekend. That is it, 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:49.920 that is like as simple as it is. And then 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:52.480 on Monday morning, when they were back at work, we 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.280 followed up and we measured their happiness again. And what 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:58.839 we found that those who were instructed simply to treat 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:02.640 their weekends like a vacation and were significantly happier when 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.200 they were back at work on Monday, not only that 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:10.520 they enjoyed the weekends more. And then we're like, well, 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.920 why like, why is it that just telling someone to 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.839 treat the weekend like a vacation or individuals telling themselves 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:19.359 to treat the weekend like a vacation versus regular weekend. 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:21.960 And what we found was that there were some shifts 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:24.720 in how people spent their time. So people did do 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:28.560 a little bit less work or housework, they spent more 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:33.719 time in bed and eating, like you know, is reflective 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:38.400 vacation as well, right, But what was really interesting was 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:41.640 that it wasn't those changes in the activities people spent 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.760 their time on that actually predicted their enjoyment or even 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:49.360 their happiness on Monday. What did was their mindset. Those 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:52.160 who were treating the weekend like a vacation were more 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.520 focused on the present moment. They were more mentally engaged 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.120 in the activities they were doing. And what I think 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:03.600 is dry is that that sort of doing mode that 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.720 propels us through the week of like getting tasks done, 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.560 checking them off the list, then carries over into the weekend. 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:15.000 So then even if we're doing like social activities or 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.200 going to your kids' soccer game, it's still a task 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.320 that you're moving through and checking it off the list. 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:25.240 But when you're treating it like a vacation. What that 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:28.560 does is it shifts you out of that doing mode 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.880 and allows you just to be. You know, it gives 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:34.839 you that sense of like, you know what, Yes, you 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:37.120 might be at the soccer field for your kids game, 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:39.599 but it's not about a task that you're getting done. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.280 You're like, oh my god, here I am sitting outside, 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.080 Folks are around me cheering from my kid. Like just 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:50.440 that vacation mindset licenses you to just take a break 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:53.159 and chill out and be in the moment. And it's 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.960 interesting because even like digging into the data we saw, 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:00.479 we ask people to in one of this studies to 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:03.000 like reconstruct tell us what they did sort of at 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:07.560 each part of the weekend. And in both conditions, the 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:14.239 vacation condition and the regular weekend condition, there were moms 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:20.160 that were had cooked pancakes for their family on Saturday morning, 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:24.600 but the way they described it was so different that 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:27.800 in the regular weekend was like, and I made pancakes 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:31.000 for my family, it was like absolutely a task. The 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:34.040 other mom and the one who is treating it like 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.680 a vacation, she's like, and we have pancakes for breakfast, 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.080 and we all sat down and it was just like 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:44.560 just like we're on vacation, which again that same activity 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:48.560 is experienced very differently when you're treating it like a vacation. 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:53.120 Absolutely well, fascinating stuff, in a very practical thing for 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.520 people to try this weekend. In fact, we're going to 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:57.040 take a quick ad break and then I will be 0:07:57.080 --> 0:07:58.760 back with more from Cassie homes. 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:05.640 Well. 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.520 I am back with Cassie Holmes, who is a professor 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.160 at UCLA's Anderson's School of Management, which she's taught a 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.840 very popular class on happiness. She is also the author 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.840 of the book Happier Hour. So we're going through some 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:19.640 of you know, the greatest hits on the research here, Cassie. 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.000 Another one of my favorite ones that you talk about 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:24.600 in Happier Hour. You had a study where you had 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:30.760 some people help students edit essays, and you had other 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.080 people get a windfall of free time, like they were 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.920 just allowed to leave without doing whatever experiment they had 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:40.199 come in to do. Right, And I believe you found 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:44.480 some counterintuitive result about how busy or how much time 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.640 people felt they had with these two separate conditions. So 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:49.400 maybe you could talk a little bit about that. 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:54.400 Yeah, And I think it's so important particularly for your 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:57.800 listeners who I'm sure feel very time poor, like they 0:08:57.800 --> 0:08:59.760 don't have enough hours in the day to get at 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:03.640 all done. And when we feel that way, one of 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:07.280 the consequences is that we don't spend the time to 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:10.200 help others out right there is when we feel like 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:12.560 we're busy and in such a hurry, we don't take 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:16.480 the time to help others. But in this work, we 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.480 found that actually giving time can give us a sense 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:24.440 of having more time, which is counterintuitive. Why does it happen? Well, then, 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:28.640 the study that you example showed for example, or talked about, 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:32.280 is that we had some people give their time to 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:38.000 help someone by editing their essay. Others got a windfall 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.000 of time. And in other studies we had them not 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:42.600 only get a windfall of time, but also compared it 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.520 to like spending time on themselves, so spending time on 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:48.160 someone else spending time on yourself. And we found that 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:51.920 those who spend time on someone else felt like they 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:55.560 had more time. And the reason is because it increased 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:59.679 their sense of self efficacy. That is, like when we 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.760 help someone out, like oh my gosh, I accomplished a lot, 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:07.680 it was only five minutes or fifteen minutes and in 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.880 some cases thirty minutes, but like, I accomplished a lot 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.880 with that time, and then it increases your sense of 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.680 how much you can accomplish with your time, more generally, 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:22.880 giving you a sense that you have sufficient time to 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:26.960 accomplish what you set out to do. Because time poverty 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:31.280 is a subjective feeling. It is how confident you feel 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:35.560 like you are able to complete those tasks that you 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:38.760 set out to do. And by increasing your sense of 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:42.839 accomplishment and efficacy and confidence that you can complete your task, 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:47.400 it lessens that sense of constraint from time. Now, I 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:52.480 will say a couple of caveats is if you give 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:55.560 away so much of your time that you really have 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:59.720 like none left, then I don't think it's going to 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.400 have this effect. Like in there is research that shows 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:08.040 that you know, long term caregivers feel very depleted and 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:11.559 lower sense of satisfaction because their time is not their own, 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:15.600 or if that time is taken from you, not that 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:19.520 it's given. I also don't think you'll have this effect. 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:23.160 It's really the sense of spending your time on something 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:26.480 that makes you feel like you've accomplished a lot, and 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:30.240 that translates into feeling like I have more time more recently. 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:35.280 Exactly along with that mechanism, my uh I ran a 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:38.199 study where we showed that the same thing happened with exercise. 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:41.040 So exercise is one of those things that we are 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:43.640 very quick to neglect when we don't feel like we 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:47.360 have a lot of time. But in a study that 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:51.880 we ran among my MBAs, we had them as one 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:56.000 of the class assignments. One week was to exercise because 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:58.520 that is a significant mood booster, and sother to carve 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:02.960 out time to exercise. And then what we did it 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:06.200 was we measured their sense of time poverty, or how 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.760 much time they felt like they had either before the 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:12.040 exercise or after the exercise. And what we found was 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.760 that after exercising, people felt like they had significantly more 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:19.800 time than before exercising because what the exercise did is 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:21.480 it was like, oh my gosh. It gave them the 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:24.680 sense like I have accomplished something and gives the greater 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:27.360 confidence in how you much you can accomplish with your 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:31.640 subsequent day. So I think these are both helpful sort 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:34.160 of things to keep in mind that when we feel 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:41.520 time poor, we do neglect these activities that really fuel us, right, 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:45.760 fuel us give us that energy exercise really sort of 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:51.160 being kind to and doing something for another person. And 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:55.080 yet even though we are tend to sort of neglect them, 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:58.720 if we go ahead and spend time on these particular 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:03.760 activities that really increase our sense of confidence and accomplishment, 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.679 that can lessen our sense of time stream. Absolutely. 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:11.040 Yeah, I would say that, you know, people who do 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:13.360 a lot with their time often feel like they can 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:15.360 do a lot with their done. I mean, because the 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:19.520 evidence is there they have, you know, So it's really 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:24.280 a self reinforcing cycle. And just one more because I 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.480 think this was also a good one too. It's about 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.720 making time feel more more precious by calculating how much 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:36.319 is left and that often we can have a different 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.600 mindset on it everyday activity by realizing how close to 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:40.760 the end of it we might be. 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.680 Yeah, and I think this is really important coming out 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:49.040 of my research where we found that there's extraordinary happiness 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:54.880 available to us in ordinary moments, but so often we 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.120 sort of miss those moments that are right there in 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.640 our days and how we're spending our time already because 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:06.040 of headonic adaptation, right, that is our propensity to get 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:09.440 used to things over time. So when you are doing 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.120 the same thing again and again you're with the same person, 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.480 they stop having as intensive an emotional effect on us. 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:21.800 And so it's good that we're adaptive in the face 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:26.840 of negative circumstances, but recognizing that we also adapt and 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.600 don't notice those the good stuff, we have to figure 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.920 out ways to offset that tendency so we can continue 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:37.920 to feel joy from life's choice. So one way to 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.120 do that is to count your time's left. Because just 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:45.680 because it's an everyday type experience now, it doesn't mean 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.240 that it's going to continue to happen every day, and 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:53.320 certainly not like it does now. And so an example 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:59.800 that I have shared is my coffee dates with my daughter. 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:06.240 So this is a weekly we've been going on our 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:10.600 weekly coffee dates since whatever I want coffee on the 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:13.720 way of dropping out or preschool. And now it's like 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:16.400 a half hour where the two of us spend together. 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:18.640 You know, she has her hot chocolate, I have my 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:21.360 flat white croissants and it's just the two of us 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:26.840 chatting for a half hour. Now, she's nine, while we'd 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:30.120 have our weekly coffee dates. Now, when she turns twelve, 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:32.640 I suspect she'll probably want to go to the coffee 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:34.960 shop with her friends instead of me, So it's not 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.520 going to happen every week, you know. And then she's 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:40.360 going to go off to college and then she's gonna 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:42.960 move to New York or whatever it is. And so 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:47.040 I did this calculation of calculating of our total times 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:50.360 of going on coffee dates what percentage is left, realizing 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:52.800 that we have about thirty six percent of our coffee 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:57.080 dates left and that's much less than half. What that 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:01.280 does recog and she's only nine years old, right. What 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:05.080 that does is it motivates me to make the time 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:08.080 to in those busy weeks, to make sure I make 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:12.160 the time. But as importantly is it makes me pay 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:18.200 attention because knowing that these times are limited makes me 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.640 put my phone away. So that's source of distraction or 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:26.000 also what you know, my constant to do list that's 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:27.960 running in my head, Like I was like, oh, what's next, 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:30.320 what do I need to But like, since I know 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:35.560 that there's so few left, or that they are in 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:41.160 fact limited, it totally makes me pay attention because this 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:45.200 is the time that matters. And so I have, like 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:50.200 in I've had by students calculate times left and some 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:52.560 of the things they've calculated, like dinner with their parents, 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:57.160 or taking their dog for a walk, or you know, 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:01.000 having dinner with their family, their kids, you know, around 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:04.919 the table, and recognizing that these things that are just 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:09.160 the fabric of our lives are precious. It makes us 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:14.520 show up fully and fully, and it totally makes us 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:19.160 pay attention and get experience the joy that is available 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:20.800 to us in that time already. 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:24.560 Absolutely, so much of life is just about paying attention 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.280 to what is there, to the good things that are 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:29.640 already surrounding us. We're going to take one more quick 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:31.080 ad break and then I will be back with more 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:40.800 from Cassie Homes. Well, I am back with Cassie Holmes. 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.480 We've been talking about research on ways to be happier 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:47.560 in our everyday lives. So you know, this is a 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:50.720 time management and productivity podcast, Cassie, so I'm very curious 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.720 if you have any routines in your day that help 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:54.720 you be more effective. 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:59.879 Yeah. Well, we've already talked about mindset and actually the 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:05.400 of exercise. So one of the things that I and 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:08.960 I keep having to turn bind myself and experience the 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:12.680 benefits of it is starting the day instead of picking 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:17.560 up my phone and sort of responding to emails is like, 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:21.159 you know, getting my sneakers on and going out for 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:26.159 my morning run, because that time that I dedicate to 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.920 myself I have is the thinking. It sort of absolutely 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.720 shifts my approach to the rest of the day. Even 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:34.240 though I'm like, oh my god, do I have time? Well, 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.600 when I do it at the first thing in the day, 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:40.240 it absolutely makes me feel like I have more time 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.080 and it sets my mode for the rest of the week. 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:47.760 And another thing is so protecting that time for exercise 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.399 and for me early morning is key. Another thing is 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:55.760 carving out the time and putting my fun away, closing 0:18:55.800 --> 0:19:00.520 out of email for that those work chunks where I 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:04.040 really need want to dig into the part of my 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:07.000 work that is so important to me, that's in line 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:10.199 with my purpose, that requires deep thinking. It's not just 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.440 reacting to emails. It is like where I actually need 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:16.480 to think, and I protect the time in my calendar 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:20.439 and I protect my physical space to not have the 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:24.320 interruptions so that I can get into those flow states. 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:27.959 And that is when we are in those flow states 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:31.800 where most creative, most productive, and when we come out 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:35.720 of it, we feel so great. And what's really sort 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:38.360 of a theme around all of my work is that 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.880 you know, it's not about how much time, it's really 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:46.800 about the quality of the time, and so making the 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:53.280 quality of that time for that important work, protecting it 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:56.760 so that I can I can sort of enjoy it 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:59.320 and make the most of it, because the rest of 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:02.760 the work day is filled with stuff, right like the 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:06.760 email that's warning the meetings. But this at least make 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:09.960 sure that I feel like I have been productive, that 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:15.760 I am sort of making a progress towards the things 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:16.800 that really matter to me. 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:19.000 Do you tend to do that first thing when you 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:21.440 come into the officers at a particular time of day 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:23.280 that you protect I'm curious how you do Yeah. 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:25.960 For me, it is in the morning, so it is 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:29.480 my exercise and then I get ready, you know, like, 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.320 and then I go dressed, and then I start off 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:34.199 the day and I have that first three hours. And 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:35.879 I can't do this every day because there are other 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:39.239 days where I do have actually meetings. But I know 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:41.600 that I'm a morning person. I know that that is 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:45.199 when my mind is working at its best. But the 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:48.879 research shows that some people are actually night owls. So 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:51.720 I think the thing that's most important is for folks 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:56.080 to identify when within their schedule can they actually protect 0:20:56.119 --> 0:21:00.000 the time and not getting those distractions, but also hopeful 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:03.920 aligning it when your brain is most on and it's 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:07.280 sort of fitting with the energy that you have for 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:12.600 that particular task. I mean, you know, my other times 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:15.040 that I want to be super engaged, like my date 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:18.119 you know with my daughter Alita, I don't want it 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:20.919 on Monday morning because I'm in the sort of go 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:24.760 mode and productivity mode. And so it's actually for those 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:27.879 it's more important to me, I like sort of particularly 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:32.080 place it in a morning and a time that I 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:35.239 actually do feel like I will be more likely to 0:21:35.280 --> 0:21:38.040 settle in and down. And so it's now it's on 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:39.840 a weekend morning. I used to be on Thursday mornings. 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:42.640 Yeah, but it's all about knowing your schedule and knowing 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:45.400 yourself and making proactive choices about where you put these 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:46.520 things totally. 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:50.920 Yeah, And it's like we don't have control over all 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:53.680 of our time, but just for those things that are 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:58.200 really important is being very thoughtful and intentional and protecting 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:01.400 that time because other stuff will still in right. It's 0:22:01.440 --> 0:22:03.480 like for me, the afternoons are. 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:06.800 Like Beanil is always there and I'm sure there's always 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:12.199 students who have something that they want, so yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well. 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:14.679 One thing I always ask guests on this show is what, 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:18.680 what's something you've done recently to take a day from 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:19.800 great to awesome. 0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:25.359 I'm like embarrassed to share this. 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:27.360 But it's probably beans it's gonna be good. 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:37.360 I have started doing tennis lessons on There's day warning, 0:22:38.680 --> 0:22:43.000 and I literally like start my work day an hour later. 0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:48.679 But it is so fun. It makes me like it 0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:51.760 is so fun and it is an activity that is 0:22:51.960 --> 0:22:54.520 the only reason I'm doing it is because it's fun. 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:57.000 And then it forces me into the flow day. I'm 0:22:57.040 --> 0:23:00.480 like learning a skill, I'm moving that exercise, Like all 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:04.760 of these outside all of these components make it like 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:08.040 I feel guilty because I'm like embarrassed to share it 0:23:08.080 --> 0:23:10.879 because I'm like, oh no, it's something that is just 0:23:10.960 --> 0:23:15.000 for fun and just for me, but it has made 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:18.359 me so joyful. And then when I show up to work, 0:23:18.480 --> 0:23:21.840 I'm like I'm ready, you know, and I'm much nicer 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:25.080 and kinder and more proactive to my colleagues so they benefit. 0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:27.359 And then when I'm like home at the end of 0:23:27.440 --> 0:23:30.560 the day, the kids, I'm like, oh, my gosh. You know, 0:23:30.600 --> 0:23:33.320 here we are investing in their skill development and all 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:36.800 these fun enriching activities. I'm like, you know what, I'm 0:23:36.800 --> 0:23:40.080 gonna invest in my time exactly. Yeah. 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:42.040 What are the things we often talk about on the 0:23:42.080 --> 0:23:44.600 show about a you know, it take one night for you, 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:46.920 but it could be one early morning for you as well. 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:49.600 But to do something that's not work, it's not taking 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:52.240 care of family, it's something that's uniquely for you and 0:23:52.280 --> 0:23:55.320 that you find intrinsically enjoyable, and it changes your whole life, 0:23:55.400 --> 0:23:57.639 Like totally, what's a week? That's all it has to be. 0:23:58.080 --> 0:24:01.200