1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:20,479 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to not sleep in on weekends. Yes, 4 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: a little Saturday or Sunday morning snooze seems like a 5 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: good way to catch up on sleep, but committing to 6 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: get up at a reasonable hour can open up all 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: kinds of time. When I first became apparent about thirteen 8 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: years ago, I soon realized that weekend sleep would not 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: be the same for a while. Little kids often wake 10 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: up at the crack of dawn, and they do not 11 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:49,160 Speaker 1: care if it's Saturday or if it's Tuesday. My husband 12 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,520 Speaker 1: and I would switch off for the early mornings, which 13 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: I recommend if you're in a two parent family. But 14 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: this meant the other party could maybe sleep in until 15 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: eight am or so nobody hit double ditch it. Of course, 16 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: children do eventually grow up. There was a magical movement 17 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: about a year ago when none of my kids were 18 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,559 Speaker 1: under four years old. The older ones were sleeping later 19 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: on weekends and the little ones either slept or entertain themselves. 20 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: But I also realized that continuing to get up early 21 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: had some merit. For instance, if you're training for a race, 22 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 1: or just like longer exercise stints, these runs or bike 23 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: rides can be hard to fit into the middle of 24 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: a Saturday that during normal times might feature kids, sports, 25 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: birthday parties and the like. Run from six thirty to 26 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: nine thirty am, and you can train for a marathon 27 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: before many other household members get up, or if neither 28 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: you nor your partner cling to the idea of sleeping in, 29 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: each of you can get a long exercise stint in 30 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: on one of the weekend mornings, taking the kids on 31 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: the other one. This is how people who have careers 32 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: and toddler's run marathons. They don't have access to special 33 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: hours that no one else does. They just don't sleep in. 34 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: Of course, exercise doesn't have to be the only option. 35 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: Many people's minds are freshest in the mornings. I'm writing 36 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: before Breakfast episodes right now, which is seven am on 37 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: a Saturday. Now. Of course, this is my job, and 38 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: in theory, it's nice to have a break between weekends 39 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: and week days with schools closed for the foreseeable future. 40 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: Though my week days are often interrupted, weekend mornings are 41 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: a time to get stuff done. There are also a 42 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: time to tackle those bigger creative projects that tend to 43 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: get shoved away when life gets busy. From six to 44 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: nine am on a weekend, you could spend ninety minutes 45 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: working on your novel, then an hour running, and start 46 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: your day feeling accomplished. Now, to wake up at something 47 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: close to your week daytime on weekends requires two things. First, 48 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: you need to be reasonably well rested going into the weekend. 49 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: Sleeping in is often about working off a sleep debt. 50 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: It might work, but in general you'll have more energy 51 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: by figuring out how much sleep you need and doing 52 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: your best to make that happen during the work week. 53 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: If you need seven and a half hours and you 54 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: need to wake up at six am on weekdays, then 55 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: your bedtime is ten thirty. Simple enough, and you'll be 56 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: thanking yourself every morning as you wake up ready to 57 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: wake up. But then, of course, to keep this up, 58 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: you have to go to bed at a reasonable time 59 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: on weekends too, and this is often the biggest challenge, 60 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: not because there's any particular reason for most of us 61 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: to stay up late. If you and your spouse want 62 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: to watch a movie, you could watch it from eight 63 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: to ten pm, go to bed, and then pop up 64 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: on your own at five thirty. I suspect the problem 65 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: is that, in our minds, going to bed early on 66 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: weekends seems kind of not so fun. No, we haven't 67 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: gone clubbing until one am in years, but we could. 68 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: And if we're not, at least we're still awake at 69 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: the same time as people who are in the clubs. 70 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: Well as I'm writing this. We're all social distancing, so 71 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: no one is in clubs at one am or any 72 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,840 Speaker 1: other time. So with the fear of missing out gone, 73 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 1: why not try going to bed at a deliciously early hour. 74 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: If you go to bed on time on Friday and 75 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: Saturday nights and wake up on time, you might be 76 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: able to use the mornings for all those things that 77 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: we say we want to do but then don't do. 78 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: Not sleeping in on weekends opens up time for things 79 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: that make us feel energized for life. In the meantime, 80 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 81 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: the most of our time. M Hey, everybody, I'd love 82 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: to hear from you. 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