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 consider more engaging forms of leisure
Speaker 1: before you turn on the TV. Thank effortful before effortless,
Speaker 1: and you'll have a lot more fun in your life.
Speaker 1: Every year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its American
Speaker 1: Time Use Survey, a large time diary study that asks
Speaker 1: thousands of Americans to recount how they spent yesterday, not
Speaker 1: a typical day, yesterday and this year, just like always,
Speaker 1: it turns out that yesterday people watched a ton of TV.
Speaker 1: The average was almost three hours a day. That compares
Speaker 1: to just twenty minutes spent participating in sports, exercise, or recreation.
Speaker 1: In Even people working full time spent on average more
Speaker 1: than two hours per day watching TV. I know why
Speaker 1: it's easy to turn on the TV when you have
Speaker 1: free time. The TV doesn't demand any planning. It doesn't
Speaker 1: ask much of you. No need to get dressed, call
Speaker 1: a sider, or coordinate with a friend. The trouble is
Speaker 1: that watching TV isn't especially satisfying. Sure, it can be
Speaker 1: fun and it passes the time, but it doesn't leave
Speaker 1: us with memories to look back on. You can spend
Speaker 1: a weekend in front of the TV. In on Monday,
Speaker 1: wonder where the weekend went. Now. I am not here
Speaker 1: to suggest that you get rid of your TV. I
Speaker 1: know there are a lot of great shows on these days. Instead,
Speaker 1: keep it in its place. Aim for effortful fun like
Speaker 1: reading or sewing or tennis before you do effortless things
Speaker 1: like watching TV or scrolling through social media. That way
Speaker 1: you get to do both. If you do the effortless
Speaker 1: fun first, well, it's hard to pull yourself away to
Speaker 1: go do those oil paintings. You'll watch TV all night
Speaker 1: and wonder where the time went. Now. Of course, effortful
Speaker 1: fun does take effort. In particular, it often takes planning. Now,
Speaker 1: not even necessarily the type of planning that entails calling
Speaker 1: a sitter or making reservations. But you do need to
Speaker 1: think about what fun you'd like to have to keep
Speaker 1: yourself from reaching for the obvious removed. So make a list.
Speaker 1: Maybe there's a book you'd like to read, maybe you
Speaker 1: need to go get it. Maybe you want to join
Speaker 1: in the breadmaking trend or try out some new recipes.
Speaker 1: You might like to spend some time on a craft
Speaker 1: like needle point or woodworking, or maybe you want to
Speaker 1: spend more time connecting with people you love. Try filling
Speaker 1: a sticky note with specific ideas for such effortful fun.
Speaker 1: Aim for things you can do with a fairly small
Speaker 1: chunk of time, like fifteen minutes, not a whole day.
Speaker 1: You are probably not going to be able to get
Speaker 1: a whole day for fun of any sort. Your list
Speaker 1: might include call Grandpa, or make an origami swan, do
Speaker 1: ten push ups, read a poem, make lemon squares. Now,
Speaker 1: put that sticky note on your TV's remote control. When
Speaker 1: you pick up the remote, let the sticky note inspire
Speaker 1: you to have some effortful fun before you turn on
Speaker 1: the TV. Once you get started in the effortful fun,
Speaker 1: you may decide to continue with it. But if not,
Speaker 1: that's okay too. You're still doing something special before flipping
Speaker 1: on the TV. And in a full life, there is
Speaker 1: space for bits in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, 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 me.
Speaker 1: On Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's
Speaker 1: b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: At iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from i heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.