Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to let best of lists guide you. There
Speaker 1: is no need to guess which movies or TV shows,
Speaker 1: or podcasts or books you will enjoy when there are
Speaker 1: lots of media lovers who curate lists that can point
Speaker 1: you to great content. Let those folks do the initial
Speaker 1: research and you can have fun with the results. So
Speaker 1: lots of people tell me that they would like to
Speaker 1: spend less time mindlessly glued to screens. One way to
Speaker 1: do that, of course, is to spend less time on
Speaker 1: screens period. That is why one of my favorite time
Speaker 1: management rules is to do a little effortful fun before
Speaker 1: effortless fun, reading for a few minutes before heading over
Speaker 1: to Twitter, or working on that puzzle before turning on Netflix.
Speaker 1: Even if you still wind up binging something mediocre, at
Speaker 1: least your leisure time will feel more balanced. But whether
Speaker 1: you do that or not, another way to achieve the
Speaker 1: same goal is to make your screen time more mindful
Speaker 1: and meaningful. One way to do that is with best
Speaker 1: of lists. Do a quick search online and you will
Speaker 1: instantly find lists of the best funny movies, the best
Speaker 1: feel good movies, the best documentaries, or the best movies
Speaker 1: for the whole family. You can also find narrower categories
Speaker 1: like the best movies about Italy or the best movies
Speaker 1: about space, or very broad categories like the best movies
Speaker 1: of all time. Any of these can be a great
Speaker 1: starting point for your view, to say nothing of the
Speaker 1: annual best of lists like Oscar nominees and such. Of course,
Speaker 1: it's not just screens where best of lists can improve
Speaker 1: your enjoyment. Best of lists are great for books and
Speaker 1: podcasts too. For books, check out winners of the Pulitzer
Speaker 1: Prize or the Booker Prize and the Nobel Prize for
Speaker 1: literature from past years, or search the internet for whatever
Speaker 1: sort of books you are looking for, the best graphic novels,
Speaker 1: the best coming of age novels, the best presidential biographies,
Speaker 1: or perhaps the best time management books. To be sure,
Speaker 1: any person compiling a best of list has their own tastes,
Speaker 1: and they might not match yours. Sometimes they have their
Speaker 1: own biases and agendas. Not everyone who claims to be
Speaker 1: an expert truly is. But so what when we are
Speaker 1: talking about leisure screen time in particular. The stakes are
Speaker 1: pretty low. You don't have to watch everything on a
Speaker 1: list or read everything either. You just want a helpful
Speaker 1: starting place and to discover some stuff that might be cool.
Speaker 1: Maybe you will be taken with a certain actor and
Speaker 1: leave the best of list to watch more of his work.
Speaker 1: Maybe you will mention that great Italy documentary from a
Speaker 1: best of list to a friend and get a recommendation
Speaker 1: of something that is truly up your alley from her.
Speaker 1: And if you do go straight through a best of list,
Speaker 1: remember that someone thought this stuff was the best on
Speaker 1: at least some dimension. You will probably have more hits
Speaker 1: than missus. When you use a best of list, you
Speaker 1: find out about options that somebody who is probably well informed,
Speaker 1: thinks many people will like, so there is a good
Speaker 1: chance you will like it too. As an added bonus,
Speaker 1: best of lists let you be part of the conversation
Speaker 1: about what other people are finding interesting. So try printing
Speaker 1: up a few best of lists and saving them near
Speaker 1: wherever you choose your leisure pursuits. Then when you are
Speaker 1: considering how to spend your time, you've got expert guides
Speaker 1: at the ready, and probably your leisure time will start
Speaker 1: feeling more mindful In the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening and here's to making the most of our time. 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 E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.