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 to keep your hands clean. Yep, this
Speaker 1: is a public service reminder, but it is also about
Speaker 1: productivity too. We can't control all the germs in our lives,
Speaker 1: especially if we are caring for other people, but a
Speaker 1: little extra care during cold and flu season can reduce
Speaker 1: the amount of misery we experience along with all the
Speaker 1: inefficiencies that come from being sick. So it is worth
Speaker 1: taking the time to get this right. A great many
Speaker 1: years ago, before COVID introduced hand sanitizer into all public spaces,
Speaker 1: I read a study about hand sanitizers effects on employees
Speaker 1: at a German university. About one administrative employees were studied
Speaker 1: over a year. Half were given hand sanitizer and told
Speaker 1: to use it about five times a day. The others
Speaker 1: were told to follow their usual handwashing hygiene. Now I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sure that these German workers weren't negligent with handwashing. Still,
Speaker 1: it turned out that using hand sanitizers significantly decreased the
Speaker 1: odds of being absent with a cold, cough, fever, or diarrhea.
Speaker 1: So even if you are not worried about being absent
Speaker 1: from work. Colds, coughs, fevers, and diarrhea aren't exactly fun
Speaker 1: to experience, so the reduction in these symptoms was a
Speaker 1: massive boost in life satisfaction too. We all know this.
Speaker 1: Washing your hands with soap and water, and with hand
Speaker 1: sanitizer in between visits to a sink can keep you
Speaker 1: from transferring the germs that inevitably land on your hands
Speaker 1: into your mouth or nose. During COVID, many of us
Speaker 1: washed up and used hand sanitizer religiously. As life gets
Speaker 1: back to normal, it's easy to become a little lax.
Speaker 1: But after some recent bouts of illness in my house,
Speaker 1: I am back to fundamentalism. I recently bought three huge
Speaker 1: bottles of hand sanitizers so one could go in each car,
Speaker 1: we take off shoes when we come into the house,
Speaker 1: and so alongside that, I've been telling people to wash
Speaker 1: their hands too. When we do normally wash, like after
Speaker 1: going to the bathroom more before cooking, it's best to
Speaker 1: rub the soap all around, make a production of it. Yes,
Speaker 1: it is annoying to a wash for a full twenty seconds,
Speaker 1: but you know what else is annoying? A cough that
Speaker 1: lasts for two weeks, or a stomach bug that rips
Speaker 1: its way through an entire family. Washing hands will not
Speaker 1: ward off all illnesses. There's pretty good evidence that kids
Speaker 1: get sick six to eight times per year, and if
Speaker 1: you have many kids like I do, this is going
Speaker 1: to add up. But if hand washing and hand sanitizing
Speaker 1: helps a family avoid just one bout of illness, that
Speaker 1: is still a big win. Every day of feeling sick
Speaker 1: feels miserable. Not feeling miserable is a much better option.
Speaker 1: So if you are listening to this and you've got
Speaker 1: to sink nearby, go wash your hands or rub them
Speaker 1: with hand sanitizer. If your home, you might take some
Speaker 1: disinfectant your door knobs, light switches and faucets too. It
Speaker 1: has been a rough winter already and it will likely
Speaker 1: stay rough. Staying healthy is a worthwhile endeavor in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E. The
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit
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