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 about how to stop wishing time away.
Speaker 1: Many of us claim that we want more time, yet
Speaker 1: we also spend reasonable chunks of an average day wishing
Speaker 1: time would move faster. You're stuck in traffic, merging onto
Speaker 1: a busy highway. You're watching the clock during a boring meeting.
Speaker 1: The kids are whining, and you're counting the minutes until bedtime.
Speaker 1: This is human nature, but it always feels like such
Speaker 1: a miserable bargain. Our time on this planet is strictly limited,
Speaker 1: and here we are wishing these minutes would move faster.
Speaker 1: I won't claim all time is precious. Any moments involving
Speaker 1: physical or psychological pain are just hard. In those moments,
Speaker 1: the fact that all time passes can be a blessing. Instead,
Speaker 1: I'm talking more about the humdrum moments of life that
Speaker 1: aren't inherently good or bad. Our experience of these moments
Speaker 1: is all about how we interact with them. Unfortunately, there
Speaker 1: are several ways to move these moments from the clock
Speaker 1: watching category to the enjoyable category. The most obvious way
Speaker 1: is to engineer fewer of them into your life in
Speaker 1: the first place. Few of us have truly examined our
Speaker 1: schedules from this perspective. Try tracking your time for a
Speaker 1: few days or ideally a week. You can download a
Speaker 1: time tracking spreadsheet from my website, Laura Vanderkamp dot com,
Speaker 1: or you can just make your own on this schedule,
Speaker 1: note when you felt happy or relaxed. Then also note
Speaker 1: when you were wishing time would move faster. What were
Speaker 1: you doing during those times? Ask yourself a few questions
Speaker 1: about these moments. First, do they absolutely have to happen?
Speaker 1: If you hate running errands on weekends, maybe you can
Speaker 1: plan ahead and get stuff delivered. Maybe you can throw
Speaker 1: money at the problem. I enjoy watching my kids sports games,
Speaker 1: but I don't enjoy chasing younger siblings on the sidelines.
Speaker 1: Hiring a sitter for a few hours on the weekend
Speaker 1: can solve this issue and keep me from wishing these
Speaker 1: moments away. Maybe that horrible meeting can be shortened, or
Speaker 1: it could happen less frequently. Maybe you can shift your
Speaker 1: hours or work from home occasionally so traffic is less
Speaker 1: of a frustration. Maybe a problem can't be solved in
Speaker 1: the short run, but it can be solved in the
Speaker 1: long run. If you find yourself wishing the clock would
Speaker 1: move faster for the majority of your work day, that's
Speaker 1: maybe a sign it's time to hunt for another job.
Speaker 1: There are lots of ways of working, and in a year,
Speaker 1: the odds are good that you could find something more
Speaker 1: interesting and fulfilling. On some level, we know these things,
Speaker 1: but we can become so used to the sensation of
Speaker 1: wishing time move faster that we don't stop to question it.
Speaker 1: So today question it. Declutter your calendar, be more judicious
Speaker 1: about what you take on. Of course, it's not possible
Speaker 1: to live a life where absolutely everything in our schedules
Speaker 1: sparks joy. As Marie Condo might say, some moments are
Speaker 1: necessary evils. I love public speaking and I love exploring
Speaker 1: new places around the globe, Alas both of these tend
Speaker 1: to involve air travel, and despite getting on a plane
Speaker 1: once or twice a week, I remain a semi nervous flyer.
Speaker 1: I don't think I will ever get on a plane
Speaker 1: and not wish that the trip was over and I
Speaker 1: was at my destination. But I've gotten better at making
Speaker 1: this time better. I bring books or longer magazine articles
Speaker 1: that I'm looking forward to reading. I download music and
Speaker 1: save podcast episodes for the trip that I know i'll enjoy.
Speaker 1: I assign myself work that will put me in a
Speaker 1: state of flow, particularly since I know it won't be
Speaker 1: checking my email for a few hours. The key is
Speaker 1: to stack some sort of pleasure on top of the
Speaker 1: unpleasant parts. This can minimize the clock watching. We can
Speaker 1: also make the post of the power we have to
Speaker 1: change situations, or at least our perception of them. Distractions
Speaker 1: can make the time go faster, but sometimes we're better
Speaker 1: off forgoing the distractions and leaning into the situation. Rather
Speaker 1: than check email under the table during a boring meeting,
Speaker 1: you commit to paying complete attention. You go in fully
Speaker 1: prepared to make the most of every minute. You commit
Speaker 1: to making eye contact and connecting with the presenter, making
Speaker 1: that person feel like what he or she is doing
Speaker 1: is important. Now, that may or may not be true
Speaker 1: that what the person is doing is important, but a
Speaker 1: genuine connection has all kinds of payoffs and will make
Speaker 1: you feel like you didn't waste that hour. So how
Speaker 1: do you keep from wishing time away? You can let
Speaker 1: me know at before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media
Speaker 1: dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite show.