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 follow your fancy. If you find
Speaker 1: yourself getting into a topic, go ahead and pursue it.
Speaker 1: This can make your leisure time feel more meaningful and fun.
Speaker 1: Last fall I went on something of a Neanderthal reading streak.
Speaker 1: I've long found the idea of this extinct human like
Speaker 1: species fascinating, and I've been looking for some good books
Speaker 1: on the topic. When the Wall Street Journal ran a
Speaker 1: review of Kindred, popular science book on the under Falls,
Speaker 1: I thought this sounded like just what I was looking for.
Speaker 1: I read it, learned a lot, and of course, then
Speaker 1: Amazon's I'll Rhythm began suggesting other early human evolution books that,
Speaker 1: for some reason, I hadn't really found in my searching earlier.
Speaker 1: In the space of a month, I read close to
Speaker 1: a dozen books on this topic before I exhausted most
Speaker 1: of the offerings. During this time, I was never without
Speaker 1: a book to read, and I was quickly becoming aware
Speaker 1: of the different theories and what was known and not known. Lately,
Speaker 1: I've been on a different sort of kick with puzzles.
Speaker 1: There are a good activity to do at night after
Speaker 1: the toddler goes to sleep and I'm tired and don't
Speaker 1: always want to read. It feels better than just perusing Twitter.
Speaker 1: And so I've done a handful of thousand piece puzzles
Speaker 1: since January. The more I do in a row, the
Speaker 1: better I get at it, and I learned which brands
Speaker 1: of puzzles I like and which are more frustrating. I
Speaker 1: have started eyeing a few I planned to buy in
Speaker 1: the future, including a flight of Chris Smiths puzzles. I'm
Speaker 1: happy to report that some of my kids are getting
Speaker 1: into the idea of following your fancy too. One of
Speaker 1: my children is really into Survivor, watching all the old
Speaker 1: seasons and learning various trivia about the show. He'd read
Speaker 1: anything he could about some of the contestants, their lives
Speaker 1: before Survivor and after he started inventing his own reality show,
Speaker 1: in a narrative about the different characters who would play
Speaker 1: on it, including the alliances they would make. When something
Speaker 1: strikes one's fancy, that means it is intriguing or of interest.
Speaker 1: To follow your fancy is to note this intrigue and
Speaker 1: to act on it. It means taking your leisure time seriously,
Speaker 1: which I know sometimes sounds like a contradiction, But even
Speaker 1: the busiest people do have some leisure time. We just
Speaker 1: often treated mindlessly. Things aren't connected. We miss an opportunity
Speaker 1: to really learn and to figure out and indulge interests
Speaker 1: that might be entirely different from the work and family
Speaker 1: months we spend so much time on. I make my
Speaker 1: living writing and speaking about time management. There is pretty
Speaker 1: much zero connection between the Neanderthals and modern time management.
Speaker 1: But so what I love to learn, and sometimes regular
Speaker 1: adult life feels like it is bereft of opportunities to
Speaker 1: learn new things. Follow your fancy and you can be
Speaker 1: like a kid in a favorite class, again, one perfectly
Speaker 1: tailored to you and your interests. So when you notice
Speaker 1: yourself becoming intrigued by something, or seeking out articles or
Speaker 1: shows on a topic, pay attention. See if any other
Speaker 1: books are experts are mentioned. Seek these out, getting these
Speaker 1: new books from a bookstore or at the library. Research
Speaker 1: what is out there. Yes, you might eventually spend some
Speaker 1: money on all this. I've been trying to use gift
Speaker 1: cards to feed my puzzle addiction, but I do think
Speaker 1: there are worse ways to spend money. People spend a
Speaker 1: lot to make themselves happy, or just on convenience. Getting
Speaker 1: dinner delivered the other night cost enough to buy three puzzles,
Speaker 1: each of which might entertain me for ten hours or so.
Speaker 1: It's good to see these things as we make our choices.
Speaker 1: Scrimp on other things, but spend on your enjoyment, because
Speaker 1: when you follow your fancy life can feel a lot
Speaker 1: more fun. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Yeah, 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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