WEBVTT - Remind yourself to relax

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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 to remind yourself to relax if you know

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<v Speaker 1>you will need downtime after something stressful or intense. Don't

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<v Speaker 1>set yourself up to forget and then be kicking yourself

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<v Speaker 1>when you don't get the rest that you need. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip was inspired by Sarah hart unger my co host

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<v Speaker 1>on my other podcast, Best of Both Worlds. As a

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<v Speaker 1>practicing physician, she takes call at her hospital system every

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<v Speaker 1>few weeks. Her particular call runs from Monday morning to

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<v Speaker 1>Monday morning, and during this time she needs to be

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<v Speaker 1>available quickly and often in the hospital seeing patients. She

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<v Speaker 1>then sees patients all day Monday at the end of

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<v Speaker 1>her call week, since that is a usual clinical day

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<v Speaker 1>for her. So needless to say, by the Tuesday after

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<v Speaker 1>her call week, she is pretty tired. Of course, she

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<v Speaker 1>has lots of stuff that builds up during her call

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<v Speaker 1>weeks that need to be dealt with, so the obvious

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<v Speaker 1>way this plays out is that Tuesday then becomes packed,

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<v Speaker 1>but she knows that she will not feel like doing

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<v Speaker 1>much productive, so recently she actually wrote on her calendar,

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<v Speaker 1>don't schedule anything for the Tuesday after her next call week.

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<v Speaker 1>Now we all know that this may not work perfectly,

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<v Speaker 1>but if she does go to schedule something on that Tuesday,

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<v Speaker 1>she will be reminded of this admonition. She will need

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<v Speaker 1>to make a conscious choice, knowing that this will be

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<v Speaker 1>time she would desperately like to have open. I think

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<v Speaker 1>this is a smart idea. If you too know that

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<v Speaker 1>you will be coming out of a stressful or intense time,

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<v Speaker 1>you may need to remind your future self to relax.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, if I have just given a speech, I

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<v Speaker 1>tend to need a little downtime afterwards. That means I

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<v Speaker 1>wind up resenting my past self. If I have assigned

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<v Speaker 1>myself some must do task for the flight home, or

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<v Speaker 1>I just don't do it and I have to deal

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<v Speaker 1>with the schedule realities of making that choice, it would

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<v Speaker 1>be better just to acknowledge that all I will want

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<v Speaker 1>to do is read a magazine and build my workflow

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<v Speaker 1>around that truth. Or sometimes people who are very much

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<v Speaker 1>mourning people decide that they will finish up a work

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<v Speaker 1>project after they get the kids to bed at night.

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<v Speaker 1>Then they are predictably exhausted, and can't make it work,

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<v Speaker 1>or it takes twice as long as it should. Better

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<v Speaker 1>to figure out another time, even if it means getting

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<v Speaker 1>up a little earlier in the morning. You would think

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<v Speaker 1>we would remember to relax, but we don't always. So

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<v Speaker 1>if you are going to desperately want some downtime in

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<v Speaker 1>the future after something you know will deplete you, don't

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<v Speaker 1>rely on luck. Come up with some way to remind yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>Put a giant block on your calendar or write a

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<v Speaker 1>message on a paper calendar. Tell your assistant to check

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<v Speaker 1>with you before scheduling things, even if he or she

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<v Speaker 1>normally has the ability to make these decisions. When people

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<v Speaker 1>feel unproductive, it is often because they have set themselves

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<v Speaker 1>up to do work that is not a good match

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<v Speaker 1>for the amount of energy they have. So if you

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<v Speaker 1>can see a low energy time coming up, make a

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<v Speaker 1>plan to deal with it. Remind yourself to relax, and

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<v Speaker 1>there is a slightly greater chance that you actually will

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<v Speaker 1>in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the moose of our time. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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

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<v Speaker 1>from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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