Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to get outside because you probably need more
Speaker 1: sky in your life. On a recent No Stupid Questions podcast,
Speaker 1: the hosts discuss the statistic that.
Speaker 2: Americans spend ninety three percent of their time indoors in
Speaker 2: climate control, host Angela Duckworth summed that up as seven
Speaker 2: percent sky ninety three percent roof. I think that's a
Speaker 2: believable statistic. With family life and work, many of us
Speaker 2: spend the vast majority of our time indoors, or at
Speaker 2: least in our cars. Now, I will point out that
Speaker 2: when you run the numbers, seven percent isn't actually all
Speaker 2: that bad. One percent of twenty four hours is about
Speaker 2: an hour and forty one minutes. Seven percent of one
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty eight hours, that's the number of hours
Speaker 2: in a week is eleven hours and forty six minutes.
Speaker 2: I would guess that the average adult knowledge worker might
Speaker 2: spend less than eleven hours and forty six minutes per
Speaker 2: week outside, since people who work outside and children could
Speaker 2: drive up the average. In any case, though, this is
Speaker 2: a useful number to think about. As you ponder your
Speaker 2: own schedule, how much of a typical week are you outside?
Speaker 2: How much time do you spend walking to and from
Speaker 2: your car or to and from the bus stop. Are
Speaker 2: there any destinations you regularly walk or bite two? How
Speaker 2: much time do you spend outside exercising? What about socializing?
Speaker 2: Do you spend any time working in your yard or
Speaker 2: sitting outside relaxing. After you figure out how much time
Speaker 2: you currently spend outside, set a goal to aim for
Speaker 2: a little bit more. For instance, if you currently spend
Speaker 2: seven hours per week outside, you will find that that's
Speaker 2: about four point two percent of your time. You could
Speaker 2: set a goal to get to five percent of your
Speaker 2: time outdoors, which would be just under eight and a
Speaker 2: half hours per week. An hour and a half increase
Speaker 2: from what you are currently getting. Spending one percent or
Speaker 2: even two percent more of your time outside could be
Speaker 2: an attainable goal in the short term. If that still
Speaker 2: doesn't get you to the national average of seven percent,
Speaker 2: meeting or even exceeding seven percent could be a long
Speaker 2: term goal. Now, I will admit that outside isn't always
Speaker 2: lovely or perfect. I remember hearing a comedian complaining about
Speaker 2: camping once with the line that it took people a
Speaker 2: long time to invent inside, and it's true. Air conditioning
Speaker 2: and heat and insulated roofs are amazing and allow us
Speaker 2: to think about things beyond how hot or cold it is.
Speaker 2: That said, we sometimes go overboard with the whole inside thing.
Speaker 2: Being outside, even in non perfect conditions, is a known
Speaker 2: mood booster. Plus, when we are outside, we are probably
Speaker 2: less likely to engage in activities like watching TV or
Speaker 2: scrolling around on social media that are kind of low
Speaker 2: on the happiness scale. So spending a little more time
Speaker 2: outside is probably a good idea for most people. Not
Speaker 2: a few chop wood for a living, but for everyone else.
Speaker 2: If you try getting more sky, you can tell me
Speaker 2: how you do it. You can reach me at Laura
Speaker 2: at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 2: our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
Speaker 2: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Speaker 2: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 2: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
Speaker 2: the iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 2: your favorite shows.