1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: tip is that morning time can be family time. If 4 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: weekday evenings feel shorter than you would like, or even 5 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: if they don't, morning hours can offer a great opportunity 6 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 1: to connect if you are intentional about this space. Today's tip, 7 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: like some others this week, comes from my book I 8 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: Know How She Does It, which came out ten years 9 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,480 Speaker 1: ago this month. For the book, I collected time diary 10 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: data from one thousand and one days in the lives 11 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: of women with big jobs and families. I found that 12 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: in the one hundred and sixty eight hours that make 13 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: up a week, it is possible to work, spend time 14 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: with family, sleep, exercise, read, or do anything you truly 15 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: care about. Lots of people are successfully having it all. 16 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,559 Speaker 1: Even people with intense jobs often do wind up spending 17 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: a reasonable amount of time with their children. But one 18 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: reason it doesn't always feel like it is that we 19 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: often only count the time in the evening. So if 20 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: you get home from work at six and you've got 21 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:25,759 Speaker 1: young kids who go to bed at seven thirty, then 22 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: it feels like you've only got ninety minutes a day 23 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: with them. But this ignores the mornings which exist, and 24 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: if you've got kids who go to bed at seven 25 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 1: thirty PM, my sense is that those morning hours can 26 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: be quite long. I was talking with a lawyer once 27 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: who told me that she never saw her son due 28 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: to her intense billable schedule, and her son was about 29 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: the same age as my toddler at the time. Then 30 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: we moved on to different topics and she started chatting 31 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: about toddler wake up times. I was whining about my 32 00:01:58,000 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: kid being up at the crack of dawn, and she 33 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: said me two. Well, turns out her kid was often 34 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: waking up at about five thirty AM, and she left 35 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:10,959 Speaker 1: for work at eight. This was literally two and a 36 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: half hours that she was not seeing at all. Now, 37 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: obviously people do need to get ready in the morning, 38 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: but my guess is that this is not a two 39 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: hour process, Especially if you do have kids who are 40 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: up early. You can easily turn morning time into family 41 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: time if you think about using this window. So what 42 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: would you like to do with it? You and your 43 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: kids could have a real breakfast together if you wanted. 44 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,079 Speaker 1: If it's summer, you could go outside and play go 45 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: for a stroller walk. What a great way to get 46 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,679 Speaker 1: some exercise. If you have a play area, you could 47 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: get your coffee and go sit there and set an 48 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: alarm and then just relax until it goes off. Even 49 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: if you don't have young kids. If you feel like 50 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: you and your partner are often just ships passing in 51 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,679 Speaker 1: the night, perhaps you could use the morning hours for connecting. 52 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: Eat breakfast together a few days a week. Decide to 53 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: get up on time so you have twenty minutes to 54 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: sit together and chat. You can set an alarm so 55 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: no one needs to be watching the clock. You could 56 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: go exercise together, or whatever you like. I know many 57 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: people who listen to a show called Before Breakfast have 58 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: elaborate morning routines, and that is wonderful. But we often 59 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: think of morning routines as being solar things, and they 60 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: can be, but they don't need to be. Build family 61 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: time into your mornings and it will happen and you 62 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: can start your day knowing you did something good in 63 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's 64 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening 65 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback. 66 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. 67 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts 68 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 69 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.