WEBVTT - Morning time can be family time

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that morning time can be family time. If

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<v Speaker 1>weekday evenings feel shorter than you would like, or even

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<v Speaker 1>if they don't, morning hours can offer a great opportunity

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<v Speaker 1>to connect if you are intentional about this space. Today's tip,

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<v Speaker 1>like some others this week, comes from my book I

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<v Speaker 1>Know How She Does It, which came out ten years

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<v Speaker 1>ago this month. For the book, I collected time diary

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<v Speaker 1>data from one thousand and one days in the lives

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<v Speaker 1>of women with big jobs and families. I found that

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<v Speaker 1>in the one hundred and sixty eight hours that make

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<v Speaker 1>up a week, it is possible to work, spend time

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<v Speaker 1>with family, sleep, exercise, read, or do anything you truly

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<v Speaker 1>care about. Lots of people are successfully having it all.

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<v Speaker 1>Even people with intense jobs often do wind up spending

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<v Speaker 1>a reasonable amount of time with their children. But one

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<v Speaker 1>reason it doesn't always feel like it is that we

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<v Speaker 1>often only count the time in the evening. So if

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<v Speaker 1>you get home from work at six and you've got

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<v Speaker 1>young kids who go to bed at seven thirty, then

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<v Speaker 1>it feels like you've only got ninety minutes a day

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<v Speaker 1>with them. But this ignores the mornings which exist, and

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<v Speaker 1>if you've got kids who go to bed at seven

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<v Speaker 1>thirty PM, my sense is that those morning hours can

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<v Speaker 1>be quite long. I was talking with a lawyer once

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<v Speaker 1>who told me that she never saw her son due

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<v Speaker 1>to her intense billable schedule, and her son was about

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<v Speaker 1>the same age as my toddler at the time. Then

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<v Speaker 1>we moved on to different topics and she started chatting

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<v Speaker 1>about toddler wake up times. I was whining about my

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<v Speaker 1>kid being up at the crack of dawn, and she

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<v Speaker 1>said me two. Well, turns out her kid was often

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<v Speaker 1>waking up at about five thirty AM, and she left

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<v Speaker 1>for work at eight. This was literally two and a

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<v Speaker 1>half hours that she was not seeing at all. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>obviously people do need to get ready in the morning,

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<v Speaker 1>but my guess is that this is not a two

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<v Speaker 1>hour process, Especially if you do have kids who are

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<v Speaker 1>up early. You can easily turn morning time into family

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<v Speaker 1>time if you think about using this window. So what

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<v Speaker 1>would you like to do with it? You and your

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<v Speaker 1>kids could have a real breakfast together if you wanted.

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<v Speaker 1>If it's summer, you could go outside and play go

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<v Speaker 1>for a stroller walk. What a great way to get

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<v Speaker 1>some exercise. If you have a play area, you could

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<v Speaker 1>get your coffee and go sit there and set an

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<v Speaker 1>alarm and then just relax until it goes off. Even

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<v Speaker 1>if you don't have young kids. If you feel like

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<v Speaker 1>you and your partner are often just ships passing in

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<v Speaker 1>the night, perhaps you could use the morning hours for connecting.

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<v Speaker 1>Eat breakfast together a few days a week. Decide to

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<v Speaker 1>get up on time so you have twenty minutes to

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<v Speaker 1>sit together and chat. You can set an alarm so

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<v Speaker 1>no one needs to be watching the clock. You could

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<v Speaker 1>go exercise together, or whatever you like. I know many

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<v Speaker 1>people who listen to a show called Before Breakfast have

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<v Speaker 1>elaborate morning routines, and that is wonderful. But we often

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<v Speaker 1>think of morning routines as being solar things, and they

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<v Speaker 1>can be, but they don't need to be. Build family

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<v Speaker 1>time into your mornings and it will happen and you

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<v Speaker 1>can start your day knowing you did something good in

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<v Speaker 1>the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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<v Speaker 1>to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening

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<v Speaker 1>to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback.

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<v Speaker 1>You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.