WEBVTT - Build in reflective time

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about why and how you should build

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<v Speaker 1>reflective time into your schedule. I define reflective time as

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<v Speaker 1>consciously chosen moments when you pause and think about your life.

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<v Speaker 1>You think about what you've done with your time and

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<v Speaker 1>what you'd like to do with your time. And sure,

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<v Speaker 1>people wind up ruminating unintentionally those moments that two am

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<v Speaker 1>when your thoughts are spinning about something regretted or dreaded.

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<v Speaker 1>But I'm talking about something more intentional, which generally involves planning, journaling, or,

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<v Speaker 1>for those with a more spiritual bent, meditating or praying.

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<v Speaker 1>In my research, I found that choosing to carve out

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<v Speaker 1>these moments is associated with feeling like you have more time.

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<v Speaker 1>From my book Off the Clock, I had nine d

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<v Speaker 1>busy people track their time for a day. I asked

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<v Speaker 1>questions about how they felt about their time. I found

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<v Speaker 1>that the people with the most abundant perspective on time

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<v Speaker 1>were highly likely to engage in these reflective activities, whereas

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<v Speaker 1>the people who felt most starved for time we're likely

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<v Speaker 1>to never engage in these activities. And by the way,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not that the former group had more leisure time.

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<v Speaker 1>The rushed and harried sorts actually watched more TV and

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<v Speaker 1>spent more time online. But if you think about it,

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<v Speaker 1>time keeps passing, whether we think about how we spend

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<v Speaker 1>it or not. We're all on canoes in the middle

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<v Speaker 1>of a rushing river. Unless you pull yourself over to

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<v Speaker 1>a calm spot, it's really hard to figure out how

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<v Speaker 1>to direct our crafts through the current. Reflective moments give

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<v Speaker 1>us a chance to do that, And so it turns

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<v Speaker 1>out that spending discretionary time reflecting on life makes time

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<v Speaker 1>feel more calm than using the same quantity of time

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<v Speaker 1>to say Peru's Twitter. So that's the why. Now let's

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<v Speaker 1>get to the how. The first approach and what will

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<v Speaker 1>work best for most people is structural reflection. Doesn't need

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<v Speaker 1>to take a ton of time, but we do need

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<v Speaker 1>cues to remind us to do it, or else will

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<v Speaker 1>just flip from one thing to the next. Long time

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<v Speaker 1>listeners know that I like to plan my weeks on

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<v Speaker 1>Friday afternoons, and I think this is a great time

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<v Speaker 1>in general to think about the week that's just past,

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<v Speaker 1>and the seven days are so to come, what needs

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<v Speaker 1>to happen? What would I like to see happen. Until

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<v Speaker 1>you get in the habit, it might help to set

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<v Speaker 1>an alarm for a certain time, say three pm on Friday.

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<v Speaker 1>If that doesn't work because you're still stuck in a meeting,

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<v Speaker 1>set a back up time. But spending a merre ten

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<v Speaker 1>to fifteen minutes on this weekly planning well add slutely

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<v Speaker 1>change your life. Then you can build in smaller structural

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<v Speaker 1>moments for reflection. I like to think through the next

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<v Speaker 1>day as I'm ending the day before. You can do

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<v Speaker 1>this before you leave work or at night before bed,

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<v Speaker 1>think about what went right and wrong in the previous

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<v Speaker 1>day and what would you like to see happen in

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<v Speaker 1>the coming twenty four hours. When can those things happen.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people might prefer to start their days in reflective mode.

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<v Speaker 1>If that's used, set your alarm for ten minutes before

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<v Speaker 1>you have to be up and use this time to

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<v Speaker 1>read something uplifting or to set your intentions for the day.

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<v Speaker 1>Between a weekly reflective time and smaller daily reflective times,

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<v Speaker 1>you can start to feel a lot more calm, and

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<v Speaker 1>then if you'd like to take things up a level,

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<v Speaker 1>you can try to find other reflective opportunities. Some people

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<v Speaker 1>pray or meditate in the shower it's time. Our minds

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<v Speaker 1>tend to wander anyway, so why not direct that wandering.

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<v Speaker 1>You can count your blessings while stuck in traffic, and

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<v Speaker 1>any bit of found time, like while you're waiting for

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<v Speaker 1>a phone call to start, could be good for writing

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<v Speaker 1>in a journal. The good news is that as you

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<v Speaker 1>build in these reflective movements, your relationship with time we'll

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<v Speaker 1>start to change. You'll start making more positive choices, You'll

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<v Speaker 1>feel more like you are directing time rather than it

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<v Speaker 1>directing you, and you'll probably feel less rushed and harried.

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<v Speaker 1>These are pretty amazing outcomes for what amounts to less

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<v Speaker 1>than five to ten minutes a day. So why not

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<v Speaker 1>give it a shot today? Think about when you can

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<v Speaker 1>build in reflective moments into your schedule, hold yourself accountable

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<v Speaker 1>for today, and then do it again tomorrow. I'm betting

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<v Speaker 1>that the payoff we'll soon have you hooked. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Thanks for listening and years to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast. At i heeart media

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<v Speaker 1>dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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<v Speaker 1>in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i

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