Go for a 5 p.m. walk

Take a few minutes to boost your energy before starting your evening

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to go for a five pm walk. A
little bit of physical activity is a great way to

(00:23):
transition between work and the rest of your evening and
can help boost your energy so you can make the
most of your evening hours. Longtime listeners know that I
have been exploring the topic of weekday evenings lately. I
like to call these the golden hours. Just as retirees

(00:44):
can celebrate their golden years of leisure and family time
after years of work, we can celebrate our golden hours
every evening. If you are done with work and commuting
by six pm or so and go to bed at
ten pm, you have got four hours each night for
family and leisure. It is not a small amount of time.

(01:08):
It is also incredibly hard to use well. People are
tired after a long day. There are often half to dos,
like making dinner and feeding people and getting kids through
homework or to activities, and of course to bed. The
house might need to be picked up. And yet even

(01:28):
with the half to dos, there is often some discretionary space.
We just have to think of what we want to
do and manage our energy to make it happen. Thinking
about what you would like to do in your golden
hours is a topic we have talked about in other episodes,
but today's tip is about how to have the mindset

(01:51):
and the energy to take advantage of this time. So
this episode is first running in February. In my part
of the world, it is finely light late enough where
you can see the sun after work, so consider going
for a five pm walk as you finish up work
in order to reset your mood and energy levels. If

(02:15):
you are working from home, when you are done with
your last meeting, walk outside for ten to fifteen minutes.
Bundle yourself up and get out there, even if it's cold,
walk briskly. The space will help you mentally prepare for
evening and your home life. The physical activity and fresh

(02:36):
air will do what we know they do, namely, reliably
boost your energy levels so you can do more than
just collapse in front of the TV. Now, if you
aren't working from home, maybe it's a little less obvious
how this works, but I think you can still structure
your time to fit in a ten to fifteen minute walk.

(02:56):
One option is to park a little further away from
your office, you have to walk ten minutes to get
to your car, then really treat this walk as a
brain break in an energy booster. If you have to
walk to a bus or train stop, you are probably
already getting this in and perhaps walking briskly. If you
are running late, really notice the break and think about

(03:19):
mentally resetting yourself for the evening. If there is no
place to walk near work, you can get yourself home
and walk in your neighborhood before heading in. Now I
am not necessarily suggesting getting home later. Perhaps you could
and work a tiny bit earlier. Often people have the
ability to cut ten minutes off the end of the

(03:41):
day if they want. If you have to make a
daycare pickup, really think about how you might structure your
time so you can still build in this tiny bit
of space. It will help make you more patient for
everything else. But if need be, perhaps you can walk
with your kids for a few minutes after work and
before the rest of the evening. Put them in the

(04:03):
stroller and walk around outside for fifteen minutes. Perhaps you
could give them a small snack so they are not
screaming for dinner the second you get home, you can
all get some fresh air together. It doesn't have to
take a long time, but fresh air and physical activity
are known energy boosters. If you have more energy, you

(04:25):
will be able to choose activities for the evening without
feeling incredibly exhausted. You might be able to think about
doing a puzzle for thirty minutes, or playing a musical instrument,
or doing some drawing rather than just scrolling around online
during whatever time is available. By taking a walk, you

(04:45):
also create a clear demarcation between work mode and home mode.
This becomes the official start of your evening. You are
starting with something good rather than sliding from one thing
into another. That mental shift can help you start seeing
this time as real time that can be used. So

(05:10):
I've been doing a four thirty or five pm walk
a reasonable number of days lately, and it really is
helping me feel like now it is the evening. Yes,
it is hard to get outside in winter when it
is cold and snowy, but as the sun is setting,
everything is colorful and beautiful. Pink and golden light on

(05:31):
the snow is amazing. What a treat to see it.
It's a different sort of happy hour. Maybe you would
like a five PM walk too. Does not have to
be every day, but try it a day or two
this week and see how it goes. My guess as
you will start the evening feeling better. In the meantime,

(05:57):
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 Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

(06:26):
is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.