WEBVTT - Don’t grocery shop on weekends

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to do your errands during the week

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<v Speaker 1>rather than on weekends. I know that weekends seem like

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<v Speaker 1>a convenient time to do all those chores and errands

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<v Speaker 1>that seem more difficult to squeeze into the work week.

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<v Speaker 1>But just because something is convenient doesn't mean it's always

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<v Speaker 1>the best use of time. I was reminded of this

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<v Speaker 1>when I got a question from a listener named Matt.

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<v Speaker 1>On its surface, this question wasn't about groceries at all.

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<v Speaker 1>Matt writes that my wife recently began a new job

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<v Speaker 1>that has our work schedules completely flipped around, leaving us

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<v Speaker 1>with very little time to spend together. Any tips on

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<v Speaker 1>how to make the most of my time when we

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<v Speaker 1>are away from each other so we can make the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time together. I love this question because

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<v Speaker 1>while we all think of time and dis Greek categories,

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<v Speaker 1>Matt recognized that all our hours influence each other. Matt

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<v Speaker 1>wisely wanted to optimize his time with his wife. Doing

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<v Speaker 1>that required looking at the hours he didn't spend with

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<v Speaker 1>his wife too often. When I hear from couples about

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<v Speaker 1>oppositional work schedules. What's happened is that one party works

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<v Speaker 1>a standard eight to five job and the other works

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<v Speaker 1>something along the lines of four pm to midnight. The

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<v Speaker 1>party that has to be at work at eight doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>want to stay up till one am, and the party

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<v Speaker 1>that works until midnight doesn't want to wake up at

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<v Speaker 1>six thirty. You wind up not seeing each other during

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<v Speaker 1>the week. That sounds tough, but the good news is

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<v Speaker 1>that weekends are real days too. They don't have to

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<v Speaker 1>be an afterthought. You can have a real relationship just

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<v Speaker 1>seeing each other on the weekends. But then you also

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<v Speaker 1>want to make sure that you're not spending your entire

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<v Speaker 1>weekend doing chores and errands. That is a recipe for

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<v Speaker 1>feeling like you have no time for fun at all.

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<v Speaker 1>So as a couple, I suggested that Matt and his

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<v Speaker 1>wife figure out what needs to be done grocery shopping,

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<v Speaker 1>buying home items, cleaning, laundry, yard work. They could then

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<v Speaker 1>split this in an equitable fashion. Then each person would

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<v Speaker 1>do his or her chores and errands during non work

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<v Speaker 1>weekday hours. When they got to the weekend, these things

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<v Speaker 1>would be done they could spend their time hanging out

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<v Speaker 1>with each other and connecting as a couple, rather than

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<v Speaker 1>trudging through it to do list. Even if you do

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<v Speaker 1>see your spouse or kids or friends during the work week,

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<v Speaker 1>I still think there are upsides to getting the chores done.

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<v Speaker 1>You're already in work mode during the week, the chores

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<v Speaker 1>are just work of a different sort. This opens up

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<v Speaker 1>the weekend for longer day trips or other fun activities.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, there's a reason people tend to do errands

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<v Speaker 1>on weekends, even though stores are more crowded, and every

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<v Speaker 1>time I go to Costco on Saturday, I wind up

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<v Speaker 1>parking what seems like a mile from the store entrance.

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<v Speaker 1>Time feels in short supply during the week, but I've

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<v Speaker 1>gotten lots of tips from before breakfas as listeners on

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<v Speaker 1>how they make it work. For instance, one woman with

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<v Speaker 1>six children writes that I typically put in an online

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<v Speaker 1>grocery pickup order for Friday so we are all stocked

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<v Speaker 1>when the weekend officially starts. I have no desire to

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<v Speaker 1>spend my Saturday grocery shopping. We have a few basic

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<v Speaker 1>meals that help make weekends when we are all home easier.

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<v Speaker 1>Another listener writes that she does quick shopping trips during

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<v Speaker 1>work breaks twice a week. During my lunch, I run

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<v Speaker 1>to the store, buy food for half the week, and

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<v Speaker 1>bring the perishable items into my office fridge for the

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<v Speaker 1>rest of the day, she writes, I leave the non

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<v Speaker 1>perishable items in the car. This is super quick to

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<v Speaker 1>unload because I asked the grocery clerks to separate the

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<v Speaker 1>cold and non cold items while they are bagging. Some days,

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<v Speaker 1>I've even brought a cooler with ice packs and left

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<v Speaker 1>the cold items in the car. This listener notes that

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<v Speaker 1>this beats shopping after work when she's starving, and also

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<v Speaker 1>means she gets more time with her family. You could

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<v Speaker 1>pick two days during the week to toss a load

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<v Speaker 1>of laundry in before work and toss it in the

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<v Speaker 1>dryer after work. That way, you don't go into the

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<v Speaker 1>weekend facing a pile. Or if you need to run errands,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe do this after dinner one night. The stores will

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<v Speaker 1>probably be pleasingly close to empty. Of course, you may

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<v Speaker 1>decide that this is impractical and you need to use

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<v Speaker 1>your weekends. Still, I'd suggest setting a time limit. Saturday

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<v Speaker 1>morning could be chores and errand's time. This forces prioritization.

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<v Speaker 1>If it doesn't happen, then it probably wasn't that important.

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<v Speaker 1>Or if you find yourself looking at a dirty floor

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<v Speaker 1>some other time, you can tell yourself that there's a

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<v Speaker 1>time for this, a time for cleaning the floor Saturday

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<v Speaker 1>morning and now is not that time? Do you do

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<v Speaker 1>errands and chores during the work week rather than on

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<v Speaker 1>the weekend? How do you make it work? You can

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<v Speaker 1>let me know that Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart

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<v Speaker 1>media dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for list things and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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<v Speaker 1>at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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