WEBVTT - Second Cup: Pair little tasks

0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:06.400
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:08.560 --> 0:00:12.600
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:16.200
<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to pair little tasks with things you

0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:19.799
<v Speaker 1>already do. By pairing habits, you'll be less likely to

0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:22.960
<v Speaker 1>forget them. We all have little things we know we

0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:26.400
<v Speaker 1>should do regularly. Maybe it's flaw sing or writing in

0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.120
<v Speaker 1>a journal. It can be very powerful to make these

0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:33.720
<v Speaker 1>good decisions automatic, but building habits is hard. That's why

0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:35.800
<v Speaker 1>I'm always on the lookout for ways to make habit

0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:39.440
<v Speaker 1>building easier. So I love this suggestion that I received

0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:42.919
<v Speaker 1>from Before Breakfast listener Peggy. She wrote in that I

0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.440
<v Speaker 1>realize I have a habit that helps me with getting

0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:48.199
<v Speaker 1>little things done that can be overlooked. I try to

0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:51.200
<v Speaker 1>combine two or more tasks so that I don't forget

0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:54.120
<v Speaker 1>one of them. She gave me a few examples of

0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:57.040
<v Speaker 1>pairings that worked well in her life. When I make

0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.440
<v Speaker 1>my bed in the morning, she says, I pray. If

0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.040
<v Speaker 1>I see my bed isn't made, I know I forgot

0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:06.319
<v Speaker 1>to pray. Also, Peggy notes that she injured a muscle

0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:08.640
<v Speaker 1>in her leg at one point and knows she needs

0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:11.800
<v Speaker 1>to stretch it. I was forgetting to stretch it after running,

0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:14.160
<v Speaker 1>as I'm usually short on time in the morning, she says.

0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:16.680
<v Speaker 1>I found when I am in the shower and conditioning

0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:19.400
<v Speaker 1>my hair after a run, I just stretched that particular

0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:21.679
<v Speaker 1>muscle for a few minutes while I let my conditioner sit.

0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:25.160
<v Speaker 1>I had problems for years with this muscle, but once

0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:29.360
<v Speaker 1>I started this routine, it hasn't been a problem. Praying

0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:32.640
<v Speaker 1>and stretching are frequent tasks, but other little things don't

0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.240
<v Speaker 1>need to be done nearly as often. There are a

0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:37.680
<v Speaker 1>few tasks I have to do once a month, Peggy writes,

0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:40.720
<v Speaker 1>I finally realized I needed to combine them all on

0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.120
<v Speaker 1>the same day. The first of each month, I put

0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:46.840
<v Speaker 1>in a new pair of contacts, budget and write out

0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.920
<v Speaker 1>checks to my kids music and dance teachers, wash my

0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.680
<v Speaker 1>vacuum filters, and do the cleaning cycle on my washing machine.

0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:56.240
<v Speaker 1>I have written down my monthly items on my phone,

0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:59.640
<v Speaker 1>and I do them all at once. I think these

0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.800
<v Speaker 1>are eight ideas. All sorts of little habits can be

0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:06.760
<v Speaker 1>paired with others. For instance, I've suggested in previous episodes

0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:10.080
<v Speaker 1>that people keep time logs. It's empowering to know where

0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:13.040
<v Speaker 1>the time goes, but It's also easy to forget to

0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:15.519
<v Speaker 1>write down where the time went until so much time

0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:19.200
<v Speaker 1>has passed that you no longer remember. So I suggest that,

0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.359
<v Speaker 1>at least during the work day, people pair time tracking

0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:26.360
<v Speaker 1>with bathroom breaks. When you come back from a bathroom break,

0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:29.440
<v Speaker 1>write down what you did since the last one. Or

0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:32.680
<v Speaker 1>here's another opportunity for pairing. I don't know about you,

0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:35.440
<v Speaker 1>but my car has a tendency to accumulate a lot

0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.320
<v Speaker 1>of trash. Now, when I'm putting gas in my car,

0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.000
<v Speaker 1>I set the handle to keep pumping, and then I

0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.760
<v Speaker 1>clean out the car. This feels like a real win

0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:46.800
<v Speaker 1>because I wasn't using that time for anything important anyway,

0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:50.359
<v Speaker 1>and now I have a much cleaner vehicle. I don't

0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:52.919
<v Speaker 1>watch TV much, and I almost never watch it live,

0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:55.720
<v Speaker 1>but if you're watching something with commercials, this can be

0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:58.760
<v Speaker 1>a great time to do something like stretching or strength training.

0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:01.200
<v Speaker 1>Or you can use the time while food heats up

0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:04.280
<v Speaker 1>in the microwave. In our house, we stack mail on

0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:07.000
<v Speaker 1>the counter under our microwave, and it has a tendency

0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.840
<v Speaker 1>to pile up. If I sort the mail anytime I'm

0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:13.240
<v Speaker 1>using the microwave, I can avoid losing important notes in

0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:17.000
<v Speaker 1>the mess now. To be clear, I don't think we

0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:20.720
<v Speaker 1>need to pack every minute of every day. People can

0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:24.440
<v Speaker 1>go a little overboard with pairing. I have personally been

0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:26.560
<v Speaker 1>mocked in more than one article for the idea of

0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:30.480
<v Speaker 1>using microwave time for anything. But I also do know

0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:35.680
<v Speaker 1>that small things done repeatedly add up habits are powerful.

0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.800
<v Speaker 1>But relying on our conscious minds to remember to do

0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:41.320
<v Speaker 1>all the things we know we should do, it's just

0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:45.840
<v Speaker 1>asking for failure. Pairing new habits with things we already

0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:50.240
<v Speaker 1>do greatly increases the chances that we stick with them.

0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:53.600
<v Speaker 1>Just ask Peggy, whose leg injury is no longer bothering

0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:56.680
<v Speaker 1>her and who's keeping a spiritual commitment She decided to

0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:00.880
<v Speaker 1>make two. What happens do you pair together? I'd love

0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:04.280
<v Speaker 1>to hear about them. Please email me your pairs Before

0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:08.600
<v Speaker 1>Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In the meantime,

0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:12.400
<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:21.240
<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.240
<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:28.080
<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:33.000
<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:37.320
<v Speaker 1>number four. Then Breakfast p o D. You can also

0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:41.080
<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at before Breakfast podcast at iHeart

0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:43.919
<v Speaker 1>media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with

0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:46.680
<v Speaker 1>all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to

0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:54.919
<v Speaker 1>staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I

0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:58.919
<v Speaker 1>heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit

0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:02.320
<v Speaker 1>the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:03.560
<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.