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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is that even Santa's Elves need time in the workshop.

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Speaker 1: Holiday preparation takes time, so account for it. I know

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Speaker 1: a lot of people listening to this podcast are the

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Speaker 1: chief magic makers in their families. You've already spent a

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Speaker 1: good amount of effort figuring out the holiday schedule, how

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Speaker 1: to make it to family gatherings, concerts, pageant practices, and

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Speaker 1: the Nutcracker if that is on someone's list. But before

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Speaker 1: you declare victory, think about all the holiday work that

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Speaker 1: doesn't have to happen at a specific time, but still

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Speaker 1: has to happen, things like wrapping or sending cards, or

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Speaker 1: baking cookies for a cookie swap. If Santa's Elves need

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Speaker 1: time in the workshop, then you need to make time

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Speaker 1: for these things too, so block it in. I like

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Speaker 1: to schedule December Fridays lightly so I can do the

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Speaker 1: work of holiday prep. Then weekends are obviously an option.

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Speaker 1: But if your family is like mine, that is when

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Speaker 1: you are going to the various holiday events. Squeezing in

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Speaker 1: one more thing isn't always easy. Plus the kids are

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Speaker 1: around on the weekends, which might undermine some of the

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Speaker 1: secrecy involved in some aspects of the holidays. If you

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Speaker 1: have unused PTO time, especially if you'll lose it with

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Speaker 1: the new year, now is a really good time to

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Speaker 1: take it. But even if you won't lose it, now

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Speaker 1: is a good time to take it. You will be

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Speaker 1: able to shop when the stores are emptier, and if

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Speaker 1: your kids are normally in school or childcare, you will

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Speaker 1: be able to wrap without anyone messing up your work.

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Speaker 1: But even if the prep can't be during the work day,

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Speaker 1: and I know the end of year can be busy

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Speaker 1: with work too, you still need to figure out some

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Speaker 1: time for those holiday preparations. Maybe you trade off with

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Speaker 1: others and block out some hours on a Saturday afternoon

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Speaker 1: and just brave the crowds. Maybe you do it after

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Speaker 1: work and just manage your energy through the day. But regardless,

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Speaker 1: put the time on the calendar. Of course, part of

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Speaker 1: putting something on the calendar is at least the idea

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Speaker 1: that you are committing this time to this thing. That

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Speaker 1: raises the question what if something else comes up? Holiday

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Speaker 1: prep is often reasonably flexible, so if you get an

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Speaker 1: invitation for one of the times you have blocked for

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Speaker 1: holiday prep. You can't accept it, but if you do,

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Speaker 1: the prep needs to be rescheduled. If it has to happen,

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Speaker 1: it has to happen, and you can't pretend it takes

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Speaker 1: zero time, so it needs to be moved to a

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Speaker 1: different time. You probably don't want to come home late

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Speaker 1: from a fun party and then need to make two

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Speaker 1: dozen cookies for the next day's event. The holidays can

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Speaker 1: be magical, but as we like to say around here,

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Speaker 1: all magic is just labor hidden well. And since holiday

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Speaker 1: work is labor, just like Santa's Elve's, you will have

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Speaker 1: to clock some time in the workshop to get it done.

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Speaker 1: The sooner it is blocked in, the more calm you

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Speaker 1: will be in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,