Second Cup: If you do nothing else

One upside of daily habits that are truly daily

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good Morning.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is about one upside of daily habits that are
truly daily. You know that even if you do nothing
else on any particular day, you will have done your
daily habits. If you choose these habits well, that can

(00:35):
make for a reasonably productive day. So, like everyone, I
have days that feel frustrating. Sometimes this is because I
lack energy to do anything of consequence. Sometimes it's because
of other circumstances. There was one particular day recently that
prompted this episode when I had a number of important

(00:57):
conversations scheduled and all of them got canceled or didn't
feature everyone. They should have to make a decision because
of various illnesses and such things going around. Like I said, frustrating,
But I do have a few things I do every
single day as steps toward long term goals. I read

(01:19):
a little bit in my year long reading project this year.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
It's all the works of Jane Austen, and I write
a little bit in my year long writing project this year.
I'm writing two lines of a sonnet each day, so
I will have fifty two sonnets by New Year's So
even on a day when nothing else has happened, I
know I will have read ten pages of Jane Austen

(01:46):
and written one seventh of a sonnet. It's not much,
but it isn't nothing. I have made some progress on
long term things. The day is a total loss, and
much of life is mental anyway, whether you are productive

(02:06):
or not is mostly a matter of whether you feel
productive or not. In the grand scheme of things, it
probably doesn't matter what any of us do. But when
you feel a day hasn't been a total loss, you
might be more inclined to make a little more progress
on lots of things, or at least be in a
more cheerful mood. So with that in mind, perhaps you'd

(02:31):
like to start some sort of daily habit that could
give you a baseline sense of accomplishment. For something to
become a successful daily habit, it needs to be pretty doable.
It can't take much time, ideally just a few minutes.
It has to be something you find reasonably enjoyable, and

(02:53):
it can't be logistically complex, or you won't do it
while you're traveling or on weekends or any other time.
When you might not be around your normal tools and
environment or have your usual schedule. But if you write
a thank you note to someone every single day, you
know that even on a day that feels terrible, at

(03:16):
least you wrote a thank you note. If you listen
to ten minutes of box music every day, then even
on a terrible day, you will have listened to ten
minutes of great music. And if you have listened to
something amazing, how terrible can the day really be? So

(03:36):
figure out what you could do as an everyday habit,
and you will be able to find a bright side
of even a dismal day. Now, obviously, if the day
is truly horrendous in certain ways, you might not be
able to do your daily habit, But for most run
of the mill bad days, you will, and then maybe

(04:00):
the day won't seems so bad. In the meantime, This
is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
most of our text.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
Hey, everybody, 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 E the number four then breakfast Pod.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

(04:37):
podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled
out with all the letters, thanks so much. Should I
look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

(05:10):
M HM.