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 about how not to crash on weekends.
Speaker 1: Being a bit more careful about sleep during the week
Speaker 1: means you can enjoy your discretionary time on weekends without
Speaker 1: having to spend that time overcoming weekday exhaustion. Today's tip,
Speaker 1: like a few others this week, comes from my new
Speaker 1: book Tranquility by Tuesday, Nine Ways to calm the chaos
Speaker 1: and make time for what matters. This book shows how
Speaker 1: one fifty people became more satisfied with their time as
Speaker 1: they followed my nine favorite time management rules. One of
Speaker 1: those rules, indeed, the first rule, is to give yourself
Speaker 1: a bedtime. Many people have a very strong sleep set point.
Speaker 1: Let's say you need seven and a half hours of
Speaker 1: sleep a day, which is a pretty common number. If
Speaker 1: you sleep six and a half hours for a few
Speaker 1: days in a row, your body is going to force
Speaker 1: you to make that time up. That's why people crash
Speaker 1: on the couch while watching TV, or fall asleep while
Speaker 1: putting their kids to bed, or sleep through alarms or
Speaker 1: hit snooze three times, or sleep in and nap on weekends. Now,
Speaker 1: there is nothing wrong with a nice nap on a
Speaker 1: weekend afternoon, but if you work a full time job,
Speaker 1: most of your potential leisure and family time is likely
Speaker 1: going to happen on weekends. Do you really want to
Speaker 1: spend this potential leisure and family time sleeping off a
Speaker 1: weekday debt? It might be nicer to go for an
Speaker 1: early morning run or bike ride with a friend and
Speaker 1: then still get to spend the whole day with your family,
Speaker 1: versus sleeping in later if that's even possible, or crashing
Speaker 1: on the couch at some inopportune point if it is not.
Speaker 1: It might be better not to be groggy when your
Speaker 1: kids get up early, which then leads to you bickering
Speaker 1: with your spouse over who covers, and then both of
Speaker 1: you crashing during any little kidnaps rather than getting some
Speaker 1: waking leisure time. Weekend hours can be wonderful hours. Cutting
Speaker 1: sleep short during the week means you are substituting weekend
Speaker 1: sleep hours for weekday hours. Now, that might make sense
Speaker 1: if those waking weekday hours were of higher quality than
Speaker 1: the weekend hours you are giving up. But think about
Speaker 1: it for a few minutes and you'll see that for
Speaker 1: many people, they probably aren't. Most adults have to wake
Speaker 1: up at a set time for work or family respond possibilities.
Speaker 1: What changes is the time people go to bed. We
Speaker 1: often stay up late, scrolling around online or streaming that
Speaker 1: next show. That is what we are choosing instead of
Speaker 1: being alert and well rested for the weekend. So why
Speaker 1: not put a stop to the late night scrolling or
Speaker 1: TV watching and go to bed on time? Tranquility by Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Rule number one is to give yourself a bedtime. If
Speaker 1: you get the amount of sleep you need each night,
Speaker 1: you won't enter the weekend with a sleep debt that
Speaker 1: must be paid. That means you'll be able to take
Speaker 1: full advantage of your weekend. You can exercise or do
Speaker 1: other personal pursuits in the early mornings and still have
Speaker 1: enough energy for your family. If you've got little kids
Speaker 1: who wake up early, you won't feel so desperate. You'll
Speaker 1: be able to enjoy some leisure time during their naps
Speaker 1: or when you trade off with your partner or after
Speaker 1: they go to bed, other than simply crashing. I think
Speaker 1: that sounds like a good trade off. That's why I
Speaker 1: do my best to be in bed with the lights
Speaker 1: out by eleven pm every night. I need to wake
Speaker 1: up at six thirty in the morning most mornings, and
Speaker 1: I need about seven and a half hours of sleep.
Speaker 1: When I do that consistently, I wake up at the
Speaker 1: same time on weekends and I can enjoy some quiet
Speaker 1: reading or a long run and still make it back
Speaker 1: for kit activities and weekend family adventures. Now, I know
Speaker 1: that a bedtime doesn't exactly sound like a ton of fun.
Speaker 1: It conjures up all those power struggles from childhood. But again,
Speaker 1: since most of us need to wake up its set
Speaker 1: times on weekday mornings, think of it this way. Going
Speaker 1: to bed early is how grown ups sleep in. Now
Speaker 1: doesn't that sound indulgent? So figure out what time you
Speaker 1: need to wake up on weekdays, figure out how much
Speaker 1: sep you need, count back, and embrace this bedtime. If
Speaker 1: you observe it faithfully, you will no longer need to
Speaker 1: crash on weekends. You can be energized and awake to
Speaker 1: enjoy your days off in the meantime. This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com that
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much, I look forward to staying in touch. Before
Speaker 1: Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 1: Yea