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 keep what's working. As some places
Speaker 1: begin to reopen in the wake of the coronavirus, it's
Speaker 1: a great time to consider what aspects of this time
Speaker 1: at home have worked for you and your household and
Speaker 1: your colleagues, so you can keep what's working in the
Speaker 1: future when our lives returned to something resembling normal. There's
Speaker 1: been so much loss caused by COVID nineteen and a
Speaker 1: lot of loss caused by the response to This is
Speaker 1: a difficult time for so many people. But if you
Speaker 1: do have a little capacity for reflection and planning, I
Speaker 1: encourage you to take a thoughtful look at your life
Speaker 1: and your schedule. Big upheavals present a chance to work
Speaker 1: from something closer to a blank slate. These chances rarely
Speaker 1: present themselves in day to day life, so it's smart
Speaker 1: to use the occasion to keep what's working and chuck
Speaker 1: what isn't. Here's a process for doing this. First, reflect
Speaker 1: on your overall pace of life. What do you think
Speaker 1: about being less tightly scheduled. I'm hearing a lot of
Speaker 1: people say that they like having some reprieve from running
Speaker 1: around without the usual ways to fill time. Families are
Speaker 1: doing puzzles or sitting by an outside fire pit into
Speaker 1: the evening. While eventually kids will want to do Little League,
Speaker 1: and there will be birthday parties and work events, you
Speaker 1: may want to set aside some days for just hanging
Speaker 1: out at home. You might also reflect on your life hacks.
Speaker 1: A lot of us are doing more childcare and housework
Speaker 1: and meal prep these days with less outside help. How
Speaker 1: are you making it work? Grocery delivery, some pler meals,
Speaker 1: loosening up on screen time restrictions, involving kids and doing
Speaker 1: their own laundry or making their own lunches. All of
Speaker 1: these are options for the future too, so our video
Speaker 1: calls with local and out of town friends and relatives.
Speaker 1: I know I have been doing more of these, even
Speaker 1: with people I didn't see all that often in person before. Somehow,
Speaker 1: the fact that we could theoretically see each other meant
Speaker 1: that we didn't. A lot of people are rediscovering the
Speaker 1: more proactive approach. Next, reflect on your work hacks. How
Speaker 1: are you getting things done? A lot of individuals and
Speaker 1: companies have realized that remote work does work. Maybe you've
Speaker 1: also found other new truths, such as that shorter and
Speaker 1: less frequent meetings can be just as effective as longer
Speaker 1: schedule clogging ones. No reason not to stick with the
Speaker 1: new format even when you can return to the office now.
Speaker 1: None of this has to be either or. If you
Speaker 1: love family dinner, arrange schedules so that you have family
Speaker 1: meals some dates. Maybe Sunday lunch, Tuesday dinner, and Thursday
Speaker 1: dinner are family times. Even with full schedules, you can
Speaker 1: plan around and look forward to three family meals together
Speaker 1: every week. If you like designating time for focused work
Speaker 1: on your most important priorities for the day, do that.
Speaker 1: If your kids have learned to do laundry, or unload
Speaker 1: the dishwasher, or make their own lunches, there's no reason
Speaker 1: for them to go back to relying on you. At
Speaker 1: this in between moment, envision what you want for the
Speaker 1: new ordinary, Identify what's working for you now, and set
Speaker 1: intentions for maintaining those things. There's a new season ahead.
Speaker 1: Let's make the most of it, drawing on the best
Speaker 1: of our former lives and the best of our current ones.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Yah. Hey everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.