Sometimes the pop culture we love just teens hits differently in retrospect.

Maybe it's a tabloid story we couldn't get enough of or an illicit student-teacher relationship

on our favorite show. We're Suzy Banna-Karim and Jessica Bennett,

posts of the new podcast in retrospect, where each week we'll revisit a cultural moment from

the past that shaped us and probably you to try to understand what it taught us about the world

and our place in it. You're the first person that I've talked to about this for years and years.

Listen to in retrospect on the iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts or wherever you find your favorite shows.

Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is to try some work-pattering time. If you have open space in your work schedule,

and nothing immediately pressing, try not setting a goal, and not relying on your usual time

killers. You just might come up with some interesting things to pursue.

I know that on many work days it feels like every minute and more is spoken for,

but maybe you have a week where you've just knocked it out of the park up until Wednesday.

You've finished all your top priority work and even gotten a bit ahead of things.

You have a few hours around your normal Thursday and Friday commitments.

Now what? Oftentimes people wind up feeling almost unproductive in this open space.

You are not going to solve the world's problems in a few hours or even rework your business model,

or hire new employees, or anything big like that.

Often people just delve into their inboxes and try to make a dent there.

But since email expands to fill the available space, this can feel even more like a waste of time.

So you might want to consider another option, which is what I call work-puttering.

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