Look out the window first

Clear your mind before clearing your inbox

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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 that when you have a little spot
of time open up, you don't need to spend all
of it checking email. Take a minute to look out

(00:26):
the window first, and you just might start feeling a
little differently about life. I am writing this episode on
a lovely fall day, when the colors out my office
window are brilliant and rich. There's a bright red maple
staring back at me, and the little yellow oak leaves

(00:47):
scattered on the bushes look like celebratory confetti. With scenery
like this, I do find myself looking up more than usual.
I know in a few weeks it will all be
gray and brown for winter, but even so, on any day,
looking at the sky and the trees can provide a

(01:08):
little mental lift, a soothing sense that whatever problems I'm
dealing with our transient against the slowly changing seasons. I
also realized that I don't avail myself of this opportunity
to look out on a calming scene nearly as much
as I could. When a spot of time appears in

(01:29):
my schedule, I do what I suspect. Many people do
check my inbox. Sometimes there's something I need to deal
with there, but often it's something that could have waited
for one minute. Well, I looked out at the loveliness
for sixty seconds. If you'd like more tranquility in your life,

(01:51):
it might be worth trying to look out the window first.
In my new book, Tranquility by Tuesday, one of the
time management rules I explore is to do effortful fun
before effortless fun. When you've got the potential for leisure time,
do a few minutes of reading or hobbies are connecting

(02:12):
with friends before switching over to screen time. When people
made this one little habit switch, they were far more
likely to agree with the statement yesterday, I didn't waste
time on things that weren't important to me. We don't
necessarily think of leisure during the work day, though I

(02:33):
am pretty sure that traffic on many websites is higher
during the work day than afterwards. But in many cases,
quick email checks are the same sort of thing as
checking social media, if maybe even more insidious, because they
look like work. We want to see what's in there,

(02:55):
even if all we wind up doing with those moments
of time is deleting email newsletters we can't remember subscribing to.
It's often just the sort of effortless activity that doesn't
do much beyond provide a quick hit of feeling like
something has been done. So here's an idea. Before you

(03:17):
get to all that deleting, take just one minute to
look out the window first. Yes, staring at the clouds
can be a form of effortful fun in our distracted world.
If you've got a window in your office, wonderful get
to know the world outside it. If you work at

(03:38):
a home office, you can curate this view, making it
a little more pleasant and intriguing over time. But even
if you are in an office park, there is probably
something of interest, a patch of sky, a tree, that
sort of thing. If you are working in a window

(04:00):
this cubicle, just get up and walk to a window.
Most buildings are required to have them somewhere not too
far away from you. It will be good to stretch
your legs in addition to taking in the outside world. Again,
this doesn't have to take long, sixty seconds would be fine.

(04:22):
Then go delete email as much as you want. The
point is simply to change up the automatic flow of
activities and to build little spots for renewal into your day.
I just looked up to watch a handful of bright
yellow leaves float to the ground. The email deletion can

(04:43):
wait a few seconds. The falling leaves are a lot
more tranquil in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
and here's to making the most of our time. M Hey, everybody,

(05:06):
I'd love to hear 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 i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

(05:29):
is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
should 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 favorite shows.