The known is less scary than the unknown

Get clear on what's coming up, so it feels less overwhelming

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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 the known is less scary than the unknown.

(00:24):
If you've got a busy time coming up, or are
facing down a lot of responsibilities, getting a handle on
exactly what is going on can make everything feel less overwhelming.
So lately I have been reading my four year old
the book Tiny t Rex and the Very Dark Dark.

(00:45):
This is about a little t rex child who wants
to sleep outside in the backyard, but of course he
is frightened by the darkness, so he and his stegosaurus
friend hatch a plan to hang lights out there to
escape the grumbles and the nambies. It doesn't go entirely
as planned, which is good since that creates a plot.

(01:07):
But of course, one upside of being able to look
around in the light is that you can see that
there aren't any nambies lurking in the trees. The known
is less scary than the unknown. I think of this
when I turn on my flashlight while dealing with late
night issues in the yard, and also whenever I plan

(01:30):
my upcoming weeks. Life can get very busy with work
travel and work demands, and the kid's schedules and the like.
I know people listening to this podcast are juggling all
sorts of things. I've had people tell me that they
sometimes feel like they don't want to list everything that
is on their plates because they are worried they won't

(01:52):
be able to deal with it. They just don't want
to know. And I get it, but that's like being
out in the backyard with the grumbles and the nambies.
I really do believe that the unknown is scarier than
the known. When you can see everything, you can make

(02:13):
a plan to deal with it. You can tackle the
immediately looming things and schedule the less looming things to
a later time. You can figure out what you need
to do and what other people can help with, and
you can decide to let some things go and focus
on others that matter more instead of just dealing with

(02:33):
whatever is right in front of you at the moment.
You might even decide that there isn't as much as
you thought on your plate and you can get through
a lot of it with a push. Or you might
realize that there is a lot, but there was going
to be a lot, whether you knew about it or not.

(02:55):
Better to be able to intelligently triage the mess. So
if you are facing a busy time, I encourage you
to make a list of everything you need to do
to deal with it. Take a few minutes to brainstorm
what's on your mind and get it out of your head.
Then make sure you are doing a weekly planning session

(03:17):
to figure out what needs to happen when, what can
you deal with in the next week, what should happen immediately,
and what should happen later. You can supplement this with
a mini session for each day. Before each workday ends,
make a quick list of what you're going to reasonably

(03:37):
get done the next day, or you can do it
in the morning. Whatever works. But there is no reason
to be out without a flashlight. When Tiny t Rex's
string of Christmas lights blue affuse, he looked up and
saw the stars and they provided a lot of light too.

(03:59):
That is better than closing your eyes because you are scared.
The known is less scary than the unknown. One way
or another, you are going to make it through in
the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

(04:20):
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.

(04:44):
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
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