This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human.
Run a business and not thinking about podcasting?
Think again.
More Americans listen to podcasts than add supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora.
And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined.
Learn how podcasting can help your business.
Call 844-844-iHeart.
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Good morning.
This is Laura.
Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is that if you want to have a little adventure on a weekday evening, you might be best off making it a stop on the way home.
It can be hard to get out the door again after a long day of work, but it might not be as hard to add something on to an end-of-day commute or pickup run.
Long-time listeners know that one of my favorite time management tips is to plan one big adventure and one little adventure each week.
A little adventure can be pretty short, less than an hour, which means it is doable on a weekday evening.
I also like the idea of taking one night for you doing something that is not work and not caring for family.
This might be a good weekday evening activity as well.
Many people agree with me in theory, but one key stumbling block is that a weekday adventure or going to something regularly like an exercise class or a choir practice means you might have to go back out again after coming home from work or picking up kids.
Especially when it is dark and cold after dinner, people often want to hibernate.
That trip to a local gallery with evening hours.
That sounded good in theory doesn't sound quite so good when you are tired after a long day and realize you could be putting on your sweatpants and sitting on the couch.
I get it.
I like my sweatpants too.
But almost always after I've had a little adventure, I am glad I have done it.
I usually enjoy myself as I am doing it too.
That is the point of having an adventure or a hobby.
Now you could try telling yourself that your future self will thank you.
It's just one night.
Every other night you can get straight into your pajamas.
But if that doesn't work, here is a practical strategy.
Make it a stop on the way home.
I heard this recently from someone who really didn't like the idea of heading back out after commuting home after a long day.
But she signed up for music lessons every other week.
That involved stopping at the studio on her way home from work.
She didn't have to motivate herself to leave again because she was already out.
And she got her hobby.
Very smart, right?
I can think of lots of ways this could play out.
I mean.
The obvious one is stopping at the gym on the way home from work, though I do realize that that is when it is most crowded.
But when the weather is nice you could pack running clothes and change at work and stop at a park on the way home once a week or so.
You could sign up for lessons at 6 pm somewhere or take a 630 art class and decide to grab a sandwich on the way there if you leave work at 530.
If something starts later in the evening, you could pack yourself a sandwich and work a little later that night, if that is a possibility to fill the time until your activity, and then leave earlier some other day or come in later.
Now, if you are responsible for other people in the evening, then this could be a little more complicated, but maybe not.
If you're picking your kids up at daycare, maybe bring a snack that is substantial enough to fill them and have a little adventure together.
We are only talking one night a week.
It can be okay to bust up the routine once.
Or you can trade off with your partner.
Each of you gets one night where you stop to do your hobby or adventure on the way home from work, and the other takes the kids during that time.
If you have a sitter, maybe this person could work until an hour later one night.
It would be harder to arrange for other child care to come after this person is left anyway.
So this might be your best bet for making a little adventure happen.
Because it is hard to head back out after you've gotten home, even if you're planning to do something fun, it can still feel like a bit of an imposition.
But if you haven't gotten home yet, then you don't have that problem.
So figure out what logistics would need to happen and what you would like to do one night a week, and I bet you could make it work.
Just because it is hibernation weather doesn't mean our remembering selves will have wanted us to do that every night.
Best to give our remembering selves something to actually remember.
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 lauravanderkam.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.
In the middle of the night, Saskia awoke in a haze.
Her husband, Mike, was on his laptop.
What was on his screen would change Saskia's life forever.
I said, I need you to tell me exactly what you're doing.
And immediately, the mask came off.
You're supposed to be safe.
That's your home.
That's your husband.
Listen to Betrayal Season 5 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Over the last couple years?
Didn't we learn that the folding chair was invented by Black people?
Because of what happened in Alabama.
This Black History Month, the podcast Selective Ignorance with Mandi B unpacks Black history and culture with comedy, clarity and conversations that shake the status quo.
The Crown Act in New York was signed in July of 2019 and that is a bill that was passed to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race.
To hear this and more, listen to Selective Ignorance with Mandy B from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is an iHeart Podcast.
Guaranteed human.
