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 to pack something to listen to. If
Speaker 1: you are a bit rusty at commuting, or perhaps at
Speaker 1: driving kids around, now is a good time to get
Speaker 1: in the habit of using that time. Wisely, pack your
Speaker 1: listening material and the time will be more pleasant. All
Speaker 1: the COVID lockdowns a few years ago we're challenging, for sure,
Speaker 1: But one thing some people did like was spending less
Speaker 1: time in the car. From twenty nineteen to time spent
Speaker 1: in the car fell by a little under half an
Speaker 1: hour per person per day according to the American Time
Speaker 1: You Survey. That is a huge swing. Needless to say,
Speaker 1: that didn't last forever. People are commuting less, but they
Speaker 1: are commuting some and people are driving more in places
Speaker 1: where interest in public transit has fallen a little bit.
Speaker 1: Kids are back at their activities and in some cases
Speaker 1: are making up for lost time. All of that means
Speaker 1: more time in the car, and time in the car
Speaker 1: is incredibly hard to use. Well. That's why commuting tends
Speaker 1: to be one of the low points psychologically in people's days.
Speaker 1: You can't use your eyes for anything but the road,
Speaker 1: you can't use your hands for anything but the wheel,
Speaker 1: and you are stuck in one position in your seat
Speaker 1: that leaves your ears within reason, of course, it is
Speaker 1: better if it is not something like a phone conversation
Speaker 1: that you have to actively engage in better to listen
Speaker 1: to something that you can turn off if you need to.
Speaker 1: And of course we all know this. You are listening
Speaker 1: to a podcast, after all, a genre of content that
Speaker 1: exists pretty much because people are in their cars and
Speaker 1: want to listen to something interesting. But we tend not
Speaker 1: to approach the listening decision as mindfully as we could.
Speaker 1: And I find that interesting because we make other decisions
Speaker 1: about what to bring with us in the car quite mindfully. Indeed,
Speaker 1: we build it into our daily routines. I am guessing
Speaker 1: that you don't get in the car for work without
Speaker 1: your work bag. You ask your kids whether they have
Speaker 1: their lunches and sports equipment. If you are going to
Speaker 1: the gym, you pack your sneakers and your workout clothes.
Speaker 1: So why not put listening material on the list. Whenever
Speaker 1: you know you will be packing up to leave, pack
Speaker 1: up something to listen to as well. If you have
Speaker 1: a handful of favorite podcasts, you might assign each to
Speaker 1: a day or time and have secondary ones you like
Speaker 1: to listen to if you get through the first. Or
Speaker 1: you can listen ambitiously to audio books or music, but
Speaker 1: think about what would make sense for each trip. Probably
Speaker 1: not a really steamy novel while you are driving kids
Speaker 1: to preschool, and probably not something really depressing if you
Speaker 1: are about to go make some sales calls. You know
Speaker 1: how to do this. It really doesn't take much thought.
Speaker 1: It's just like looking at the weather forecast and deciding
Speaker 1: whether to take a coat or umbrella. You just look
Speaker 1: at your driving plan for the week and figure out
Speaker 1: the listening materials that support that driving plan. If it
Speaker 1: is a week with a lot of short trips, maybe
Speaker 1: you listen to some short podcasts. If you've got a
Speaker 1: major hall somewhere, well time to pull out the audio books.
Speaker 1: If you will be driving others who don't share your
Speaker 1: audio book or podcast taste, best to choose music that's agreeable.
Speaker 1: Too many sorts. The point is that it is very
Speaker 1: easy to feel like time in the car is wasted.
Speaker 1: These are the minutes we tend to wish away and
Speaker 1: to count down because they feel like we can't use
Speaker 1: them well. By packing agreeable listing material that meets the
Speaker 1: times and desires you will have, you can make this
Speaker 1: time much more pleasant. It goes to tolerable from wishing
Speaker 1: it away, and when it comes to life, which is
Speaker 1: ultimately limited, that can be a major win. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our times. 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 the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.
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Speaker 1: your favorite shows.