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I'm Clayton Eckerd.
In 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor.
But here's the thing.
Bachelor fans hated him.
If I could press a button and rewind it all, I would.
That's when his life took a disturbing turn.
A one-night stand would end in a courtroom.
The media is here.
This case has gone viral.
The dating contract.
Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you.
This is unlike anything I've ever seen before.
I'm Stephanie Young.
Listen to Love Trapped on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Next Monday, our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards are happening live at South by Southwest.
This is the biggest night in podcasting.
We'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative talent and creators in the industry.
And the winners.
Creativity, knowledge and passion will all be on full display.
Thank you so much, i heart radio.
Thank you to all the other nominees.
You guys are awesome.
Watch live next monday at 8 pm eastern, 5 pm pacific free at veepscom or the veeps app.
Welcome to before breakfast, a production of i heart radio.
Good morning, this is laura.
Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's episode is going to be a slightly longer one, but instead of interviewing someone fascinating about how they take their days from great to awesome, I'm going to be talking about some of the best tips I have heard over the years and that have been shared on Before Breakfast so all of us can make our days a little better.
Before Breakfast launched in March of 2019.
So this episode is celebrating seven years of the show.
This is a daily podcast and yes, there's been a new episode every weekday morning for the past seven years.
That is a lot of episodes and it is a lot of mornings.
It's a lot of ideas on how to do life better.
For the first five or so years, the show was only short episodes, approximately four to six minutes each.
Then, in late 2024, I began adding one interview episode a week so we could hear from other people about their expertise and their strategies.
It's been fun for me to talk with all kinds of amazing people and to share these conversations with you.
Anyway, today I'm going to be talking through some of my favorite ideas from the first year of the show.
If you just joined us in the past year or so, I encourage you to go back through the archives.
See what you missed.
But here is some very practical advice from 2019 that I think still holds up now.
For instance, on March 29th, 2019, I suggested listeners plan something fun for Sunday nights.
Even people who like their jobs can often feel a sense of trepidation, those Sunday scaries by Sunday afternoon.
One way to avoid those scaries is to plan in something you can anticipate for later in the weekend.
After all, if you are meeting friends for dinner on Sunday night, you will be thinking about your dinner rather than Monday morning for much of Sunday afternoon.
And that is a lot more fun.
Yes, Sunday night is a school night, so you might want to do something simple and not plan on being out too late.
But there is no reason to lose Sunday mentally to Monday.
Enjoy every second of Sunday that you can.
Here's another 2019 idea that is related to weekends.
On May 3rd, 2019, I did an episode saying, don't grocery shop on weekends.
Now I know, I know that really feels like the time it fits for a lot of people with full-time jobs.
But grocery stores are often very busy on weekends, since everybody shops in.
So it will take a lot of time to get in and get out and battle the crowds.
Grocery shopping on weekends also reinforces the idea that weekends are for chores and errands.
But are they?
I think it might be wise to keep the focus on family time and rejuvenating leisure.
Maybe chores and errands can be done during the week when you are already in work mode.
A lot of grocery stores are open late.
If you've got a family, maybe one parent does bedtime and the other goes out grocery shopping.
Or if you work from home on occasion, maybe you could use what would have been the commute time someday to shop.
The shopping will take less time during the week than during the madness of a Saturday afternoon.
And you will be able to use the weekends for other things.
On June 6th, 2019...
The before-breakfast tip was to schedule a mental health morning.
Now, this was a listener suggestion.
Someone noted that it was often hard to take a full day of PTO if you had various responsibilities.
And when people do take PTO, they often want to use it for longer vacations.
But it might be possible to take half a day off and use that time for something restorative.
For instance, if you had a dentist appointment at 11 am, you might purposefully take the morning off until then and do something that would soothe your soul.
Reading, hobbies, maybe seeing a friend with some flexibility in their schedule.
Even a little break can go a long way toward making life feel more sustainable.
If you schedule your mental health morning in for a week or two ahead of time, then you can look forward to it.
And I believe that anticipation is one of the best forms of self-care out there.
In that same vein of taking small breaks, on June 12th 2019, we talked about how Wednesday is the best day to work from home.
Now, this episode aired long before COVID when working from home became a lot more common.
Yes, before breakfast was around before the pandemic.
Back in 2019, people were writing whole think pieces on the angst of negotiating to work from home just one day a week.
Then, as now, the most common day people would ask for was Friday.
And on some level, it makes sense, as Fridays tend to be slower.
People thought their managers would be most likely to approve Fridays as well.
People often work less on Fridays or maybe leave a little bit earlier.
And so the perceived opportunity cost is lower.
But the problem is that buys into the idea that people who are working from home aren't really working.
Choosing Friday just limits the damage.
Now, you and I both know this isn't true.
Many of us work quite hard from home.
So I suggested that people consider negotiating to work from home on Wednesdays.
That way, if you have a long commute, you will only have to do it twice in a row.
Wednesday provides a nice midweek break from the usual routines.
You could use Wednesday to hunker down and work on all the deliverables coming out of the meetings on the other days.
I'm not sure how many people took me up on this idea to negotiate, to work from home on Wednesday, but I still think it's a good one.
So we're going to take a quick ad break and then I will be back with some more historic before-breakfast ideas from the first year.
Run a business and not thinking about podcasting.
Think again.
More Americans listen to podcasts than ad supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora.
And as the number one podcaster, I heart's twice as large as the next two combined.
So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message.
Plus only I heart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio.
Think podcasting can help your business?
Think iHeart.
Streaming, radio, and podcasting.
Let us show you at iHeartAdvertising.com.
That's iHeartAdvertising.com.
I'm Clayton Eckerd, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor.
Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan.
He became the first Bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected.
The internet turned on him.
If I could press a button and rewind it all, I would.
But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines.
It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom, with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal.
The media is here.
This case has gone viral.
The dating contract.
Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you.
Please search warrant.
This is unlike anything I've ever seen before.
I'm Stephanie Young.
This is Love Trapped.
This season an epic battle of he said, she said and the search for accountability in a sea of lies.
I have done nothing except get pregnant by the bachelor.
Listen to Love Trapped on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, this is Jo Winterstein, host of the Spirit Daughter podcast, where we talk about astrology, natal charts and how to step into your most vibrant life.
And I just sat down with a mini driver.
The Irish traveler said when I was 16, you're going to have a terrible time with men.
Actor, storyteller, and unapologetic Aquarian visionary.
Okay.
Aquarius is all about freedom loving and different perspectives.
And I find a lot of people with strong placements in Aquarius like are misunderstood.
A sun and Venus in Aquarius in her seventh house spark her unconventional approach to partnership.
He really has taught me to embrace people sleeping in different rooms, on different houses and different places, but just an embracing of the isness of it all.
If you're navigating your own transformation or just want a chart side view into how a leading artist integrates astrology, creativity and real life, this episode is a must listen.
Listen to the Spirit Daughter podcast starting on February 24th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
I am sharing some of my favorite tips from the first year of Before Breakfast as we celebrate the show's seventh anniversary.
So, speaking of dealing with long commutes, as we were talking about before the break on July 10th of 2019, I suggested people try to commute with a friend.
Not every day, of course, but given how much people hate their commutes and how many people say they wish they could see their friends more, I am surprised at how little this actually happens.
For a lot of people, commuting time is almost entirely wasted.
Turning it into relationship-building time would massively upgrade the experience.
Now, I know that carpooling involves a fair amount of planning and coordination.
Not everyone lives near each other or works in similar places.
Even for people who do live near each other, or even live with each other and who work near each other, it might be a little inconvenient.
It might add a few minutes onto the trip.
You might lose a sense of absolute flexibility on when you can leave.
But what an upside, right?
If a friend or family member or partner works anywhere near you, it would be worth trying even just one day a week or one day every two weeks as a way to reclaim a few minutes and make something that is not fun feel a lot more fun.
On July 25th of 2019, our Before Breakfast episode suggested that people read at lunch.
When people take a lunch break, the temptation is often to read headlines or scroll around on social media if they're not with somebody else.
And it feels kind of relaxing.
But reading a real book would feel even more indulgent.
And this reading time does add up.
If you read for 15 minutes at lunch five times a week, That's another 125 hours of reading per week.
A lot of books take about three to four hours to read.
So if you do the math, that's like adding another book every three to four weeks right there.
That gives you an extra 14 to 17 extra books per year without really giving anything up.
That certainly sounds like a win to me.
Instead of losing time in general to small things, collecting these bits of time ephemera and focusing them on one thing can make life feel a lot more fulfilling.
On August 12th of 2019, a listener suggested a hack, which became an episode called Create a Better To-Do List.
The idea was was to give all tasks on your to-do list an actual time.
The basic idea here is that tasks take time.
So if there is not a designated time to do the tasks, they are probably not going to happen.
This is a very simple idea, but it is so true.
And so many people try to ignore it.
They put things on the to-do list with no available time to do them and then get frustrated when they don't make it through their to-do list.
Now, some of us have reasonably flexible jobs, and so we don't have to be quite as rigid about exact times for everything on our to-do lists.
But if you do happen to have a job or a situation where time is tight, as you are making your to-do list for the next day, Figure out when you will do each task.
Where on your calendar will it go?
Maybe you will need to move things around.
Or maybe you will need to limit your to-do list.
You might have to make some hard choices.
But you know, that is not a bad thing.
Choices lead to a to-do list that is actually doable.
On September 23, 2019, I suggested something that could make email more fun.
Reach out to someone you admire.
If someone has done something cool in the world, send them an email and let them know that you thought it was cool or if it had an impact on you.
Now, if the particular person is really well-known or famous, they might not respond.
But a lot of these emails do, in fact, get read.
You will feel good sending it, and most likely, the person will feel good reading it.
Or at least someone on the person's team will feel good knowing that they are doing good in the world.
There's really no downside.
This is true for sending positive emails in general.
Let an old friend or colleague know you're thinking about them.
I'm guessing that you wouldn't mind getting a similar email from someone else.
So that can be your guiding principle for whether to send these things.
On September 26 2019, I shared one of my favorite suggestions for how people with young kids can have more real leisure time.
Give each parent one night off.
The idea is that if you are in a two-parent family, or at least you're co-parenting with someone, each of you gets one night off from caregiving duties to go do something that is not work and is not taking care of family members, but is fun for you.
For instance, maybe one of you sings in a choir on Tuesdays and the other person plays in a pickleball league on Thursdays.
The kids are still with a parent on each of these nights, but each parent gets to feel like a full person, maybe even keeping up with interests they had from before kids.
A lot of parents feel like they have no time for fun, but I find that many times people aren't using all the resources that are available to them.
Your co-parent is a resource.
And you have a joint pool of hours.
Each of you can take some time for you, as long as you trade off and keep it fair.
Now, I know all families don't look like this.
But maybe you could swap nights with someone else in your life to take a night for you.
A friend, a neighbor, an extended family member.
I'm betting that it can still work.
We're going to take one more quick ad break and then I will be back with some more historic before-breakfast advice.
We'll be right back.
Think podcasting can help your business?
Think iHeart.
Streaming, radio, and podcasting.
Let us show you at iHeartAdvertising.com.
That's iHeartAdvertising.com.
I'm Clayton Eckerd, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor.
Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan.
He became the first Bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected.
The internet turned on him.
If I could press a button and rewind it all, I would.
But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines.
It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom, with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal.
The media is here.
This case has gone viral.
The dating contract.
Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you.
Please search warrant.
This is unlike anything I've ever seen before.
I'm Stephanie Young.
This is Love Trapped.
This season an epic battle of he said, she said and the search for accountability in a sea of lies.
I have done nothing except get pregnant by the bachelor.
Listen to Love Trapped on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, this is Jill Winterstein, host of the Spirit Daughter podcast, where we talk about astrology, natal charts and how to step into your most vibrant life.
And I just sat down with a mini driver.
The Irish traveler said when I was 16, you're going to have a terrible time with men.
Actor, storyteller, and unapologetic Aquarian visionary.
Aquarius is all about freedom loving and different perspectives.
And I find a lot of people with strong placements in Aquarius like are misunderstood.
A sun and Venus in Aquarius in her seventh house spark her unconventional approach to partnership.
He really has taught me to embrace people sleeping in different rooms, on different houses and different places, but just an embracing of the isness of it all.
If you're navigating your own transformation or just want a chart side view into how a leading artist integrates astrology, creativity and real life, this episode is a must listen.
Listen to the Spirit Daughter podcast starting on February 24th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Well, I am back talking ideas from the first year of Before Breakfast as we celebrate this show's seventh anniversary.
On October 8th, 2019, I suggested that listeners become a regular somewhere.
A lot of people feel disconnected these days, maybe even a little bit lonely.
It's good to go somewhere where everybody knows your name.
As they sang in the theme song for Cheers.
If you and your family like to go out to eat twice a month, maybe you make a point of going to the same restaurant for one of those times.
So you eat at the same place 12 times a year and you get to know the establishment.
Or maybe you always go to the same bar with your pickleball league after your games.
Maybe you and your running buddy stop at the same coffee shop for coffee after your run every Saturday morning.
And so you get to know the people who work there at that time.
And the regulars who are also getting their coffee.
You can learn people's names.
You can say hello.
And even though you don't have a close relationship with these people, you'll feel like someone in the universe knows about you and knows you exist.
Plus, you develop favorites that you can start to tell others about and have some knowledge here.
Everyone likes the guacamole at that particular Mexican place.
You know, that sort of thing.
On December 6th, 2019, we talked about the wisdom of trying 40-minute meetings.
There is no real reason that meetings have to default to 30 or 60 minutes.
If you might be tempted to schedule something for an hour, see if you can construct the agenda to be done in 40 minutes instead.
This leaves time for making sure everyone is clear on all the next steps and maybe even doing some of those next steps.
You can send those emails right then.
This also lets people go to the bathroom or get a cup of coffee and get to their next meeting on time.
One of the reasons people often feel frantic or so behind during the workday is that we often don't build in time for transitions.
But even if you are meeting virtually and not in person, transitions don't take zero time.
They do take some time.
Build them in and everyone will be a lot more calm and a lot happier.
Finally, on December 16th, I suggested that busy people make mornings into family time.
Sometimes the time after work can be hard to use well.
People are tired.
Young kids might need to go to bed on the early side, which limits how much you can see them then.
But from my experience, many young kids also wake up at the crack of dawn.
If your kid is up at, let's say, 5.30 a.m., and you don't need to leave for work until...
8.30am?
This is three hours you could potentially be spending together.
And my guess is you don't need all of it for getting ready.
With a few exceptions, whatever playing you would have done in the evening can be done in the morning.
Yep, you can go to a playground at 7.30 in the morning if you like.
Even if you don't have little kids, trying a family breakfast or building in enough time into a morning to talk with your partner or talk with your teenage children can make mornings feel a lot more satisfying.
They don't just need to be about racing out the door.
We can take our days from great to awesome by being more mindful of the time that already exists and moving our mindset from surviving to thriving.
Anyway, those are some of my favorite tips from the first year of the show.
Thank you so much for listening to Before Breakfast.
It has been a great seven years since March of 2019.
And I hope you will continue to tune in every morning for more tips on taking days from great to awesome been your favorite episodes of Before Breakfast.
You can let me know, or let me know any feedback and what you'd like to see more of at laura, at lauravandercamcom.
In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening.
And here's to making the most of our time.
Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at laura at lauravandercam.com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeart Media.
For more podcasts from iHeart Media, please visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
I'm Clayton Eckerd.
In 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor.
But here's the thing.
Bachelor fans hated him.
If I could press a button and rewind it all, I would.
That's when his life took a disturbing turn.
A one-night stand would end in a courtroom.
The media is here.
This case has gone viral.
The dating contract.
Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you.
This is unlike anything I've ever seen before.
I'm Stephanie Young.
Listen to Love Trapped on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Next Monday, our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards are happening live at South by Southwest.
This is the biggest night in podcasting.
We'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative talent and creators in the industry.
And the winner is... creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display.
Thank you so much, iHeartRadio.
Thank you to all the other nominees.
You guys are awesome.
Watch live next Monday at 8 p.m.
Eastern, 5 p.m.
Pacific, free at veeps.com or the Veeps app.
Ego Woda is your host for the 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards, live at South by Southwest.
Hello, is anybody there?
Raised by a single mom, Ego may have a few father-related issues.
Are we supposed to talk about your dad?
Her podcast, Thanks Dad.
Is full of funny, heartfelt conversations with actors, including fellow SNL alums comedians, musicians and more about life and their wonderfully complicated relationships with their fathers.
Think and hope that's a good thing.
Get to know Ego.
Follow Thanks Dad with Ego Odom and start listening on the free iHeartRadio app today.
This is an iHeart podcast.
Guaranteed human.
