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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is that just because your partner or kids

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Speaker 1: are watching TV, you don't have to watch TV yourself.

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Speaker 1: You can spend time in other people's presence while still

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Speaker 1: doing another activity if you'd prefer. Watching TV is generally

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Speaker 1: not the most satisfying way to spend your leisure time. Really,

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Speaker 1: there's various time use research asking people how happy they

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Speaker 1: are at various moments, and I can promise you you

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Speaker 1: will be happier doing creative hobbies exercising, reading, or interacting

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Speaker 1: with friends, then you will be while watching TV. But

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Speaker 1: not everyone has read that research or cares And if

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Speaker 1: other people in your household like to relax while watching TV,

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Speaker 1: you can face a bit of a dilemma. You want

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Speaker 1: to spend time with them in their presence. It's nice

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Speaker 1: to sit together on the sofa, but then you wind

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Speaker 1: up spending all your leisure time watching TV rather than

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Speaker 1: doing other activities that you might prefer. Fortunately, this is

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Speaker 1: not inevitable. It is indeed possible to spend time in

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Speaker 1: people's presence without watching TV yourself. If you like to read.

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Speaker 1: One of the simplest options is to sit next to

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Speaker 1: your TV watching loved ones and read your book with

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Speaker 1: headphones in your ears. That way, you get the cuddling

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Speaker 1: and the warmth, and you don't have to waste an

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Speaker 1: hour of your life watching something you don't care for.

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Speaker 1: Just listen to instrumental music or white noise so you

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Speaker 1: can still concentrate on what you're reading. If the other

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Speaker 1: person is up for it, and this might be easier

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Speaker 1: to foist on your kids than a partner, they can

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Speaker 1: wear headphones to watch their show. Think of a kid

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Speaker 1: on an iPad with headphones watching a cartoon while you

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Speaker 1: snuggle next to them and read your book. If wearing

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Speaker 1: headphones feels awkward or unfriendly, I would encourage you to

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Speaker 1: move past that. But if you feel you can't do this,

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Speaker 1: you could choose to read a book that doesn't require

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Speaker 1: full concentration. You might page through an art book or

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Speaker 1: a decorating book while the TV is on. I love

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Speaker 1: to do one thousand piece puzzles, and for many people

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Speaker 1: that would be doable with the TV on two. In

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Speaker 1: my case, I do my puzzles in another room. But

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Speaker 1: if you don't mind the TV background noise. A table

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Speaker 1: in the corner could be a great way for you

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Speaker 1: to be in your loved one's presence while still doing

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Speaker 1: something that you prefer. Or you could grab a book

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Speaker 1: of number puzzles or crossword puzzles, or a deck of

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Speaker 1: cards to play solitaire. Adult coloring books could hit the

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Speaker 1: spot too. Lots of people are able to craft while

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Speaker 1: the TV is on. Knitting, needle point, embroidery, even sketching

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Speaker 1: with charcoal or pastel's could work well. I would not

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Speaker 1: encourage you to do chores while your family watches TV.

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Speaker 1: That sounds like no fun. Sometimes that impulse is about

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Speaker 1: doing something physical rather than vegging out. If that's the

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Speaker 1: case and you're a person who has a lot of energy,

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Speaker 1: use that energy to do something like stretching or yoga

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Speaker 1: or strength training. Just don't position yourself between the people

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Speaker 1: on the couch and the screen. In any case, when

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Speaker 1: you get pressure from other family members to be part

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Speaker 1: of their screen time, or if you just feel like

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Speaker 1: you should be there, try to get at what you

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Speaker 1: are actually desire. Ring. Do you all want to engage

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Speaker 1: in the plot of a show together, That is one thing,

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Speaker 1: But if it's a football game or maybe a kid's cartoon.

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Speaker 1: The other person probably just wants your presence and not

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Speaker 1: so much your attention, So see if there is a

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Speaker 1: way to give your presence without giving up the activities

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Speaker 1: that you would prefer to do with this time. I

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Speaker 1: would point out that often people use this time to

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Speaker 1: scroll on their phones when they are not engaged in

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Speaker 1: the show and the TV watching loved ones don't usually

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Speaker 1: complain so much about that. I am just suggesting doing

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Speaker 1: something a little more purposeful. If you do another activity

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Speaker 1: while your family watches TV, I'd love to hear about it.

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Speaker 1: You can let me know at Laura at Laura Vanderkamp

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Speaker 1: dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura that thanks

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Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod

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Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: Podcast at I heeart Media dot com that Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.

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Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch Before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Y