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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to think about how you might spend time

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Speaker 1: when you are too tired to read more. Mindless screen

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Speaker 1: time isn't the only option for filling low energy hours,

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Speaker 1: and a little preparation means you can spend those hours

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Speaker 1: in happier ways. We often start the day with good intentions.

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Speaker 1: Few of us would consciously declare that, given that I

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Speaker 1: only have a few hours of discretionary time each day,

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Speaker 1: I would like to spend the bulk of those hours

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Speaker 1: looking at sponsored posts on Instagram. But as the day

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Speaker 1: wins on, we run out of energy. Even if in

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Speaker 1: the abstract we would like to read in our spare time,

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Speaker 1: that can feel hard in the moment amid exhaustion or

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Speaker 1: irritation and all those end of day emotions. Before you

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Speaker 1: spend that hour before bed scrolling through tweets, though, think

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Speaker 1: about some other options. For instance, you might lower the

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Speaker 1: difficulty level of what you are reading. I like using

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Speaker 1: the Libby app to check out digital copies of magazines.

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Speaker 1: I can look at a few from my library without

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Speaker 1: adding clutter or expense. To my life. Some folks tell

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Speaker 1: me that switching to audiobooks later in the day has

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Speaker 1: been a game changer. Often our eyes can feel more

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Speaker 1: tired than our ears, so you might be to listen

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Speaker 1: to that book you've been reading, even if you keep

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Speaker 1: jumping away while trying to train your eyes on the words.

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Speaker 1: If you can listen to audio books, you can listen

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Speaker 1: to podcasts. Of course, try something funny or soothing to

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Speaker 1: help you wind down. I will even put in a

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Speaker 1: plug here for conscious TV watching. Just turning on the

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Speaker 1: TV to see what is there isn't a great use

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Speaker 1: of time. But if you have one particularly relaxing or

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Speaker 1: enjoyable show, and you know exactly how long it will

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Speaker 1: take and budget that time in before bed, that can

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Speaker 1: be better than the random surfing or scrolling that gets

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Speaker 1: people agitated or makes time feel wasted. I like relaxing

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Speaker 1: over a puzzle, but here's the thing, when I am

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Speaker 1: tired at night, it has to be the right kind

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Speaker 1: of puzzle. I recently decided not to finish a puzzle

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Speaker 1: version of Starry Night because Van Gogh's masterpiece has too

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Speaker 1: much blue and yellow in the sky in somewhat indistinguishable

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Speaker 1: combinations I switched over to a much more kitchy picture

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Speaker 1: of a wintry ski village, where you know immediately when

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Speaker 1: you look at a piece where it goes. Likewise, if

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Speaker 1: you have a hobby, see if you can find the

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Speaker 1: most brainless version of it. Maybe you like art, but

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Speaker 1: later at night you go for coloring one of those

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Speaker 1: whimsical coloring books. You have a complicated cross stitch pattern

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Speaker 1: you work on when you have lots of energy, but

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Speaker 1: at night you knit a scarf that is all one color.

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Speaker 1: That sort of thing. In any case, one reason we

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Speaker 1: pull out our phones, apart from anything addicting about them,

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Speaker 1: it's just that they are always there and always available.

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Speaker 1: When we have no energy, we don't need to go

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Speaker 1: looking for something to do. Whatever low energy activity of

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Speaker 1: choice you would like to engage in. See if you

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Speaker 1: can make it just as easy. Keep your coloring books

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Speaker 1: and colored pencils somewhere you can see them. Put that

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Speaker 1: knitting project right by your bed or wherever you relax

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Speaker 1: at night. Don't worry about it being clutter. Clutter as

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Speaker 1: things you don't use. You really want to use these things,

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Speaker 1: So make it easy, and even if you have very

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Speaker 1: little energy, you will be more inclined to make good

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Speaker 1: things happen? What do you do when you are too

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Speaker 1: tired to read? You can let me know at Laura

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

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's b E the number four, then

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Speaker 1: breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an

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Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks

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Speaker 1: so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. You