WEBVTT - Try a day without musts or shoulds

0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:09.640
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:16.480
<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:21.160
<v Speaker 1>tip is to try a day without musts or shulds,

0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:28.240
<v Speaker 1>no obligations, no to do list, no scheduled commitments, especially

0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.000
<v Speaker 1>if a lot of your time is usually spoken for,

0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:35.520
<v Speaker 1>Trying this on occasion can provide a fabulous mental health

0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:40.720
<v Speaker 1>break that keeps you from getting burned out. On my

0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:44.560
<v Speaker 1>other podcast, Best of Both Worlds, we received a listener

0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:47.559
<v Speaker 1>question recently about whether there is ever a day when

0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:51.600
<v Speaker 1>we fantasize about not getting out of bed. Spending the

0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.000
<v Speaker 1>whole day in bed, even with a good book doesn't

0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.080
<v Speaker 1>sound all that appealing to me. I would get bored

0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:01.400
<v Speaker 1>and nancy pretty quickly. But what I do love occasionally

0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:03.680
<v Speaker 1>is to have a day with nobody around me that

0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.800
<v Speaker 1>I need to care for and no commitment scheduled for

0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:10.560
<v Speaker 1>a particular time. On a day like that, I can

0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:13.080
<v Speaker 1>take the day as it comes and do whatever I

0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.440
<v Speaker 1>am in the mood for, perhaps a trail run, a

0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.880
<v Speaker 1>trip to a garden, a spontaneous stop at a restaurant

0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:23.720
<v Speaker 1>for lunch, time, for a creative writing project, or just

0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:26.119
<v Speaker 1>looking through an art book while sitting on my porch.

0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:29.759
<v Speaker 1>Once in a while, I love the opportunity to do

0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:33.360
<v Speaker 1>anything I want at the pace that feels right in

0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:37.760
<v Speaker 1>the moment. Now, long time listeners know that I am

0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:42.240
<v Speaker 1>a major proponent of planning, so you may wonder how

0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:47.120
<v Speaker 1>this all fits together. For most big adventures, planning them

0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:50.680
<v Speaker 1>in is the way for them to happen. But there

0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:53.560
<v Speaker 1>can also be a sense of possibility in just doing

0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:56.920
<v Speaker 1>whatever you feel like in the moment, and if you

0:01:57.000 --> 0:02:01.040
<v Speaker 1>have a busy life, that openness needs to be very

0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:08.160
<v Speaker 1>carefully planned. Yep, we are planning either way, but that's fine.

0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:12.079
<v Speaker 1>If you want to try a day without musts or shuds,

0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:16.639
<v Speaker 1>block off a day on your calendar. Maybe that's easiest

0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:19.399
<v Speaker 1>for you on a weekend, or maybe it's easier during

0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.480
<v Speaker 1>the week if you take a day off work. Depending

0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.080
<v Speaker 1>on who has access to your calendar, you may want

0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:27.880
<v Speaker 1>to label the calendar event in a way that indicates

0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:31.240
<v Speaker 1>the time is spoken for, but maybe without revealing your

0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:36.000
<v Speaker 1>plan or rather your lack of plans. Once you've claimed

0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.280
<v Speaker 1>the day, think through any tasks that you would normally

0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:41.760
<v Speaker 1>need to do, and you might want to do those

0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.960
<v Speaker 1>ahead of time. You will also need to make arrangements

0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:47.480
<v Speaker 1>for any kid or pet care tasks that someone else

0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.320
<v Speaker 1>is going to need to cover. If you have a

0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:53.919
<v Speaker 1>busy household and do a lot of caregiving, the odds

0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:56.400
<v Speaker 1>are good that you will need to go away to

0:02:56.400 --> 0:03:00.200
<v Speaker 1>get rid of all obligations, So we are talking checking

0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:02.560
<v Speaker 1>into a hotel for two nights so you get a

0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:06.120
<v Speaker 1>full day off in the middle with no shoulds. The

0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.519
<v Speaker 1>other option is that everyone else will need to go away,

0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:13.720
<v Speaker 1>and that can be tricky, but maybe the stars will align.

0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.360
<v Speaker 1>If let's say one kid is at an all weekend

0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:20.840
<v Speaker 1>competition somewhere and your spouse takes another kid to visit relatives.

0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:25.560
<v Speaker 1>With some work and some planning, you can probably find

0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:29.400
<v Speaker 1>a time to make it happen in the next few months. Anyway,

0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:33.360
<v Speaker 1>you will also probably get invitations or task requests for

0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:37.160
<v Speaker 1>your day without musts or shoulds. If you possibly can,

0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:41.400
<v Speaker 1>you should turn them down. You have a commitment now.

0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.200
<v Speaker 1>Of course, if you get some really fabulous invitation that

0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.680
<v Speaker 1>you want to accept, you can reschedule your shouldless day.

0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:52.120
<v Speaker 1>Same for if there is an emergency. But for your

0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:55.080
<v Speaker 1>run of the mill invitations and requests, just say no

0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:59.680
<v Speaker 1>as you would if you had something specific scheduled leave

0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:03.480
<v Speaker 1>the time entirely free to enjoy the way you want

0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:07.840
<v Speaker 1>to when the day rolls around, and when the day comes,

0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:11.440
<v Speaker 1>enjoy the time and all it brings. You may have

0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:18.120
<v Speaker 1>fun relaxation adventures. In any case, time will definitely feel

0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:22.479
<v Speaker 1>a little different. By filling a day exactly as you

0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:25.560
<v Speaker 1>want to in the moment, you may also get insights

0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:27.760
<v Speaker 1>into the kinds of experiences you want to have more

0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.520
<v Speaker 1>of in your life. You can look forward to them

0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.680
<v Speaker 1>on your next day without musts or shoulds, and you

0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.720
<v Speaker 1>can also plan time for them in the meantime. If

0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:40.360
<v Speaker 1>you try a day without musts or shoulds, I'd love

0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:43.719
<v Speaker 1>to hear about it. You can reach me at Laura

0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:49.200
<v Speaker 1>at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.

0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:54.280
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

0:04:54.320 --> 0:05:04.039
<v Speaker 1>our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:08.240
<v Speaker 1>got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:17.359
<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:22.120
<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:25.960
<v Speaker 1>the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:26.880
<v Speaker 1>your favorite shows,