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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 add more play into your life. Do

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Speaker 1: something just for the fun of it every day, and

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Speaker 1: you may find yourself feeling lighter, happier, and more connected

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Speaker 1: to the people you play with. I think it's safe

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Speaker 1: to say that a lot of adults could use more

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Speaker 1: play in their lives. With family, work, and community responsibilities,

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Speaker 1: it can feel like there is not a lot of

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Speaker 1: time left for life maintenance and sleep, much less play.

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Speaker 1: But after tracking my time for nine years and studying

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Speaker 1: thousands of people's schedules, I can attest that almost everyone

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Speaker 1: has some discretionary time. We could use it for play

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Speaker 1: if we want, even if we tend not to. Sometimes

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Speaker 1: people write screeds claiming that the man or capitalism doesn't

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Speaker 1: want you to enjoy your leisure time. But I think

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Speaker 1: that's kind of ridiculous. No one else really cares what

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Speaker 1: you do, so why not go do something just for fun.

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Speaker 1: It can make a big difference in how you feel

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Speaker 1: about your life and yourself. Now, to be clear here,

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Speaker 1: when I say play, I don't just mean playing with

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Speaker 1: your kids. Though that can be fun. I enjoy doing

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Speaker 1: lego sets with my older kids, but kid play can

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Speaker 1: also be not fun, at least for the grown ups involved.

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Speaker 1: I really have no desire to play Candyland ever again. Instead,

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Speaker 1: really think about what would be fun for you. What

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Speaker 1: could you do, not because you want to come plush

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Speaker 1: anything or achieve anything, but just for delight. What would

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Speaker 1: play look like in your life. One easy option is

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Speaker 1: to put on some music and dance. Clearly dancing isn't

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Speaker 1: accomplishing anything, but as long as you don't fear judgment,

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Speaker 1: it can be really fun. So shut the door, blast

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Speaker 1: some tunes on headphones if you need to, and get going.

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Speaker 1: If you are new to this idea of playing in

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Speaker 1: your free time, try this out for a few days

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Speaker 1: see how it feels. Once you get your head around

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Speaker 1: the idea of daily play, you might branch out. Perhaps

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Speaker 1: you enjoy games. Some people like intellectually demanding games or

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Speaker 1: puzzles like crossword puzzles, but don't underestimate the enjoyment to

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Speaker 1: be had from playful games like charades or pictionary. Arts

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Speaker 1: and crafts can also count as play. You don't have

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Speaker 1: to produce some thing worth displaying or even giving as

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Speaker 1: a gift. It is just about the experience of creating.

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Speaker 1: Try using rubber stamps or stencils to make cards or signs.

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Speaker 1: Go to a painting and wine class. Weave potholders or

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Speaker 1: make lanyards like you did at summer camp Doodle. Buy

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Speaker 1: yourself a tub of plato, make cookies and decorate them

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Speaker 1: with icing, sprinkles and googly eyes. You could have friends

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Speaker 1: over for crafting, rally your family to join you, or

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Speaker 1: just do it solo. Physical play can likewise be great.

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Speaker 1: What about a pickup game of basketball or an afternoon

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Speaker 1: at the climbing gym. At the pool, you might play

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Speaker 1: marco polo instead of just swimming laps. Grab a friend

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Speaker 1: and throw around a ball, a frisbee or a boomerang,

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Speaker 1: fly a kite, jump on a trampoline. You can also

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Speaker 1: try recasting your usual leisure time in more playful terms.

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Speaker 1: Instead of going out to dinner with your friends, you

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Speaker 1: can rally them to go to paint your own pottery studio,

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Speaker 1: or maybe play badminton in your backyard. Rather than going

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Speaker 1: to a concert for date night, you and your partner

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Speaker 1: can go do karaoke. Having a whole afternoon of play

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Speaker 1: or an evening could be awesome. I've even heard of

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Speaker 1: groups of middle aged women who have recurring play dates. Yep,

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Speaker 1: they call them that. But if that is not available

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Speaker 1: for you right now, or you don't like the idea,

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Speaker 1: you can still find ways to play every day. In

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Speaker 1: the fifteen minutes between work and your yoga class, you

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Speaker 1: could work on a Rubuk's cube in the parking lot

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Speaker 1: while you wait for your kids to get off the bus.

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Speaker 1: You could crank up some Beyonce and dance in your kitchen.

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Speaker 1: Spend a little less time tidying before bed, and take

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Speaker 1: five or ten minutes for coloring in an adult coloring book.

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Speaker 1: When you need a work from home brain break, instead

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Speaker 1: of scrolling on your phone, go outside and blow bubbles.

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Speaker 1: If you make time, I'm for play. I bet you

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Speaker 1: will feel happier, less stressed, lighter, more creative. If you

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Speaker 1: play with other people, you'll likely feel connected to them.

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Speaker 1: So regardless of how busy you feel, try to do

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Speaker 1: at least a little bit of play every single day.

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Speaker 1: And if you do, I'd love to hear about it.

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Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

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Speaker 1: listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. More podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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

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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.