57 - Give a Gift to Future You [minisode]

In this minisode we're talking about little things you can do to help Future You. What's one thing you can do today to make your life a little easier? We'll give you a few ideas, and we want to hear what you do too.

Full Book Cup Club Book of the Month:
This month we're reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. Join us! Grab yours now or check it out from the library.

Transcript

00;00;00;01 - 00;00;09;05
Christina
Hey, friends. We're back with a minisode. This is our second minisode. We are talking about future you specifically and what you can do.

00;00;09;24 - 00;00;18;21
Meghan
You know what would have been a great gift to future us earlier today is making notes for this podcast.

00;00;19;02 - 00;00;48;01
Christina
Oh, my gosh, that's funny. So the idea of this is, I think really comes from self-care and loving yourself and just getting to that place where, like, I love myself and it's not like a weird thing. I think that's part of self-care is learning to love yourself and appreciate yourself. And the previous episode, we talked about just this idea of treating yourself like a good friend.

00;00;48;20 - 00;01;10;04
Christina
When we talked about Jen Centro's book, You Are Not US. Go back and listen to that episode. And if a friend, we're going to come over to my house, what are the things, the nice things I would do? And so thinking of myself and future you and future Christina, what could I do for future Christina that she would appreciate And for me.

00;01;10;21 - 00;01;24;08
Christina
Yeah, that looks like the night before. Like when I go to bed at night, taking 3 minutes tonight before and prepping several different things around my house. What does it look like for you?

00;01;25;01 - 00;01;52;28
Meghan
I mean, if we're talking about the night before, I really like making sure that I make mine and my son's lunch to take to work in school, if if I'm going somewhere, you know, sometimes I work at home, but like, prepping that, make sure making sure I have coffee ready to go, like, already ground. What can I do to prep so that my morning runs smoothly so that I don't have to do, like, extra things in the morning?

00;01;53;03 - 00;02;25;25
Meghan
Mm hmm. So if we're talking about, like, you know, the night before a workday, it's going to be things like that setting, setting myself up so that in the morning I have less to do. And this is really a lesson in not procrastinating. It's like so the night before, It's 8:00 at night. Yeah, I want to just sit in my chair and watch TV, but if I just spend 15 minutes prepping, that is going to make my whole week go a lot more smoothly because I can make all of my senses.

00;02;25;25 - 00;02;47;06
Meghan
I can cut up all of the fruit that's going to wind up going in as lunch, you know, And that's just going to set me up for success every single morning. So but there's also ways you can you can set future you up for success, too. Like, I am so bad about filling up my car with gas, I will run on fumes.

00;02;47;06 - 00;03;20;08
Meghan
I hate getting gas. I hate it. So. But like one thing I found, it's like while not that I found because this is such a duh kind of thing, but one thing that I do is like, if I realize I'm going to need gas the next morning, I will get it at night. I would much rather get gas on my way home at the end of the day in the evening than have to do it when I'm on a time crunch and taken my son to school or going to work or whatever it is, you know.

00;03;20;15 - 00;03;21;15
Meghan
So that's one way.

00;03;21;24 - 00;03;49;21
Christina
I think that earlier when you said a progressed nation, I think it's a way of reframing it for a lot of us that it's instead of like, Hey, I have a tendency to procrastinate and not do these things that I could do because later on I'm going to really wish I had done this as opposed to going, Hey, I loved myself and I care about myself, and so I love myself.

00;03;49;21 - 00;04;19;01
Christina
That future me is going to really need help tomorrow. And she's going to appreciate that I set the coffeepot up or I do this thing where I set my contacts out. It's little tiny things that it's like, Oh, I care about myself enough to do these little things that help me the next day. So for those of you who maybe procrastinate, it's try reframing it as I'm going to help future me doing this.

00;04;19;01 - 00;04;20;22
Meghan
And that because I love myself.

00;04;20;22 - 00;04;29;25
Christina
Yeah, I love myself, I care about myself. And if this were my best friend who came over, I would want to do these little touches to make her life easier tomorrow.

00;04;29;26 - 00;04;38;05
Meghan
Mm hmm. Yep. That. All right. I'll go put away my laundry because I love myself.

00;04;38;21 - 00;04;56;27
Christina
Listen, I'm going to tell you this. For anybody who has children at home and a spouse now. Just kidding. Your laundry is not going to be done until your children are out of the house. And it actually does happen. Like, I can have all of my laundry done. The friends. It's not going to happen when you have kids in the house.

00;04;56;27 - 00;04;58;18
Christina
So just let go of that.

00;04;59;04 - 00;04;59;25
Meghan
Let it go.

00;05;00;11 - 00;05;09;10
Christina
Yeah, That's one of those that literally future you and like five years is going to have that happen ten years down the road. But right now.

00;05;10;11 - 00;05;33;26
Meghan
Yeah, I'm at literally my laundry. I am so notorious for folding it and then just leaving it in the basket. But, but I am going to do better. But we're all growing. We're all learning. So I love that. I love how you said that. It's about reframing it as a gift to future you. So it's not it's not like I'm such a procrastinator.

00;05;33;26 - 00;05;38;11
Meghan
It's no, I'm going to give myself. I'm going to get future me a gift. I love it.

00;05;39;04 - 00;05;47;08
Christina
Yeah. And just stop and think it's 3 minutes out of your life. Just 3 minutes. And you're going to be so happy about it.

00;05;47;16 - 00;06;10;04
Meghan
You're going to be so happy about it. And also, like, is it easier to do the task now or do it later? You know? Is it easier for me? Is it easier to pack a lunch in the evening when I'm already up and around? And I might not want to, but I'm already in the kitchen making dinner or whatever, or in the morning when I've just woken up.

00;06;10;04 - 00;06;31;08
Meghan
I have to feed all of the animals. Did I wake up on time? I have to make sure everybody's got all their stuff heading out the door. It's way easier to get the night before. Yes. Here's my challenge to you listening to this episode. What can you do to help future you today? So think about something you can do today to help future you.

00;06;31;14 - 00;06;52;28
Meghan
Is that meal prepping? Is that getting a great night's sleep? You know, instead of watching one more episode on Netflix, is it just going to bed instead? Is it exercising? So that you have a healthy body? Is it prepping your animals food or your kids food or whatever? What is that one thing that you can do today as a gift to future you?

00;06;53;10 - 00;07;05;18
Meghan
And that brings us to our toast. Okay, friends. Well, the time has come. So whether your cup is empty, half full or overflowing, raise it up. Here's to getting back up.

00;07;05;27 - 00;07;06;20
Christina
Cheers.