I'm Paul Muldoon, a poet who over the past several years has had the good fortune to record hours of conversations with one of the world's greatest songwriters, Sir Paul McCartney. The result is our new

podcast McCartney A Life in Lyrics. Listen to McCartney A Life in L lyrics on the I-Heart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

Good morning. This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast Podcast.

Today's tip is an unexpected lesson from Mr. Rogers' neighborhood.

Use a transition ritual to get yourself ready for what's next. Now obviously we all

love Mr. Rogers the children's television actor for what he taught us about kindness

and managing our emotions.

Things we all need in these anxious times.

But we can learn a thing or two from him about making intentional transitions too.

If you grew up watching Mr. Rogers, like I did, you can probably conjure up the image of him walking through the door to his house, taking off his sports coat, and putting on a zippered cardigan, trading his dress shoes for sneakers, all the

while singing an invitation to be his neighbor. The opening sequence helped

young viewers anticipate a calm hope-filled adventure.

We can do something similar in our own lives, even if our neighborhoods are a little different

from Mr. Rogers.

You may experience multiple transitions in a single day, at the start of the work day, or sitting down to dinner,

at kids bed times, just to name a few.

These are often moments when people feel especially

hurried or frenetic.

Transition rituals can help you intentionally

in one phase of the day and inaugurate the next,

...