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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of IHeart Radio.

Good morning. This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is to not waste limited daylight.

Especially when the days are short, it is worth prioritizing a little time outside

over other things that could be done in the dark.

So this episode is airing around what is the winter solstice for my listeners in the

northern hemisphere. This is the day of the year when the sun is up for the least amount of

time. Of course, that means my southern hemisphere listeners are enjoying the longest day of the

year, but winter will come for them too eventually.

And this advice can be applied whenever that happens.

When resources are limited, economics tells us that we should consider the opportunity cost

of using that resource versus other resources.

When it is light until 9 p.m., maybe it wouldn't feel so bad to be in meetings that didn't

have to happen in windowless conference rooms, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

But when the sun is going down a little after 4 p.m., well, that is a different matter entirely.

So, don't waste the daylight. Maybe by working through lunch, you might be able to get out of work

at 5 instead of 5.30. But here where I live, it is dark at 5, and it is dark at 530.

If you don't have anything in particular you are going to do between 5 and 530,

given how important seeing daylight is for mood and energy, the opportunity cost of working from 12 to 1230 when you could have seen the light is much higher than the opportunity cost of working from 5 to 5.30.

Now, if you're meeting your best friend for an early dinner or you need to pick up your kids, that is a different matter.

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