WEBVTT - Consider the arc of a month

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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 think about the arc of a month.

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<v Speaker 1>Taking a few moments at the beginning of the month

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<v Speaker 1>to think about what you need to do and what

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<v Speaker 1>you are looking forward to can make any stretch of

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<v Speaker 1>time feel more doable and interesting. Longtime listeners know that

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<v Speaker 1>I believe most people live their lives in weeks. A

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<v Speaker 1>week is the unit of repeat in the pattern of

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<v Speaker 1>our lives, and by looking at one hundred and sixty

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<v Speaker 1>eight hours, you will have a pretty good sense of

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<v Speaker 1>what someone's life truly looks like. I generally plan my

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<v Speaker 1>life in weeks, but lately I've been thinking a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit more about months. By taking a few minutes at

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<v Speaker 1>the beginning of a month to think about what's going on,

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<v Speaker 1>what I need to do, and what I'm looking forward to,

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<v Speaker 1>I can plan time more holistically. Maybe I can move

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<v Speaker 1>something to a lower key week, or maybe I need

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<v Speaker 1>to add something to a time that's looking kind of dreary.

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<v Speaker 1>A key thing this practice does is remind you what

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<v Speaker 1>the weekends are for any given month. The last weekend

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<v Speaker 1>of the month can seem a ways away from the

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<v Speaker 1>vantage point of the first, but if there is something

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<v Speaker 1>more elaborate you would like to do, getting a rough

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<v Speaker 1>idea far ahead of time makes it more likely to happen.

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<v Speaker 1>You also keep yourself from getting blindsided by big stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you know on some level that you have a

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<v Speaker 1>big deadline on the twenty seventh of a given month

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<v Speaker 1>that seems far away, but you are not actively thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about the fact that you're going to that conference from

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteenth to the twenty third, and you've got family

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<v Speaker 1>visiting the week before that. Knowing you to have all

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<v Speaker 1>that on your plate can remind you to work ahead

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<v Speaker 1>earlier in the month, so you're not quite so crunched

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<v Speaker 1>at the end. Alternately, you might see that you're going

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<v Speaker 1>to get slammed in the first week or two, but

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<v Speaker 1>the last two weeks of the month are pretty open now.

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<v Speaker 1>You know to try to keep them that way so

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<v Speaker 1>you can recover after going through the ringer, rather than

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<v Speaker 1>simply putting things there without thinking about it. There might

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<v Speaker 1>also be days that it's just wise to know about.

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<v Speaker 1>I know I sometimes forget about the random half days

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<v Speaker 1>at my kids' schools. Looking ahead a month reminds me

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<v Speaker 1>to get those on the calendar, and if things are

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<v Speaker 1>looking kind of grim, well, it's always good to put

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<v Speaker 1>something fun into the near future. I know the early

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<v Speaker 1>days of January felt much better for me when I

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<v Speaker 1>decided to put two fun Friday night activities on different

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<v Speaker 1>weekends through the month. It was not just a cold

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<v Speaker 1>and dreary month. January was a month where I went

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<v Speaker 1>to see a Sixers game and I went to Boston

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<v Speaker 1>with a friend. You don't need to spend much time

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<v Speaker 1>on this. I don't, and if I forget to do it.

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<v Speaker 1>Planning life just in terms of weeks and then seasons

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<v Speaker 1>is fine. But I know a lot of people do

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<v Speaker 1>get some sort of fresh month energy as they at

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<v Speaker 1>least metaphorically flip their calendar pages. If that is true

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<v Speaker 1>for you, then there's no harm in treating a month

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<v Speaker 1>as a unit and looking at all of it. You

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<v Speaker 1>just might wind up with more fun on the calendar

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<v Speaker 1>or more space if that's what you want by looking ahead.

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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 most 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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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.