Ask for the gift of time

One way to battle burnout

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to ask for the gift of time.
If you have been feeling overwhelmed or burned out, a

(00:26):
little bit of time away from your responsibilities can feel
nothing short of miraculous. If you know that you won't
just take that time, then specifically requesting it as a
holiday present from your family can take away the guilt.
I recently took a short editing retreat to Cape May,

(00:46):
New Jersey, which is a little less than two hours
away from my house. The goal was to work through
the manuscript of Tranquility by Tuesday, my next book. It
was good to be productive and get that done, but
I also wanted to have the mental space to edit,
which meant getting away from the bedtime battles and morning

(01:08):
rush at my house. I worked twelve hours a day,
but those days still felt like a vacation. I returned
in a much healthier state of mind. Maybe you too
have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. Many of us
have spent a lot more time being on call for

(01:30):
our families. Over the last twenty months or so, as
work and school and such have happened from home. Work
for many people might be stressful right now with places
being understaffed and with supply chain disruptions. That said, there
is a process for asking for days off from work,

(01:51):
which you should definitely avail yourself of. Home is another
thing altogether. It is hard to get away from family responsibilities,
and even though we dearly love those around us, it's
nice not to be constantly needed, at least for a
little while. Getting away is hard, but probably not impossible

(02:16):
for many of us. I made arrangements and my husband
covered the non school hours so I could get away.
If you would like to do something similar, but you
don't have the excuse of needing to edit a book,
then why not ask for a few days away as
a holiday present. You probably don't really want another sweater

(02:38):
or scarf, and you would really like the time away.
The trip itself can be cheap. Stay in an offseason
hotel nearby or cheap airbnb, or even borrow a friend's
house while she's traveling. It's not so much the expense,
it's the logistics. You are asking for the support of

(03:01):
others in your life to take over your responsibilities. For
just a little while. For most people, this would be
your spouse or your partner that you are asking, though
there are two obvious caveats here. First, if you don't
have such a person, perhaps you can ask an extended
family member for the gift of space, or maybe you

(03:24):
want to take your spouse with you on your getaway.
If that is the case, you would have to ask
for space from grandparents or someone like that. But you
could even in theory swap with friends. Maybe not necessarily
for an overnight, though you could, but a full day
away somewhere could still be lovely. You'd have your friends

(03:48):
kids over for the day and then you do the
same for them as a coordinated gift exchange. Much better
than exchanging mugs. Right, So why not asked for the
gift of time off? And hey, if you are listening
to this and you are not in an overwhelmed stage

(04:08):
of life, consider giving the gift of time off to
someone in your life who does need it. While two
nights away might be perfect, they'd probably take a weekend
afternoon off too, and that might be more manageable. It
feels good to give a gift that is truly appreciated.

(04:32):
This is one that would be in the meantime. This
is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making the
moves of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear

(04:53):
from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,
then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com

(05:13):
that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

(05:34):
favorite shows.