WEBVTT - Read first 

0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:08.440
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:15.120
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:20.919
<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to read first. When you've got some

0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:23.280
<v Speaker 1>downtime and you're a tempted to pick up your phone

0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:27.960
<v Speaker 1>and start scrolling. Read for just a minute or two first.

0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:32.159
<v Speaker 1>You'll get a lot more reading done and probably do

0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:37.480
<v Speaker 1>a bit less scrolling than you otherwise would have. When

0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:41.120
<v Speaker 1>people think about what they'd like to spend more time doing,

0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:45.800
<v Speaker 1>reading comes up a lot. Indeed, many people claim to

0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:49.760
<v Speaker 1>have no time to read, though this most likely isn't true.

0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:53.120
<v Speaker 1>Take a look at the screen time function on your

0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:56.320
<v Speaker 1>phone and see what the number is. It is probably

0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:00.960
<v Speaker 1>not zero. More importantly, it is not all work stuff

0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:05.920
<v Speaker 1>like email or phone calls. Either reading tweets or clickbait

0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:10.920
<v Speaker 1>articles or posts on Facebook is in fact reading. It's

0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:15.320
<v Speaker 1>just not particularly great reading. So the problem is not

0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:19.880
<v Speaker 1>finding time to read. It is upgrading our reading material.

0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:26.080
<v Speaker 1>It's choosing slightly more effortful reading rather than the effortless stuff.

0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:29.800
<v Speaker 1>When you put it this way, this suggests a slightly

0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:33.800
<v Speaker 1>different solution than reworking a whole schedule to magically find

0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:40.000
<v Speaker 1>more time to read. Instead, try this little upgrade. Every

0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:43.400
<v Speaker 1>time you pick up your phone to start scrolling, commit

0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:48.200
<v Speaker 1>to reading something more substantial. First. You don't have to

0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:52.840
<v Speaker 1>read much. Just a minute is a good start. The

0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:54.880
<v Speaker 1>easiest way to make this work is to put the

0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:57.480
<v Speaker 1>Kindle app or another e reader app on your phone

0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:01.160
<v Speaker 1>and load e books on there. Many of the classics

0:02:01.160 --> 0:02:07.560
<v Speaker 1>are free or are available for a nominal price like cents. Indeed,

0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:10.520
<v Speaker 1>for ninety nine cents apiece you could get versions of

0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:15.480
<v Speaker 1>War and Peace, Middle March, Ulysses, Moby Dick, and Kristin

0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:19.120
<v Speaker 1>Lavern's Daughter. You could go download those books right now

0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:21.920
<v Speaker 1>for less than the price of a latte total and

0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:25.040
<v Speaker 1>have something like a hundred hours of reading material on

0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.519
<v Speaker 1>your phone now. Of course, I completely understand if you

0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:34.120
<v Speaker 1>would prefer something much lighter, honestly me too, But in

0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:38.240
<v Speaker 1>any case, there are no shortages of possibilities. You might

0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.560
<v Speaker 1>try some poetry if that's a way to ease into reading,

0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:46.799
<v Speaker 1>and nonfiction is great as well. Then when you pick

0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.680
<v Speaker 1>up your phone, open the Kindle app and read for

0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:54.240
<v Speaker 1>one minute. Most likely you're going to keep going because

0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:57.640
<v Speaker 1>most books are pretty good. But even if you don't

0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:01.320
<v Speaker 1>keep going, given how many times people pick up their phones.

0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:04.280
<v Speaker 1>You will probably read for at least ten to fifteen

0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:10.079
<v Speaker 1>minutes a day right there, and that is not terrible. Indeed,

0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:13.840
<v Speaker 1>it's a pretty good start. Of course, you don't have

0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.560
<v Speaker 1>to read on your phone. Reading real physical books can

0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.120
<v Speaker 1>feel like a treat in this world where we always

0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:23.440
<v Speaker 1>feel plugged in. Well, I normally read on my kindle

0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.800
<v Speaker 1>app this past month, I've read two books as paperbacks,

0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:32.560
<v Speaker 1>and I've really enjoyed the feeling of separation from my inbox. Unfortunately,

0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.400
<v Speaker 1>the problem is that we really do almost always have

0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.240
<v Speaker 1>our phones with us, whereas we don't have other material.

0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:43.160
<v Speaker 1>It's a solvable problem, but one to be aware of.

0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:47.160
<v Speaker 1>We don't want to make the perfect the enemy of

0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:51.760
<v Speaker 1>the good. In any case, By committing to reading for

0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:55.040
<v Speaker 1>just a minute or so first, you are not trying

0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:57.800
<v Speaker 1>to set strict limits on your scrolling or trying to

0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:01.000
<v Speaker 1>rely on willpower to stay off Twitter or anything like that.

0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.600
<v Speaker 1>You are simply changing your habits slightly to do something

0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:09.600
<v Speaker 1>else first. Then you can scroll through Instagram for an

0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:13.920
<v Speaker 1>hour if you'd like, no problem. But by reading for

0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:17.520
<v Speaker 1>a minute or so first, you get to have both

0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:21.960
<v Speaker 1>kinds of fun, and that is really the best of

0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:27.599
<v Speaker 1>both worlds. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for

0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:38.320
<v Speaker 1>listening and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:40.680
<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:44.359
<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:48.760
<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:53.800
<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:57.520
<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:01.160
<v Speaker 1>podcast at iHeart media dot com app Before Breakfast is

0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.919
<v Speaker 1>spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I

0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:12.040
<v Speaker 1>look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:15.320
<v Speaker 1>production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I

0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:19.240
<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.400
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H