1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: tip is to remind yourself to relax if you know 4 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: you will need downtime after something stressful or intense. Don't 5 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: set yourself up to forget and then be kicking yourself 6 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: when you don't get the rest that you need. Today's 7 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: tip was inspired by Sarah hart unger my co host 8 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: on my other podcast, Best of Both Worlds. As a 9 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: practicing physician, she takes call at her hospital system every 10 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: few weeks. Her particular call runs from Monday morning to 11 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: Monday morning, and during this time she needs to be 12 00:00:55,280 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: available quickly and often in the hospital seeing patients. She 13 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: then sees patients all day Monday at the end of 14 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: her call week, since that is a usual clinical day 15 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: for her. So needless to say, by the Tuesday after 16 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: her call week, she is pretty tired. Of course, she 17 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: has lots of stuff that builds up during her call 18 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: weeks that need to be dealt with, so the obvious 19 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: way this plays out is that Tuesday then becomes packed, 20 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: but she knows that she will not feel like doing 21 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: much productive, so recently she actually wrote on her calendar, 22 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: don't schedule anything for the Tuesday after her next call week. 23 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: Now we all know that this may not work perfectly, 24 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: but if she does go to schedule something on that Tuesday, 25 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: she will be reminded of this admonition. She will need 26 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: to make a conscious choice, knowing that this will be 27 00:01:54,680 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: time she would desperately like to have open. I think 28 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: this is a smart idea. If you too know that 29 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: you will be coming out of a stressful or intense time, 30 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: you may need to remind your future self to relax. 31 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 1: For instance, if I have just given a speech, I 32 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: tend to need a little downtime afterwards. That means I 33 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: wind up resenting my past self. If I have assigned 34 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: myself some must do task for the flight home, or 35 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: I just don't do it and I have to deal 36 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: with the schedule realities of making that choice, it would 37 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: be better just to acknowledge that all I will want 38 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: to do is read a magazine and build my workflow 39 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: around that truth. Or sometimes people who are very much 40 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: mourning people decide that they will finish up a work 41 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 1: project after they get the kids to bed at night. 42 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: Then they are predictably exhausted, and can't make it work, 43 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: or it takes twice as long as it should. Better 44 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: to figure out another time, even if it means getting 45 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: up a little earlier in the morning. You would think 46 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: we would remember to relax, but we don't always. So 47 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: if you are going to desperately want some downtime in 48 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: the future after something you know will deplete you, don't 49 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: rely on luck. Come up with some way to remind yourself. 50 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: Put a giant block on your calendar or write a 51 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: message on a paper calendar. Tell your assistant to check 52 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: with you before scheduling things, even if he or she 53 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: normally has the ability to make these decisions. When people 54 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: feel unproductive, it is often because they have set themselves 55 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: up to do work that is not a good match 56 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: for the amount of energy they have. So if you 57 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: can see a low energy time coming up, make a 58 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: plan to deal with it. Remind yourself to relax, and 59 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: there is a slightly greater chance that you actually will 60 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 61 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:28,039 Speaker 1: here's to making the moose of our time. Thanks for 62 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, 63 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. 64 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts 65 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 66 00:04:51,360 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.