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 to find me time before everyone in
Speaker 1: your household is asleep. A common complaint I hear, especially
Speaker 1: from parents of little kids, is that they have no
Speaker 1: me time during the day, so they stay up late
Speaker 1: to get it, sometimes really late, after their kids bedtimes,
Speaker 1: after they've done the dishes and tidy it up from
Speaker 1: the day, maybe after packing lunches or laying out clothes
Speaker 1: for the next day. Then they stay up. But by
Speaker 1: the time the kids are asleep and the chores are done,
Speaker 1: people are exhausted and determined to have some alone time
Speaker 1: anyway darn it, so they stay up late to get it.
Speaker 1: And this time isn't exactly high value. People are too
Speaker 1: exhausted to do much beyond scroll or channel sir, but
Speaker 1: at least it's autonomous. This can continue for hours, which
Speaker 1: means that the me time comes at the price of
Speaker 1: starting the next day exhausted too. One of my foundational
Speaker 1: time management rules is to give yourself a bedtime. Choose
Speaker 1: a time you intend to be in bed most nights,
Speaker 1: a time that will enable enough sleep and then go
Speaker 1: to bed unless you have a good reason not to.
Speaker 1: It seems simple, but I also know that a lot
Speaker 1: of people resist this rule because going to bed at
Speaker 1: a rational time feels like it might mean sacrificing time
Speaker 1: for themselves, and so sleep deprivation is a price people
Speaker 1: are willing to pay for me time. But here's the thing.
Speaker 1: You don't have to choose between adequate sleep and discretionary time.
Speaker 1: Sleep and me time are both essential to a satisfying
Speaker 1: and sustainable schedule. I promise you that with a little
Speaker 1: planning and creativity, you can have both even in a
Speaker 1: busy life. Here are some options for how First, if
Speaker 1: you are looking for me time while your kids are asleep,
Speaker 1: it might be possible to go to bed on time
Speaker 1: and still get up before them. Now I'm not talking
Speaker 1: about waking up at four thirty am, please, but if
Speaker 1: your kids are normally up around let's say six thirty am,
Speaker 1: even getting up at five am might allow for some
Speaker 1: higher quality me time than you will get at eleven pm.
Speaker 1: Late at night, you will probably scroll first thing in
Speaker 1: the morning. You might read something more substantial than click
Speaker 1: bait headlines. You might write in a journal or sketch
Speaker 1: or do another creative hobby. Go to bed earlier and
Speaker 1: get up earlier, and have time just for you first
Speaker 1: thing in the morning. If you commute, definitely treat your
Speaker 1: commute as me time. Listen to audio books for pleasure.
Speaker 1: Spend some time researching longer podcasts you might listen to
Speaker 1: that is longer than this one that might make the
Speaker 1: trip feel exciting. Don't write off the work day either.
Speaker 1: If you can possibly take breaks, take breaks. You could
Speaker 1: think about your five lunch breaks during the week as
Speaker 1: a portfolio of fun options. Maybe two days a week
Speaker 1: you go out to eat with colleagues, two days a
Speaker 1: week you read during your lunch break, and one day
Speaker 1: you do a little adventure like stopping by a nearby
Speaker 1: park or visiting a gallery that intrigues you. I'd also
Speaker 1: suggest creating a few waking, non working hours where your
Speaker 1: kids are not in your care. If you are co
Speaker 1: parenting with someone, come up with a formal trade off schedule.
Speaker 1: You could take an hour after work on Monday to
Speaker 1: do something fun, and your co parent could get an
Speaker 1: hour on Tuesday. Maybe each of you has some fun
Speaker 1: for you commitment, like a group bike ride or choir
Speaker 1: practice each week divide and conquer, and neither of you
Speaker 1: will feel quite so compelled to stay up late just
Speaker 1: to feel like an autonomous person. You could also invest
Speaker 1: in some extra childcare. If you normally get off work
Speaker 1: at five pm and your daycare closes at six pm,
Speaker 1: maybe one night a week, don't rush straight there. Go
Speaker 1: sit in a coffee shop or in the library and
Speaker 1: decompressed for thirty minutes before heading over. And if you
Speaker 1: have little ones who still nap on weekends, don't do
Speaker 1: chores during naptime. Well, at least, don't do chores first.
Speaker 1: Use the first forty five minutes of nap time for
Speaker 1: something that feels rejuvenating for you. If you were home
Speaker 1: with little kids on weekdays, same rule. If you do
Speaker 1: chores first, a short nap means you will get no
Speaker 1: me time. But if you have your fun first, then
Speaker 1: probably you will still get to the chores and bits
Speaker 1: and pieces later, or you won't, but oh well, life
Speaker 1: won't feel like such a drag. So this week, look
Speaker 1: for ways you can find time for yourself without waiting
Speaker 1: for everyone in your family to fall asleep. If you
Speaker 1: subscribe to my Just a Minute email newsletter, you'll know
Speaker 1: that I've talked recently about what I call the magic hour.
Speaker 1: If you can find just one hour a day to
Speaker 1: do something that you enjoy, life will feel entirely different.
Speaker 1: I promise it's like magic. People often try to get
Speaker 1: that magic hour at night, but if you can get
Speaker 1: it during the day, you will have a lot more
Speaker 1: options and a lot more energy for enjoying it. So
Speaker 1: how can you make a magic hour for you before
Speaker 1: your family falls asleep? If you've got suggestions of what's
Speaker 1: worked for you, I would love to hear them. You
Speaker 1: can email me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: 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 iHeartMedia 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 my heart Radio,
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