Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to try slowing down sometimes, particularly if your
Speaker 1: default mode is fast. Going deliberately slow can make time
Speaker 1: feel more abundant. So as you might imagine, I generally
Speaker 1: like to do things pretty quickly. I try to minimize
Speaker 1: transition times so I can spend more time on the
Speaker 1: things I care about. But occasionally, when I've got a
Speaker 1: lighter day, I like to slow things down a little.
Speaker 1: While emptying the dishwasher the other morning, I decided to
Speaker 1: carry just two mugs at a time over to the
Speaker 1: mug cupboard, because well, I didn't have anything I needed
Speaker 1: to do urgently afterwards. I didn't need to try to
Speaker 1: hoist four mugs over there and each load. Now, perhaps
Speaker 1: this might have felt inefficient, and on some level it was,
Speaker 1: But on another level, this slowness changed my perception of time.
Speaker 1: It felt a little more open and expansive. Look at
Speaker 1: me emptying the dishwasher inefficiently, I must have all the
Speaker 1: time in the world. None of us has all the
Speaker 1: time in the world, of course, but it can be
Speaker 1: fun to feel that way. For the price of a
Speaker 1: few extra seconds. So think if there is a situation
Speaker 1: where you normally move fast where it might be possible
Speaker 1: to move slow. Maybe it's staying an extra minute in
Speaker 1: the shower. Maybe it's sitting for five extra minutes at lunch.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's not trying to get through the grocery store
Speaker 1: as quickly as possible if you don't have anything you
Speaker 1: immediately need to do. It' be fun to take things
Speaker 1: a little slower, thinking about meal possibilities and seeing what
Speaker 1: the grocery store has new this week. It might seem
Speaker 1: obvious that it's fun to slow pleasant things down. I
Speaker 1: read about a study once where people were told to
Speaker 1: max out their enjoyment of a cookie. Almost universally, they
Speaker 1: slowed down from a normal eating pace. That's straightforward. Making
Speaker 1: the cookie last longer means more time is spent in
Speaker 1: the enjoyment of that cookie. But I would argue that
Speaker 1: sometimes even vaguely tedious things can benefit from a slow down.
Speaker 1: That's because much of time is mental. It is not
Speaker 1: that I want to spend more time in life emptying
Speaker 1: the dishwasher. It's just that by demonstrating to myself that
Speaker 1: I can slow down, if I want to I change
Speaker 1: my perception of time. I am in control of it
Speaker 1: and I have a lot of it so much I
Speaker 1: can just throw it around. Those are generally good ways
Speaker 1: to feel now. There is no need to go overboard
Speaker 1: with this. Making quick transitions and doing things efficiently is
Speaker 1: partly what makes my life with five kids and two
Speaker 1: working parents possible. So that's why this episode is called
Speaker 1: sometimes slow down, not all the time, but sometimes because
Speaker 1: a little bit can go a long way 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 pod. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com
Speaker 1: that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.