WEBVTT - Second Cup: Weekends are real days too

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>Today's tip is that weekends are real days too. Even

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<v Speaker 2>if you only do something on weekends, that means you

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<v Speaker 2>are doing it regularly. When it comes to life, Tuesday

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<v Speaker 2>is not more important than Saturday, and knowing that opens

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<v Speaker 2>up all sorts of possibilities. I have studied time and

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<v Speaker 2>the time narratives we tell ourselves for a great many years.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the most common narratives I encounter is that

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<v Speaker 2>if you have a full time job, you probably don't

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<v Speaker 2>have much time for other things, such as seeing your family.

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<v Speaker 2>People throw around statements like that, like, oh, if you

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<v Speaker 2>work full time, you will never see your kids, and

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<v Speaker 2>maybe on the surface, it seems to make sense. After all,

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't full time mean the full amount of your time?

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<v Speaker 2>But there are one hundred and sixty eight hours in

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<v Speaker 2>a week. If you work forty hours a week, so

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<v Speaker 2>a standard full time job, and sleep eight hours a night,

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<v Speaker 2>which is fifty six hours per week, that leaves seventy

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<v Speaker 2>two hours for other things. To be sure, there is

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<v Speaker 2>commuting and chores and showering, but presumably you see your

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<v Speaker 2>family for fairly large chunks of this seventy two hours too.

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<v Speaker 2>Even if it's only for part of the seventy two hours,

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<v Speaker 2>it is a long way from nothing. When I first

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<v Speaker 2>made this argument many years ago, someone countered with this statement, Well, maybe,

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<v Speaker 2>but a lot of that time occurs on the weekend.

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<v Speaker 2>Whiled through this critique for a while was the implication

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<v Speaker 2>that weekend hours aren't real hours, that if you want

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<v Speaker 2>credit for spending time with your family, the only hours

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<v Speaker 2>that count are ten o'clock on Tuesday. I don't know,

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<v Speaker 2>but I do know that many people are walking around

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<v Speaker 2>with these types of assumptions. If you do something on

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<v Speaker 2>the weekend, well that's just the weekend. It's Monday to

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<v Speaker 2>Friday that matter. This narrative plays out in all sorts

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<v Speaker 2>of funny ways. Someone who goes to the gym Monday,

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<v Speaker 2>Wednesday and Friday might talk about their regular exercise routine

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<v Speaker 2>and share how they make time for it. Someone who

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<v Speaker 2>goes to the gym on Saturday and Sunday is a

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<v Speaker 2>weekend warrior, only doing it on the weekend. But that

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<v Speaker 2>is only one fewer times per week than the other person.

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<v Speaker 2>If our weekend warrior managed to exercise at some point

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<v Speaker 2>on Friday, they would be doing it just as many

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<v Speaker 2>times as our regular gym goer. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

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<v Speaker 1>Are real days.

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<v Speaker 2>What you do on these days counts as much towards

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<v Speaker 2>your life as whatever you do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the rules I talk about in Tranquility by Tuesday,

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<v Speaker 2>my most recent time management book, is that three times

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<v Speaker 2>a week is a habit. Whatever we do three times

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<v Speaker 2>a week is happening frequently in our lives enough so

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<v Speaker 2>to be part of our identities. Three is often more

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<v Speaker 2>doable than every single day, which most people don't do.

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<v Speaker 2>In any case, people talk about doing something every day,

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<v Speaker 2>but what they often mean is Monday to Friday, and

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<v Speaker 2>that is not every day. It is only five days

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<v Speaker 2>a week. We are skipping two real days. What all

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<v Speaker 2>this means is that if there is something you want

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<v Speaker 2>to have fit into your life and you seem to

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<v Speaker 2>come up short during the work week, simply aim to

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<v Speaker 2>do it Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Many times people have

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<v Speaker 2>at least somewhat more discretionary time on these days. Perhaps

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<v Speaker 2>there is some benefit to spacing things out, but there

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<v Speaker 2>is even more benefit to just doing things whenever it works.

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<v Speaker 2>If that happens to be on the weekends, well so

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<v Speaker 2>be it. I was thinking of this during the past

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<v Speaker 2>week when I got to Thursday and I realized I

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<v Speaker 2>hadn't managed to run at all. I could have lamented

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<v Speaker 2>this that my busy schedule left me no time to run,

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<v Speaker 2>but instead I decided to run when I could do

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<v Speaker 2>it on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And just like that,

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<v Speaker 2>I had run three times a week. I still felt

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<v Speaker 2>like a runner. It didn't happen every day, and it

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<v Speaker 2>didn't happen Monday to Thursday, but it didn't have to.

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<v Speaker 2>So many other things can benefit from this same mindset.

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<v Speaker 2>Even if you can't have family meals Monday through Thursday,

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<v Speaker 2>maybe you could have pizza together on Friday, a Saturday

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<v Speaker 2>pancake breakfast, and hamburgers together on Sunday, and just like that,

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<v Speaker 2>you are a family that eats together. Maybe you often

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<v Speaker 2>travel during the week, but you could be the person

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<v Speaker 2>putting your kids to bed and reading them bedtime stories Friday,

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<v Speaker 2>Saturday and Sunday, and just like that, you are a

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<v Speaker 2>person who does this regularly, even with all you have

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<v Speaker 2>going on. Weekends are real days. Too, and when we

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<v Speaker 2>see that, it opens up possibilities even in very full lives.

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<v Speaker 2>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 2>here's to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can

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<v Speaker 1>send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just

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<v Speaker 1>connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled

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<v Speaker 1>out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I

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<v Speaker 1>look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

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