Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of My Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to seek out effortful fun that can
Speaker 1: keep your mind active. Scroll less, puzzle more. You'll feel
Speaker 1: far more satisfied with your leisure time. This week, we've
Speaker 1: been talking about ways to take care of our brains.
Speaker 1: If we want to take our days from great to awesome,
Speaker 1: being on top of our mental games can help a lot.
Speaker 1: Our brains are the most important productivity tools we have
Speaker 1: now and in the future too, so we want to
Speaker 1: keep these tools as sharp as possible. That brings me
Speaker 1: to today's tip. How we spend our scarce leisure time.
Speaker 1: We are all busy these days between work and family,
Speaker 1: and during this time of year, all the holiday madness,
Speaker 1: we can start to feel like we have no free
Speaker 1: time at all. However, as anyone who has tracked their
Speaker 1: time knows, this isn't a accurate story. Everybody has some
Speaker 1: free time, if not as much as we want. The
Speaker 1: problem is that much of this time occurs when we
Speaker 1: have limited energy, or it is unexpected or short in duration.
Speaker 1: Our phones solve these constraints so well. While you are
Speaker 1: waiting for a train to come, you can read headlines
Speaker 1: or check in on what your former neighbor posted on Facebook.
Speaker 1: If the train comes after two minutes, great, If it
Speaker 1: comes after eight minutes, also fine. You could do the
Speaker 1: same thing in either stretch of time and when it
Speaker 1: gets interrupt did you just proceed to the next thing.
Speaker 1: It is also very easy to keep scrolling or refreshing,
Speaker 1: and so if we are tired at night, we often
Speaker 1: pick up the phones or turn on the TV unthinkingly.
Speaker 1: But none of this tends to engage our brains very much.
Speaker 1: And while we need some downtime, there is a space
Speaker 1: for leisure that makes us feel smarter rather than brainless.
Speaker 1: So why not try scrolling less and puzzling a little
Speaker 1: bit more. Puzzles give our brains the chance to practice
Speaker 1: problem solving. They help us think in new ways and
Speaker 1: thus help us forge new mental connections. I'm talking any
Speaker 1: sort of puzzle. If you've got leisure time and can
Speaker 1: be off screens, try doing a jigsaw puzzle if you
Speaker 1: want an easy sense of accomplishment. A puzzle can be
Speaker 1: done in a night, or you could do a newspaper
Speaker 1: crossword puzzle, or get a book of number puzzles, but
Speaker 1: even if you are online, you could try various puzzles.
Speaker 1: There are online jigsaw puzzles and online crossword puzzles. It
Speaker 1: is as easy to open a puzzle app as to
Speaker 1: open grabby headlines that are designed to make you feel
Speaker 1: fearful and unhappy. You don't have to do the puzzles forever,
Speaker 1: but you might try flipping the automatic habit of doing
Speaker 1: something effortless. Tell yourself you are just going to do
Speaker 1: something effortful for three minutes or so. Then you can
Speaker 1: spend as much time on Twitter as you'd like. My
Speaker 1: guess is much of the time you will stick with
Speaker 1: the puzzles. They can be really fun. But even if not,
Speaker 1: you will spend a few more minutes each day doing
Speaker 1: something that helps your brain stay engaged. That's not a
Speaker 1: bad thing. Our brains are like anything else. They stay
Speaker 1: in better shape when we train them. Plus, much online
Speaker 1: scrolling is so brainless we hardly even notice we are
Speaker 1: doing it, so we stick with the story that we
Speaker 1: have no free time, even if we spend hours perusing headlines.
Speaker 1: It's hard to do a crossword puzzle, though, and not
Speaker 1: notice that you are doing it, so that makes leisure
Speaker 1: time expand in the mental accounting. Even if it is
Speaker 1: the exact same amount of time, scroll less, puzzle more,
Speaker 1: you'll feel more brainy and feel like you're spending your
Speaker 1: time better. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: 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: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.