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 that things will look better in the morning. Well,
Speaker 1: it is easy to become frustrated as the day goes
Speaker 1: on and to find things untenable toward bedtime. A good
Speaker 1: night's sleep can change everything. If you can remind yourself
Speaker 1: of this, you might be less inclined to do anything rash,
Speaker 1: or at least you'll feel better about life. My family
Speaker 1: recently took a trip to Upstate New York for my
Speaker 1: brother's wedding. The weekend was mostly lovely, but we arrived
Speaker 1: late Friday night, after three and a half hours in
Speaker 1: the car with five not entirely happy to ldren. My
Speaker 1: baby hadn't slept in the car, so I thought he
Speaker 1: would crash as soon as we got there, but he
Speaker 1: did not. He fought sleep for an hour, and since
Speaker 1: we were staying in a guesthouse where there were other
Speaker 1: people living on the other side, that meant I couldn't
Speaker 1: have him making noise. I wound up rocking him the
Speaker 1: entire time. Now. I know we are supposed to treasure
Speaker 1: these moments, but not at ten thirty pm, not when
Speaker 1: I'm tired, and not when I have strongly suspecting that
Speaker 1: my husband has not started putting the older children to bed,
Speaker 1: and so that is waiting for me. On the other
Speaker 1: side of all this rocking, I was pretty miserable. So
Speaker 1: I did what I always do in these circumstances. I
Speaker 1: pictured myself on the other side. While it was possible
Speaker 1: I would still be rocking the baby in thirty minutes,
Speaker 1: I would not still will be rocking him in eight hours.
Speaker 1: Eventually I would go to bed. Eventually it would be morning,
Speaker 1: and we would be able to look out at the
Speaker 1: lovely fall scenery and enjoy some coffee and farm fresh eggs.
Speaker 1: And sure enough, eventually he did sleep. Eventually I did too,
Speaker 1: and the crisp fall morning was lovely. As we went
Speaker 1: hiking around Lake Minnewaska and went to my brother's outdoor wedding,
Speaker 1: things look better in the morning. I know the research
Speaker 1: on ego depletion is muddled, but in general it makes
Speaker 1: sense that as we go through the day, our supply
Speaker 1: of willpower gets used up. We focus at work, we
Speaker 1: deal with difficult people, we battle traffic, We heard children
Speaker 1: to bed. It is hard to be excited about life.
Speaker 1: Late at night, when the day has been long, we
Speaker 1: can indulge in all sorts of narratives of unhappiness. But
Speaker 1: as the old hymn goes morning by morning, new mercies
Speaker 1: I see. The sun comes up, that first cup of
Speaker 1: coffee kicks in, and suddenly what felt terrible the night
Speaker 1: before feels doable. With a new day, solutions appear, things
Speaker 1: seem less extreme. The trick for a better existence is
Speaker 1: to remind yourself of that truth at night. Though things
Speaker 1: feel terrible in the moment, they will look different in
Speaker 1: the morning, so just hold tight and go to bed.
Speaker 1: It will be okay. A good night's sleep can change
Speaker 1: just about anything. And yes, I know not everybody as
Speaker 1: a morning person, but studies of energy and focus show
Speaker 1: that most people do better on these dimensions in the
Speaker 1: early hours. Not everybody, but most people. So let your
Speaker 1: night self off the hook. He or she won't be
Speaker 1: able to deal with your toughest problems, but everything will
Speaker 1: look different in the morning, So just picture yourself then
Speaker 1: and you will feel better about just about everything. In
Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody. I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at before fist pod that's b E
Speaker 1: the number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can
Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast. At
Speaker 1: i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.