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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 for all those tasks you do regularly.

Make a template.

That is, something that serves as a model.

Templates help us get things done efficiently and successfully.

You don't have to approach familiar situations as though you've never seen them before.

Instead, use a template to make getting started easier. For instance, in a past episode, I suggested creating

go-to gifts. This is really a gift-giving template. For instance, you decide that you'll narrow

the universe of baby gifts down to a monogrammed

rattle, a canvas tote bag with the baby's name, or a favorite children's book from your own

childhood. You decide which of these gifts you give to any given family, and the personalization

makes it less cookie gutter, but the choices are simple, which makes the process straightforward.

You can make packing templates too.

Maybe you realize that every time you spend a week at the beach, you need two bathing suits,

two cover-ups, four sets of exercise clothes, two dinner-out outfits, five casual tops, five

casual bottoms, flip-flops, running shoes, and dressy sandals. It can be helpful

to make a packing list before you pack, and then after you get back from the trip, edit the

packing list with notes about anything you'll do differently next time. Grocery shopping and meal

planning are more efficient with templates, too. Make a recurring grocery list.

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