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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Good morning.
This is Laura.
Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to remember that your time is your own.
We have responsibilities to other people and organizations, but your time is fundamentally yours and you can make choices with how to spend it.
So I frequently hear from people about their challenges and hopes for their time.
One person recently told me that if she were successful in making over her schedule, she would feel that her time and her life belonged to her again.
Well, on some level, I think that is an inspiring goal.
It was also sobering to hear, because it implied that she didn't feel like her time and her life belonged to her currently.
And I understand that feeling.
I think a lot of people feel like their time is not their own.
When you are at work, you might feel like that is your employer's time.
When you are cooking or doing laundry, getting groceries, it's your family's time.
Or maybe it's more abstract than that.
You may feel a vague sense of obligation to no one in particular to keep a clean house and make a balanced meal and send Christmas cards too.
When you're with your kids, it is their time.
And maybe when you're not with your kids, you may feel like it should be.
You feel like the time is actually theirs, but you are borrowing it to wrap up a work project.
You may have friends you feel you should get together with, or organizations for whom you are overdue on a task you volunteered to do but haven't completed.
It can feel as if everybody else has a claim on your time and there is none left for you.
But fundamentally, your time is yours.
There are always consequences.
But over the long run, we have the power to fill our lives with the things we want to see there.
If you feel like your time doesn't belong to you, one of the first things I suggest doing is tracking your time, which lots of people are doing with me here in January.
You may find times that could be more obviously reclaimed as yours with a mindset shift.
If your kids are in bed at 8 and you go to bed at 10, at least an hour of this could be yours if you limit the housework.
Maybe you work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and your kids are on the bus at 7.30.
If your calls don't start until 9, maybe this 90-minute gap could be spent on whatever you'd like, as long as you remind yourself that you will work a full day at 9 and the house can be cleaned up later.
As for things that do seem like obligations, sometimes it helps to articulate your values and priorities.
If your time commitments don't fit with these values and priorities, you may need to make some adjustments.
But if they do, then perhaps you can connect your time with your purpose.
Working incredibly hard on a work project isn't about owing time to your employer.
It's that you want to have an impact on your field.
And you see a direct link between this project and people changing how they do things.
If you value having a smooth, functioning home, then a solid laundry system isn't about owing time to Martha Stewart or your mother or your home.
Ec teacher.
It's something you do so you and your family can get dressed easily.
Now, I'm not saying this is always easy, but it might help.
And you might even be able to insert some pleasure into moments of less pleasant obligation.
You value physical activity and friendship, so you drive your kid to soccer.
But maybe you get to listen to your music or your audiobooks in the car.
At least some of that time can still feel like it is yours.
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.
Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanka Wally.
And I'm Hari Kundabolu.
It's a new year and on the podcast Health Stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health.
Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know and how messy it can all be.
I like to sleep in late and sleep early.
Is there a chronotype for that or am I just depressed?
Health Stuff is about learning, laughing and feeling a little less alone.
Listen on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
A new year doesn't ask us to become someone new.
It invites us back home to ourselves.
I'm Mike Della Rocha, host of Sacred Lessons, a space for men to pause, reflect and heal.
This year we're talking honestly about mental health relationships and the patterns we're ready to release.
If you're looking for clarity, connection and healthier ways to show up in your life, Sacred Lessons is here for you.
Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Della Rocha on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is an iHeart podcast.
Guaranteed human.
