December 25, 2024 • 21 mins
Amanda Warner, a long-time Before Breakfast listener, discusses pre-planning and the benefits of a long walk
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
episode is going to be a longer one part of
the series where I interview fascinating people about how they
take their days from great to awesome and their advice
(00:25):
for the rest of us. So today I am delighted
to welcome Amanda Warner to the show. Amanda lives in
Florida and she's worked in fields including commercial real estate
and event planning. She is currently doing consulting in commercial
real estate. She is also a long time Before Breakfast listener. So, Amanda,
welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I'm so excited to have you. So why don't you
introduce yourself to our listeners, maybe tell them a little
bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Sure, So, like you said in the intro, I live
in South Florida and my career has been in commercial
real estate, so both doing the operation side and then
also lease administration side. And as we chat through, you
know some time things you'll see a lot of it
is scheduled or routine or repetitive. And so you know
some of my yes ways I pre plan or take
(01:14):
care of timing, you know, evolved into that. And then
just personally, I've always been an organized person and you know,
keep track of schedules and stuff. So that's a bit
of background about me.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Awesome. Well, maybe you can talk a little bit about
You said that word pre planning, and I know you
are big on a pre planning, So tell us what
that is and what it looks like in your life.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Sure. So pre planning to me is just thinking through
what's coming up, and I think it's a combination of
working forwards and backwards. But a real tangible example I
recently used it with the holidays is when it comes
to packing for a trip, I keep a notebook. And
I started this a long time ago because I would
every time I'd have a trip, I'd write it on
(01:56):
a piece of paper, probably throw the piece paper out
next trip I have to remember, and this just was
not the most efficient thing. So I grabbed a notebook
and I write down when I'm getting ready for a trip.
And what's really helpful is the next trip I have
to go on, I have like the template from the
previous trip. And yes, a lot of people can do
(02:16):
this in Excel and you can print an Excel spreadsheet.
But what I like is I can flip back to
my notes or things that I packed at the last minute,
or certain destinations like when I go stay with family,
I don't need to take a blow dryer. If I'm
staying in a hotel, I might need to. So it's
little things like that that I feel have saved me
so much time over the years. And also the mental
(02:38):
gymnastics of needing to remember to take things down a trip.
So that's one example.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
That's one example. Okay, let's get another example of what
pre planning looks like.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Okay, pre planning is I have I keep two small
pieces of paper in my kitchen. One says trash and
one says lunch. And on the days that I have
to take trash out the next morning, I put it
with my morning walking stuff. So we'll get to my
morning walk and I'm sure later in the episode, but yes,
I could remember to take the trash out, but it
(03:09):
removes the mental I remember to take the trash. I
go to grab my stuff and the note is right there.
Take the trash out, and then when I get back in,
I put the note away till the next time I
need to take trash out. Same thing if I'm taking lunch,
and I don't take lunch every day, but I don't
want to forget it. It's just leaving the note there
for myself. So that's part of what what I call
(03:31):
pre planning.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Cool, you have one more example for us?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I have one more example. You know, I'm sure I
have endless examples. I think in a work context, what
a lot of people forget about or don't realize is
pre planning or saving templates for things, or whether it's
a document or even in an email. To save a
template or to pull up a previous email that has
all the same information and just copy and paste it
(03:58):
instead of needing to start over every day time.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, that's always good because when you're starting from scratch,
like the same thing with the trip planning, right, you
are like reinventing a wheel that you didn't have to do.
All this is already there, right, So why don't you
talk a little bit about your routines? So I understand
that you have something of a morning routine as well.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
I do have a morning routine. I walk every morning,
and this started like years and years ago, where I
realized after sitting at a desk all day like I
wanted to be more active, and so I did the
I'll start walking before work. So then had, you know,
do the whole adjust my time to get up earlier,
and I did. And at the time, I was still
(04:44):
living in Michigan, which is where I'm from, and rain
or shine, hot or cold, I would bundle up and
do my morning walk. And while sometimes it was not
comfortable while walking in the cold like, I did like
the fact that no matter what happened in my day,
I'd moved and I'd done something for myself. And that
just continued. So as jobs changed, I had to adjust
(05:06):
my time, or as I wanted to walk longer, I
had to adjust my time. No difference than when you're
training for a race, although I wasn't training for a race.
I was just walking. And then in moving to South Florida,
you really have to get up early, especially in the
summer if you want to avoid the heat. So as
life has evolved, I definitely am one of those very
(05:28):
early alarm clock people. But I've come to appreciate my
morning walk so much that I joke with friends who
can't function unless they have their morning coffee. I've turned
into one of those people that can't function unless I
have my morning walk.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
And what does that tend to look like for you
right now? Like what time are you getting up to
go for home.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I'm usually getting up a little before five and have
all of my stuff laid out already so that i
can just throw on the clothes and take it and
get out the door, and then I usually walk for
about five miles and then I'll come home and you know,
finish my morning routine. But then also on my walks,
you know, that's a big part of when I listen
(06:11):
to podcasts, So lots of times you are accompanying me
on my morning walks.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Well only for a couple of minutes of it, though,
because how long is it taking you to walk five miles?
Speaker 3 (06:20):
That is not a distance, It does a lot.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
It is a lot of before breakfast. I'm usually up
for an hour and a half in the morning. And
that's in a perfect day, a perfect conditions, weather time,
weather stuff like that. It does vary, and if it
has to be adjusted for you know, weather or schedule,
it does.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
And what happens if it's you know, thunderstorm, which I
hear happens in southwast you.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Know, it depends how stubborn I'm being and or when
it starts raining, sort, so.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
You'll time it. You'll time it around the rain or
around the light. Okay, okay, And you know it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I bet the weather.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
You know, walking in South Florida is obviously a very
different way other issues than one encounters in Michigan. But
you actually made a choice to move to South Florida
partly for the weather. For the weather. Can you tell
us a little bit about that?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
I mean, the short answer is I'm one of those
people whose bodies does not do well in cold weather,
even though that's where I'm from my entire life. And
so after doctors suggested I move to warm weather, I
listened to them and it really has made a difference.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
That's awesome. And so you're just listening to podcasts and
walking briskly. I mean, does this ever get boring to you?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
It's a good question. It doesn't, because I have some
form of entertainment, whether it's listening to podcasts. My sister
lives overseas, and so it's actually a really great time
for us to chat because she'll be it's the middle,
like late morning for her. My nephews are at school,
so I can talk to my sister, so I can
(07:54):
talk to her. I can listen to podcasts, but no,
it doesn't get boring because I'm outside, so scenery is
always changing. Whereas if I were on a treadmill for
that amount of time, it would be to rugery.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
It would be I can attest to that.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Five miles even if you're going fast on a treadmill
is rougerie. I love being outside as well. Or We're
going to take a quick ad break and then I'll
be back with more from Amanda Warner.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Well, I am back.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
This is a longer episode of Before Breakfast. We're talking
with listener Amanda Warner, who's worked most of her career
in commercial real estate. She currently lives in South Florida.
She's been talking about her five mile long morning walks
where she listens to this podcast and many others. Since
I'm usually only about four or five minutes a day,
I love that routine. Amanda, Maybe you can tell us
(08:46):
a little bit about your lunchtime routine, because you mentioned
you also are pretty good about the lunchtime break.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
So similar to the reason that I started the morning walk,
which was I needed to know to move my life.
I also started walking at lunchtime. I wouldn't say it
was the same chapter of life that I did both
at the same time, but you know, it kind of
evolved that way. And you know, when I'm in an
office environment, I've come to take like a fifteen to
(09:14):
twenty minute walk break, so it usually ends up being
you know, about it's about a mile, but it's really
just to get out of an office to clear my head.
All the offices I've been in, I've been able to
find a nice path or a nice route, you know,
close to the office, and it really is just a
time for me to clear my head, get space from
(09:34):
whatever I'm working on before I then go back in
and we'll have you know, a desktop launch or a
quick lunch in you know, a break room, depending on
the environment in the office. And I think I get
equal parts joking or comments from employee like coworkers, as
well as perhaps respect, like they respect that I'm walking,
(09:55):
they know that I'm going to I've been in environments
where we lunch together and they'll be like, have you yet,
We'll wait for you to have lunch when you get back,
or people who schedule a meeting, but want to make
sure it wraps up so I can walk or ask
if I've walked today. So I've taken that as admiration,
even when I get jokes about it. But it really
does make a difference to just leave. And you know,
(10:16):
there's so many times you hear people or like you say,
it's the stories we tell ourselves that we can't leave
the office and we can't take a hard break, but
like you can, and if you're consistent about it, you'll
be respected for it.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
And so if you're coming into a new situation, I'm
curious how you would suggest, you know, approaching this with
your coworkers and other people you're working with. If you're
the kind of person who would like to take a
walk every day at lunch, what would you suggest saying
or doing? I mean, maybe some advice here.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Sure, So if you're started, I mean, for me at
this point, like I'm comfortable and confident in the fact
that I take a look at lunch, So you know,
if it doesn't come up in an interview, it'll usually
come up within you know, the first day or so.
I take a while, I take a quick break to
take a quick walk before I have lunch and it's
just kind of what it is. But if you're at
in a role and you've been there for a while
(11:09):
and you want to start, honestly, just start one day.
Just say to the colleague, you know, I'm going stepping out,
just you know, for a walk for a bit. I'll
be back and if you like it, you just keep going.
And I think if you were to get feedback or
pushback once you've already started, you can kind of get
a better sense of it. So because it's during the
day and because we're all allowed our lunch breaks and
(11:31):
our personal time, I don't there shouldn't be an issue.
The only one and I can see is, you know,
scheduling wise, if you have if you have shift work,
or if you need to be on the phones at
a certain time for someone else, well then you might
have time restrictions. But I think it's just starting it,
seeing how it goes for you, and then you can
give a better response if someone has a concern.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, And the interesting thing is sometimes with shift work
or when you are specifically, like on the phones for
a certain amount of time, many of those jobs have
more formalized breaks precisely because you know, everyone has to
cover for a certain amount of time, and so you know,
you've got fifteen minutes built in, say twice a day,
and so you could take one of those and go outside.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
And to that point, Actually, I've thought about that because
I've you know, had employees who are shift workers or
who are laborers, you know, thinking like maintenance technicians or
janitorial staff, and they have their breaks. You know, it's
part of their schedule. It's also part of their employment contract.
And you know many times they're like, unless it's an emergency,
don't call me between twelve and twelve thirty, that's my break,
(12:34):
and they take those breaks. Seriously. Yeah, many of us
who are in an office environment or have more autonomy
over our schedules were the ones that say, we can't,
but yet we can. Look to those who have different
work structures and we can not every day, but we can.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah. Oh, I'm a big fan of me where you are.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
We recently had an episode when this runs, there will
have been a recent episode when I talk about actually
naming breaks that I heard this tip from someone that
they named their breaks during the day, and that you know,
because lunch obviously has a break, but you know, what
is the mid afternoon break when you are sleepy and
need to do something to wake yourself up? What is that?
(13:16):
I don't know, but by formalizing it, you encourage yourself
to actually, yeah, yeah, noaks breaks are awesome. Well, I
wonder if you have an example of how you have
taken a day from great to awesome recently.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Sure, so, I've had two. I can share one that
I think we'll just make anyone's day anytime it happens.
I had to park in a parking meter, and when
I went to go figure out what app I needed
for this particular parking meter, there was an hour left
in the meter from the previous person, so I didn't
have to put money in the meter.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Nice. Nice, just like on the app you were checking.
Like I looked at the meter and it.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Still said one hour on it, because this was a
meter that you could do app coin. Oh gosh, there
was an hour left.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
So yeah, thank you, thank you anonymous other people exactly exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
So that was, you know, really more of a universal one.
But then a recent you know, professional one. A colleague
and I had started a coffee networking group earlier this year.
And when you start any new group it's like always
a little fledgling. So we had to cancel a few
times because it was only going to be the two
of us, but we kept going and every time we meet.
(14:29):
We've had a handful of meetings. In the most recent time,
there's about four of us each time, but four different people.
But what made the day great to awesome besides having
you know, this coffee with you know, three people, two
of whom never hadn't met each other before, was when
I asked for feedback for next year. I was thinking
about did we want to do this quarterly or more
(14:51):
frequently less frequently, and all three of them said, I
think we should do it monthly. And one of them
said because in this way, if we miss the meet
or we have a conflict, we know there's another next month.
We don't have to wait three months. And to me,
that really made my day go great to awesome or
good to great because I had started something and it
was working and people appreciated it. So I was really
(15:13):
happy about that.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Well, and I also think that's a good mindset too,
that the more frequent something is the sort of lower stakes.
If people can't make it to one of them knowing
it's happening frequently, allows people to build it into their
life with the knowledge that life isn't always exactly as
we wish it to be as well.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
So well, that's that's a really cool idea. I love it.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
We're going to take one more quick ad break and
then we'll be back with more from Amanda. Well, I
am back talking with Amanda Warner, who is a South
Florida resident, works in commercial real estate, and is also
a long time Before Breakfast listener that we discussed. She
(16:00):
listens to this sometimes on her epic morning walks that
she does the vast majority of days unless there is
I suppose a hurricane coming through her part of Florida.
But Amanda, we didn't chat about this earlier, but I
hope it's okay for me to ask, you are a
fantastic baker. Can you talk about how your cookie baking
(16:20):
came to be and how that fits in your house.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
How that fits into my life? Yes, happy too, And
also I can use you know, I can talk about
pre planning on now one too.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Oh yeah, let's talk so baking.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
It's always been one of my hobbies. I learned it
from my mom. Like there are pictures you know of
me on the counter with my mom making banana bread
when I was little, so you know, I've just always
done that. And a number of years ago, friends said
you should start a business, and I said, no ganging
up on me, but if ten friends tell me, I'll
(16:54):
think about it or I'll take them seriously. So I
did get the ten friends, started a business and said
if it reaches a point where I don't like baking anymore,
I'm stopping because it's my hobby. It's one of my
creative outlets. And sure enough, after two years, reached that
point and closed the business, but kept on baking. And
(17:14):
then last year was with a different group of friends,
different circumstances in life, they convinced me to try it again,
doing it as a pop up style. So I mean,
no dabbling here and there with pop up baking on occasion,
which I know you are familiar with, but it remains
one of my hobbies. So that's my baking business slash
not business slash what I do. Well.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
I love the idea of doing it until it's not fun.
I mean, because if something is a side hustle, a
hobby I mean, or either one of those. I mean,
when it becomes not fun that it's like, well, you
may as well just do more of your regular job,
right right. Yeah, And so I'm curious what makes something
what makes somebody a good baker, Like, what do you
(17:58):
think is your uh special insight here that a lot
of people don't get.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
That's a really good question.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Because I've always been doing it. But perhaps one thing
is baking versus cooking. Baking you need to have more precision.
You need to be one who respects rules and measurements
and whatnot, whereas cooking this is not true universally, but
cooking you can just have a lot more freedom and
measuring is not is necessary in baking if you don't
(18:29):
measures that measure the flour or put in too much liquid, like,
it's not going to turn out. And because I don't
mind following the rules and I do like the precision,
I think that's one of the reasons why I've become
a good baker. I think I took for granted that
my mom taught me how to read a recipe when
I was a kid, so I, you know, have comfort.
(18:50):
I'm comfortable reading recipes, and then a more tangible thing
that I think everyone can relate to while listening is
I've learned that the secret to really good cookies is
to underbake them. So take them out before they look
done and then they'll be good.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Then they'll be good. So you gotta watch frequently take
them out before they are even turning into those little
hard rap discs. Happens to some of us, and it's
so true, and the measuring and things like that. I
read a hilarious thread online one of the flower companies
that people were posting comments, and it was just silly
stuff like I used a little less flour but it
(19:29):
didn't turn out well, and it's like, well, come.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
On, like you can't just do that.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Or I substituted something for the butter and it didn't work,
and I'm like, well, you know, then you need to
go find a different recipe for Like there are recipes
out there for cookies that use oil or something like that,
but you know, you need a recipe that's developed with
that in mind. So, Amanda, what is something you are
(19:55):
looking forward to right now?
Speaker 2 (19:57):
I mean, I guess on the topic of you know, baking,
I've been baking a lot for the holidays. I often,
you know, take it when I'm going to friends houses
or you know, send it as gifts, So definitely, you know,
enjoying baking, and then really just looking forward to the
new year. I've got a lot of I have some
trips planned, I have some events coming up, so really
it's just that fresh start of a new year.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Do you set a lot of resolutions.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
I'm not a big resolution person. I guess I would
say I'm more goal oriented, so then again that could
be a matter of semantics. So not so many resolutions,
but things I want to just be aware of or
you know, work towards.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
And do you actually resolve to continue with your walking
habit or is it so ingreaded, It's so ingrained.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
In me that it's just I just do an autopilot.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Do an autopilot.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Well that's the best kind of habit, right, Yeah, I
don't even need to think about it.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Wonderful.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Well, Amanda, thank you so much for joining us, and
thank you to everyone who's been listening to this episode.
If you have feedback on this episode or others of
ideas of peace, people you'd like to hear from, because
we're definitely going to hear from some more before Breakfast
listeners in these longer episodes, let me know. You can
always reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com
(21:10):
and 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 Laura
(21:31):
vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 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.
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
episode is going to be a longer one part of
the series where I interview fascinating people about how they
take their days from great to awesome and their advice
(00:25):
for the rest of us. So today I am delighted
to welcome Amanda Warner to the show. Amanda lives in
Florida and she's worked in fields including commercial real estate
and event planning. She is currently doing consulting in commercial
real estate. She is also a long time Before Breakfast listener. So, Amanda,
welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I'm so excited to have you. So why don't you
introduce yourself to our listeners, maybe tell them a little
bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Sure, So, like you said in the intro, I live
in South Florida and my career has been in commercial
real estate, so both doing the operation side and then
also lease administration side. And as we chat through, you
know some time things you'll see a lot of it
is scheduled or routine or repetitive. And so you know
some of my yes ways I pre plan or take
(01:14):
care of timing, you know, evolved into that. And then
just personally, I've always been an organized person and you know,
keep track of schedules and stuff. So that's a bit
of background about me.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Awesome. Well, maybe you can talk a little bit about
You said that word pre planning, and I know you
are big on a pre planning, So tell us what
that is and what it looks like in your life.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Sure. So pre planning to me is just thinking through
what's coming up, and I think it's a combination of
working forwards and backwards. But a real tangible example I
recently used it with the holidays is when it comes
to packing for a trip, I keep a notebook. And
I started this a long time ago because I would
every time I'd have a trip, I'd write it on
(01:56):
a piece of paper, probably throw the piece paper out
next trip I have to remember, and this just was
not the most efficient thing. So I grabbed a notebook
and I write down when I'm getting ready for a trip.
And what's really helpful is the next trip I have
to go on, I have like the template from the
previous trip. And yes, a lot of people can do
(02:16):
this in Excel and you can print an Excel spreadsheet.
But what I like is I can flip back to
my notes or things that I packed at the last minute,
or certain destinations like when I go stay with family,
I don't need to take a blow dryer. If I'm
staying in a hotel, I might need to. So it's
little things like that that I feel have saved me
so much time over the years. And also the mental
(02:38):
gymnastics of needing to remember to take things down a trip.
So that's one example.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
That's one example. Okay, let's get another example of what
pre planning looks like.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Okay, pre planning is I have I keep two small
pieces of paper in my kitchen. One says trash and
one says lunch. And on the days that I have
to take trash out the next morning, I put it
with my morning walking stuff. So we'll get to my
morning walk and I'm sure later in the episode, but yes,
I could remember to take the trash out, but it
(03:09):
removes the mental I remember to take the trash. I
go to grab my stuff and the note is right there.
Take the trash out, and then when I get back in,
I put the note away till the next time I
need to take trash out. Same thing if I'm taking lunch,
and I don't take lunch every day, but I don't
want to forget it. It's just leaving the note there
for myself. So that's part of what what I call
(03:31):
pre planning.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Cool, you have one more example for us?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I have one more example. You know, I'm sure I
have endless examples. I think in a work context, what
a lot of people forget about or don't realize is
pre planning or saving templates for things, or whether it's
a document or even in an email. To save a
template or to pull up a previous email that has
all the same information and just copy and paste it
(03:58):
instead of needing to start over every day time.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, that's always good because when you're starting from scratch,
like the same thing with the trip planning, right, you
are like reinventing a wheel that you didn't have to do.
All this is already there, right, So why don't you
talk a little bit about your routines? So I understand
that you have something of a morning routine as well.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
I do have a morning routine. I walk every morning,
and this started like years and years ago, where I
realized after sitting at a desk all day like I
wanted to be more active, and so I did the
I'll start walking before work. So then had, you know,
do the whole adjust my time to get up earlier,
and I did. And at the time, I was still
(04:44):
living in Michigan, which is where I'm from, and rain
or shine, hot or cold, I would bundle up and
do my morning walk. And while sometimes it was not
comfortable while walking in the cold like, I did like
the fact that no matter what happened in my day,
I'd moved and I'd done something for myself. And that
just continued. So as jobs changed, I had to adjust
(05:06):
my time, or as I wanted to walk longer, I
had to adjust my time. No difference than when you're
training for a race, although I wasn't training for a race.
I was just walking. And then in moving to South Florida,
you really have to get up early, especially in the
summer if you want to avoid the heat. So as
life has evolved, I definitely am one of those very
(05:28):
early alarm clock people. But I've come to appreciate my
morning walk so much that I joke with friends who
can't function unless they have their morning coffee. I've turned
into one of those people that can't function unless I
have my morning walk.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
And what does that tend to look like for you
right now? Like what time are you getting up to
go for home.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I'm usually getting up a little before five and have
all of my stuff laid out already so that i
can just throw on the clothes and take it and
get out the door, and then I usually walk for
about five miles and then I'll come home and you know,
finish my morning routine. But then also on my walks,
you know, that's a big part of when I listen
(06:11):
to podcasts, So lots of times you are accompanying me
on my morning walks.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Well only for a couple of minutes of it, though,
because how long is it taking you to walk five miles?
Speaker 3 (06:20):
That is not a distance, It does a lot.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
It is a lot of before breakfast. I'm usually up
for an hour and a half in the morning. And
that's in a perfect day, a perfect conditions, weather time,
weather stuff like that. It does vary, and if it
has to be adjusted for you know, weather or schedule,
it does.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
And what happens if it's you know, thunderstorm, which I
hear happens in southwast you.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Know, it depends how stubborn I'm being and or when
it starts raining, sort, so.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
You'll time it. You'll time it around the rain or
around the light. Okay, okay, And you know it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I bet the weather.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
You know, walking in South Florida is obviously a very
different way other issues than one encounters in Michigan. But
you actually made a choice to move to South Florida
partly for the weather. For the weather. Can you tell
us a little bit about that?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
I mean, the short answer is I'm one of those
people whose bodies does not do well in cold weather,
even though that's where I'm from my entire life. And
so after doctors suggested I move to warm weather, I
listened to them and it really has made a difference.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
That's awesome. And so you're just listening to podcasts and
walking briskly. I mean, does this ever get boring to you?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
It's a good question. It doesn't, because I have some
form of entertainment, whether it's listening to podcasts. My sister
lives overseas, and so it's actually a really great time
for us to chat because she'll be it's the middle,
like late morning for her. My nephews are at school,
so I can talk to my sister, so I can
(07:54):
talk to her. I can listen to podcasts, but no,
it doesn't get boring because I'm outside, so scenery is
always changing. Whereas if I were on a treadmill for
that amount of time, it would be to rugery.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
It would be I can attest to that.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Five miles even if you're going fast on a treadmill
is rougerie. I love being outside as well. Or We're
going to take a quick ad break and then I'll
be back with more from Amanda Warner.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Well, I am back.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
This is a longer episode of Before Breakfast. We're talking
with listener Amanda Warner, who's worked most of her career
in commercial real estate. She currently lives in South Florida.
She's been talking about her five mile long morning walks
where she listens to this podcast and many others. Since
I'm usually only about four or five minutes a day,
I love that routine. Amanda, Maybe you can tell us
(08:46):
a little bit about your lunchtime routine, because you mentioned
you also are pretty good about the lunchtime break.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
So similar to the reason that I started the morning walk,
which was I needed to know to move my life.
I also started walking at lunchtime. I wouldn't say it
was the same chapter of life that I did both
at the same time, but you know, it kind of
evolved that way. And you know, when I'm in an
office environment, I've come to take like a fifteen to
(09:14):
twenty minute walk break, so it usually ends up being
you know, about it's about a mile, but it's really
just to get out of an office to clear my head.
All the offices I've been in, I've been able to
find a nice path or a nice route, you know,
close to the office, and it really is just a
time for me to clear my head, get space from
(09:34):
whatever I'm working on before I then go back in
and we'll have you know, a desktop launch or a
quick lunch in you know, a break room, depending on
the environment in the office. And I think I get
equal parts joking or comments from employee like coworkers, as
well as perhaps respect, like they respect that I'm walking,
(09:55):
they know that I'm going to I've been in environments
where we lunch together and they'll be like, have you yet,
We'll wait for you to have lunch when you get back,
or people who schedule a meeting, but want to make
sure it wraps up so I can walk or ask
if I've walked today. So I've taken that as admiration,
even when I get jokes about it. But it really
does make a difference to just leave. And you know,
(10:16):
there's so many times you hear people or like you say,
it's the stories we tell ourselves that we can't leave
the office and we can't take a hard break, but
like you can, and if you're consistent about it, you'll
be respected for it.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
And so if you're coming into a new situation, I'm
curious how you would suggest, you know, approaching this with
your coworkers and other people you're working with. If you're
the kind of person who would like to take a
walk every day at lunch, what would you suggest saying
or doing? I mean, maybe some advice here.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Sure, So if you're started, I mean, for me at
this point, like I'm comfortable and confident in the fact
that I take a look at lunch, So you know,
if it doesn't come up in an interview, it'll usually
come up within you know, the first day or so.
I take a while, I take a quick break to
take a quick walk before I have lunch and it's
just kind of what it is. But if you're at
in a role and you've been there for a while
(11:09):
and you want to start, honestly, just start one day.
Just say to the colleague, you know, I'm going stepping out,
just you know, for a walk for a bit. I'll
be back and if you like it, you just keep going.
And I think if you were to get feedback or
pushback once you've already started, you can kind of get
a better sense of it. So because it's during the
day and because we're all allowed our lunch breaks and
(11:31):
our personal time, I don't there shouldn't be an issue.
The only one and I can see is, you know,
scheduling wise, if you have if you have shift work,
or if you need to be on the phones at
a certain time for someone else, well then you might
have time restrictions. But I think it's just starting it,
seeing how it goes for you, and then you can
give a better response if someone has a concern.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, And the interesting thing is sometimes with shift work
or when you are specifically, like on the phones for
a certain amount of time, many of those jobs have
more formalized breaks precisely because you know, everyone has to
cover for a certain amount of time, and so you know,
you've got fifteen minutes built in, say twice a day,
and so you could take one of those and go outside.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
And to that point, Actually, I've thought about that because
I've you know, had employees who are shift workers or
who are laborers, you know, thinking like maintenance technicians or
janitorial staff, and they have their breaks. You know, it's
part of their schedule. It's also part of their employment contract.
And you know many times they're like, unless it's an emergency,
don't call me between twelve and twelve thirty, that's my break,
(12:34):
and they take those breaks. Seriously. Yeah, many of us
who are in an office environment or have more autonomy
over our schedules were the ones that say, we can't,
but yet we can. Look to those who have different
work structures and we can not every day, but we can.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah. Oh, I'm a big fan of me where you are.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
We recently had an episode when this runs, there will
have been a recent episode when I talk about actually
naming breaks that I heard this tip from someone that
they named their breaks during the day, and that you know,
because lunch obviously has a break, but you know, what
is the mid afternoon break when you are sleepy and
need to do something to wake yourself up? What is that?
(13:16):
I don't know, but by formalizing it, you encourage yourself
to actually, yeah, yeah, noaks breaks are awesome. Well, I
wonder if you have an example of how you have
taken a day from great to awesome recently.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Sure, so, I've had two. I can share one that
I think we'll just make anyone's day anytime it happens.
I had to park in a parking meter, and when
I went to go figure out what app I needed
for this particular parking meter, there was an hour left
in the meter from the previous person, so I didn't
have to put money in the meter.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Nice. Nice, just like on the app you were checking.
Like I looked at the meter and it.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Still said one hour on it, because this was a
meter that you could do app coin. Oh gosh, there
was an hour left.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
So yeah, thank you, thank you anonymous other people exactly exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
So that was, you know, really more of a universal one.
But then a recent you know, professional one. A colleague
and I had started a coffee networking group earlier this year.
And when you start any new group it's like always
a little fledgling. So we had to cancel a few
times because it was only going to be the two
of us, but we kept going and every time we meet.
(14:29):
We've had a handful of meetings. In the most recent time,
there's about four of us each time, but four different people.
But what made the day great to awesome besides having
you know, this coffee with you know, three people, two
of whom never hadn't met each other before, was when
I asked for feedback for next year. I was thinking
about did we want to do this quarterly or more
(14:51):
frequently less frequently, and all three of them said, I
think we should do it monthly. And one of them
said because in this way, if we miss the meet
or we have a conflict, we know there's another next month.
We don't have to wait three months. And to me,
that really made my day go great to awesome or
good to great because I had started something and it
was working and people appreciated it. So I was really
(15:13):
happy about that.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Well, and I also think that's a good mindset too,
that the more frequent something is the sort of lower stakes.
If people can't make it to one of them knowing
it's happening frequently, allows people to build it into their
life with the knowledge that life isn't always exactly as
we wish it to be as well.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
So well, that's that's a really cool idea. I love it.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
We're going to take one more quick ad break and
then we'll be back with more from Amanda. Well, I
am back talking with Amanda Warner, who is a South
Florida resident, works in commercial real estate, and is also
a long time Before Breakfast listener that we discussed. She
(16:00):
listens to this sometimes on her epic morning walks that
she does the vast majority of days unless there is
I suppose a hurricane coming through her part of Florida.
But Amanda, we didn't chat about this earlier, but I
hope it's okay for me to ask, you are a
fantastic baker. Can you talk about how your cookie baking
(16:20):
came to be and how that fits in your house.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
How that fits into my life? Yes, happy too, And
also I can use you know, I can talk about
pre planning on now one too.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Oh yeah, let's talk so baking.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
It's always been one of my hobbies. I learned it
from my mom. Like there are pictures you know of
me on the counter with my mom making banana bread
when I was little, so you know, I've just always
done that. And a number of years ago, friends said
you should start a business, and I said, no ganging
up on me, but if ten friends tell me, I'll
(16:54):
think about it or I'll take them seriously. So I
did get the ten friends, started a business and said
if it reaches a point where I don't like baking anymore,
I'm stopping because it's my hobby. It's one of my
creative outlets. And sure enough, after two years, reached that
point and closed the business, but kept on baking. And
(17:14):
then last year was with a different group of friends,
different circumstances in life, they convinced me to try it again,
doing it as a pop up style. So I mean,
no dabbling here and there with pop up baking on occasion,
which I know you are familiar with, but it remains
one of my hobbies. So that's my baking business slash
not business slash what I do. Well.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
I love the idea of doing it until it's not fun.
I mean, because if something is a side hustle, a
hobby I mean, or either one of those. I mean,
when it becomes not fun that it's like, well, you
may as well just do more of your regular job,
right right. Yeah, And so I'm curious what makes something
what makes somebody a good baker, Like, what do you
(17:58):
think is your uh special insight here that a lot
of people don't get.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
That's a really good question.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Because I've always been doing it. But perhaps one thing
is baking versus cooking. Baking you need to have more precision.
You need to be one who respects rules and measurements
and whatnot, whereas cooking this is not true universally, but
cooking you can just have a lot more freedom and
measuring is not is necessary in baking if you don't
(18:29):
measures that measure the flour or put in too much liquid, like,
it's not going to turn out. And because I don't
mind following the rules and I do like the precision,
I think that's one of the reasons why I've become
a good baker. I think I took for granted that
my mom taught me how to read a recipe when
I was a kid, so I, you know, have comfort.
(18:50):
I'm comfortable reading recipes, and then a more tangible thing
that I think everyone can relate to while listening is
I've learned that the secret to really good cookies is
to underbake them. So take them out before they look
done and then they'll be good.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Then they'll be good. So you gotta watch frequently take
them out before they are even turning into those little
hard rap discs. Happens to some of us, and it's
so true, and the measuring and things like that. I
read a hilarious thread online one of the flower companies
that people were posting comments, and it was just silly
stuff like I used a little less flour but it
(19:29):
didn't turn out well, and it's like, well, come.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
On, like you can't just do that.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Or I substituted something for the butter and it didn't work,
and I'm like, well, you know, then you need to
go find a different recipe for Like there are recipes
out there for cookies that use oil or something like that,
but you know, you need a recipe that's developed with
that in mind. So, Amanda, what is something you are
(19:55):
looking forward to right now?
Speaker 2 (19:57):
I mean, I guess on the topic of you know, baking,
I've been baking a lot for the holidays. I often,
you know, take it when I'm going to friends houses
or you know, send it as gifts, So definitely, you know,
enjoying baking, and then really just looking forward to the
new year. I've got a lot of I have some
trips planned, I have some events coming up, so really
it's just that fresh start of a new year.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Do you set a lot of resolutions.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
I'm not a big resolution person. I guess I would
say I'm more goal oriented, so then again that could
be a matter of semantics. So not so many resolutions,
but things I want to just be aware of or
you know, work towards.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
And do you actually resolve to continue with your walking
habit or is it so ingreaded, It's so ingrained.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
In me that it's just I just do an autopilot.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Do an autopilot.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Well that's the best kind of habit, right, Yeah, I
don't even need to think about it.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Wonderful.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Well, Amanda, thank you so much for joining us, and
thank you to everyone who's been listening to this episode.
If you have feedback on this episode or others of
ideas of peace, people you'd like to hear from, because
we're definitely going to hear from some more before Breakfast
listeners in these longer episodes, let me know. You can
always reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com
(21:10):
and 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 Laura
(21:31):
vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 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.
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Host
Laura Vanderkam
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