Second Cup: 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 iHeartRadio. 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 the

(00:26):
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 scattered

(00:47):
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 are transient against the slowly changing seasons. I
also realize 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 while 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 or 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 workday, though I am

(02:34):
pretty sure that traffic on many websites is higher during
the workday 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, even if all

(02:55):
we wind up doing with those moments of time is
deleting email newslets 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 get to

(03:17):
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 a

(03:38):
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 windowless cubicle,

(04:01):
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. 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 pod. You can
also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at
iHeartMedia dot com. That before Breakfast is spelled out with

(05:29):
all the letters. Thanks so much, should I look forward
to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio.
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