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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is that day's off need some structure. While

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Speaker 1: it is tempting to try to do nothing, this tends

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Speaker 1: to result in haphazard email checks and house cleaning. A

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Speaker 1: little strategy can make the time off feel much more meaningful.

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Speaker 1: I recently heard from someone who is facing an interesting

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Speaker 1: but probably not that uncommon situation. She had two weeks

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Speaker 1: off between jobs. Her kids would still be in their

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Speaker 1: usual school and childcare arrangements, so she had two weeks

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Speaker 1: when she would be mostly free during business hours. She

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Speaker 1: was trying to figure out how to make sure that

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Speaker 1: she felt like she had really enjoyed and the most

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Speaker 1: of this time, rather than peddling it away. It's a

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Speaker 1: good question. While a two week trip might be amazing,

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Speaker 1: this is somewhat harder when the kids aren't traveling too.

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Speaker 1: She could, however, maybe do an overnight trip, and she

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Speaker 1: was looking at doing some writing projects, which I thought

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Speaker 1: was a good idea. I thought it was a really

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Speaker 1: good idea to think through this time and to be

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Speaker 1: strategic about it, because unfortunately, when many of us are

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Speaker 1: not working, but are at our homes. We see the

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Speaker 1: same responsibilities that we normally face, and so a school

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Speaker 1: day could easily disappear into grocery shopping, returning something to

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Speaker 1: another store, and then sorting through the mail pile. Two

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Speaker 1: weeks of this might feel unsatisfying, especially when the new

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Speaker 1: job would bring its stressors soon enough. In general, if

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Speaker 1: you've got some amount of time off, I think it

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Speaker 1: helps to do a few things first. Set a few

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Speaker 1: anchor events. Yes, you want to leave a lot of

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Speaker 1: open time to learn what it feels like when time

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Speaker 1: is unstructured and relaxed, but you also want to know

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Speaker 1: that you'll do a few things that you couldn't do

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Speaker 1: while working full time or if you had your kids

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Speaker 1: during the day. Schedule these in so you can look

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Speaker 1: forward to them. The day hike, the overnight retreat in

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Speaker 1: the mountains, the matinee show, really enjoy the anticipation. Then

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Speaker 1: you also want to batch the things that you are

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Speaker 1: going to wind up doing during this time, because yes,

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Speaker 1: now is a good time to do that dentist appointment,

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Speaker 1: to get your oil changed, to finally pick up that

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Speaker 1: form from the county clerk's office. However, if these things

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Speaker 1: are always options. You'll have a hard time relaxing if

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Speaker 1: you know you should be doing them. Schedule all of

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Speaker 1: them for one Tuesday before three p m. And not

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Speaker 1: only will you get them done, you won't have to

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Speaker 1: worry about them at other points. You know there is

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Speaker 1: a time for doing that annoying errand and now is

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Speaker 1: not that time. With a few anchor events and a

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Speaker 1: time for batching the little things, your days off will

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Speaker 1: feel satisfying. You'll feel relaxed without worrying that you are

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Speaker 1: wasting your time. You will actually enjoy the open space

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Speaker 1: without worrying that you should be doing something else. If

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Speaker 1: you've ever planned a few weeks off between jobs, or

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Speaker 1: maybe before starting a new school program, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear how you spent the time. You can let me

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Speaker 1: know at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at before Breakfast Pod. That's B the number four,

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Speaker 1: then Breakfast p O D You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i

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Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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Speaker 1: your favorite shows. I can't get k