1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: Today's tip is about why and how you should build 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: reflective time into your schedule. I define reflective time as 5 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: consciously chosen moments when you pause and think about your life. 6 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: You think about what you've done with your time and 7 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: what you'd like to do with your time. And sure, 8 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: people wind up ruminating unintentionally those moments that two am 9 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: when your thoughts are spinning about something regretted or dreaded. 10 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: But I'm talking about something more intentional, which generally involves planning, journaling, or, 11 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: for those with a more spiritual bent, meditating or praying. 12 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: In my research, I found that choosing to carve out 13 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: these moments is associated with feeling like you have more time. 14 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: From my book Off the Clock, I had nine d 15 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: busy people track their time for a day. I asked 16 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: questions about how they felt about their time. I found 17 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: that the people with the most abundant perspective on time 18 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: were highly likely to engage in these reflective activities, whereas 19 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: the people who felt most starved for time we're likely 20 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: to never engage in these activities. And by the way, 21 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: it's not that the former group had more leisure time. 22 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: The rushed and harried sorts actually watched more TV and 23 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: spent more time online. But if you think about it, 24 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: time keeps passing, whether we think about how we spend 25 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: it or not. We're all on canoes in the middle 26 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: of a rushing river. Unless you pull yourself over to 27 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: a calm spot, it's really hard to figure out how 28 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: to direct our crafts through the current. Reflective moments give 29 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: us a chance to do that, And so it turns 30 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:03,279 Speaker 1: out that spending discretionary time reflecting on life makes time 31 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: feel more calm than using the same quantity of time 32 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: to say Peru's Twitter. So that's the why. Now let's 33 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: get to the how. The first approach and what will 34 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: work best for most people is structural reflection. Doesn't need 35 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: to take a ton of time, but we do need 36 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: cues to remind us to do it, or else will 37 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,679 Speaker 1: just flip from one thing to the next. Long time 38 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: listeners know that I like to plan my weeks on 39 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: Friday afternoons, and I think this is a great time 40 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: in general to think about the week that's just past, 41 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: and the seven days are so to come, what needs 42 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: to happen? What would I like to see happen. Until 43 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: you get in the habit, it might help to set 44 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: an alarm for a certain time, say three pm on Friday. 45 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: If that doesn't work because you're still stuck in a meeting, 46 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: set a back up time. But spending a merre ten 47 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: to fifteen minutes on this weekly planning well add slutely 48 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: change your life. Then you can build in smaller structural 49 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: moments for reflection. I like to think through the next 50 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: day as I'm ending the day before. You can do 51 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: this before you leave work or at night before bed, 52 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: think about what went right and wrong in the previous 53 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: day and what would you like to see happen in 54 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: the coming twenty four hours. When can those things happen. 55 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: Some people might prefer to start their days in reflective mode. 56 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: If that's used, set your alarm for ten minutes before 57 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: you have to be up and use this time to 58 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: read something uplifting or to set your intentions for the day. 59 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: Between a weekly reflective time and smaller daily reflective times, 60 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: you can start to feel a lot more calm, and 61 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: then if you'd like to take things up a level, 62 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: you can try to find other reflective opportunities. Some people 63 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: pray or meditate in the shower it's time. Our minds 64 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: tend to wander anyway, so why not direct that wandering. 65 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: You can count your blessings while stuck in traffic, and 66 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: any bit of found time, like while you're waiting for 67 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: a phone call to start, could be good for writing 68 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: in a journal. The good news is that as you 69 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: build in these reflective movements, your relationship with time we'll 70 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: start to change. You'll start making more positive choices, You'll 71 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,919 Speaker 1: feel more like you are directing time rather than it 72 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: directing you, and you'll probably feel less rushed and harried. 73 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: These are pretty amazing outcomes for what amounts to less 74 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: than five to ten minutes a day. So why not 75 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: give it a shot today? Think about when you can 76 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: build in reflective moments into your schedule, hold yourself accountable 77 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: for today, and then do it again tomorrow. I'm betting 78 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: that the payoff we'll soon have you hooked. In the meantime, 79 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening and years to making 80 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:09,359 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to 81 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,359 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 82 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, 83 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, 84 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,839 Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me 85 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast. At i heeart media 86 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all 87 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,040 Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying 88 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. 89 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i 90 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 91 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.