Prática de Shadowing: 186. Do You Need a Routine? | No Stupid Questions - Aprenda a falar inglês com vídeo

Escolha um modo de prática

Cada modo abre uma sala de prática em tela cheia.

541 frases

Se as frases estiverem muito curtas ou longas, clique em Edit para ajustá-las.

gosh i hope this isn't too personal i'm angela duckworth i'm mike mon

and you're listening to no stupid questions today on the show

how important are routines they need to live a chaotic life with no rules no plans Angela,

today I think we have a really fun question, but I'm even more excited because it's from a really fun person.

Okay, do tell.

This is a question that was sent in from my brother, Peter.

Perfect Peter, right?

He's the neurosurgeon.

Yes, I love that you call him Perfect Peter.

I do think he's incredible.

I think he's the smartest of all my siblings.

I'll give him that.

I can't wait to hear what the other siblings think.

I think they'd all acknowledge it.

Okay, what does Perfect Peter want to know?

Okay, so Peter's asking a question.

He says, how important is routine in life?

To what extent does sticking closely to routine help someone be or feel more productive, happier, et cetera, versus limit them?

Or perhaps better phrased, when is routine helpful and when can it be harmful?

Interesting.

I am guessing that Perfect Peter has lots of routines.

Just a wild guess.

He absolutely does.

He continues his question with this.

I can see how at times being too focused on routine

causes one to feel like their life is overly regimented and doesn't allow for enough free flow and spontaneity,

while at other times routine can be an essential element of goal attainment and accomplishment.

So he says, Angela and Mike, how should we think about routine and incorporate or not incorporate routine into our lives?

I think it's a great question.

I mean, have you heard the phrase firm opinions loosely held?

Yes.

Well, I wonder if like firm opinions loosely held, there are times when routine can guide our lives but shouldn't control it.

And I have a good friend who he's one of those people with what I would call firm routines loosely held.

So every Friday, for example, at 2 p .m., he stops and gets together with a few friends

and they debrief on their week and kind of make their transition into the weekend.

But it's both this productive element and this signaling of friendship that we're transitioning into a different space.

And he has so many of these types of just routines, but it's not so firmly held that he won't do anything else they're not

so firmly held that like

if he were on a plane at two o 'clock on a friday he'd be freaking out

because he couldn't do that right and i thought to myself

so much of life is really busy all the time

and you get ripped from one place to another it's really

beautiful to have a few of these i'll call them quasi non -negotiables in terms of routine

that say this is how i'm going to approach my life to make sure i get these things into it

that are important to me you You know, routine isn't studied as much in psychology as habit.

There's so much, I want to say hype about habit only because that sounds good and it's alliterative.

Like there's so much talk about habit.

There's so many books about habit.

Habits are really when your brain is on autopilot.

In fact, my favorite habit neuroscientist, Colin Kammerer at Caltech, uses the phrase neural autopilot.

And there is an entirely separate part of your brain.

And sometimes people say this kind of thing, like, oh, there's a part of your brain that, you know, fill in the blank.

In this case, there really is what is called the habit system.

And it's a different part of the brain that you use when you do something which is so automatic.

You've done it so many times.

And it's been so consistently the right thing to do that you really don't have to think.

So stopping at a red light, you know, red light, hit the brakes.

That's the kind of thing that people talk about when they talk about neural autopilot.

And I think that these routines that we're talking about here, like, oh, on Fridays, I do this.

You're not completely using cruise control, but there is some kind of default nature to it.

You know, the reason why we have any of these things, like true habits, where your brain is really on autopilot, to routines where you're sort of like kind of awake,

but there's a strong default, to even a plan.

All of these are on a continuum of how much did

I know in advance what I was going to do and not have to think about it too much to, on the other hand, like,

wow, I have to use all of the cognitive bandwidth I have to figure out what I'm going to do.

And I'll just say that the human brain is a miracle, but it's very small.

And human beings have had to do smart things with this little.. few pounds of cranial material.

And one of the reasons why human beings are so smart is

because we have this ability to put some things on autopilot or near autopilot or I already planned this yesterday.

You know, if you wake up and you have already planned what your day is going to be like the day before, that frees up a lot of cognitive bandwidth to like now negotiate what's happening.

People who wake up and they're just making every single decision like reactively, They just are not living a very efficient life.

So I'm a big fan of habits, like pure habits, and also I'm a big fan of routines.

Let me jump in then for a second.

What are some routines that you have in your life

that have helped you maybe free up cognitive bandwidth for other things kind of on the regular?

I call three girlfriends three different days of the week.

Sue is on Saturdays, Michelle is on Sundays, and Shalini is on Wednesdays.

That is amazing we talk and we run at the same time, or I should say jog, at least for me.

It's a routine, I would say, because it's not like I start to do this automatically without any intentionality.

There's a Google Calendar invite.

It often needs to be moved a little bit.

One person needs to start a little earlier.

I have to switch the day.

But anyway, I have that routine.

I think it is the one thing i have done as a friend

that has been a real game changer like i would not

say i'm the best friend i never remember anyone's birthday i'm

not the most thoughtful human i have to say the routine

of weekly calls has not only preserved these three friendships but actually made them

so much richer than they were before we started this

which is i don't know like 10 years ago

or something that's incredible and forgive me i'm going to use the term i shouldn't

but is this a form of habit stacking?

What did you learn about habit stacking?

Katie Milkman.

Oh, right.

A lot of people call it habit piggybacking.

And my collaborator and friend Katie Milkman will talk about it.

Also, James Clear, who wrote Atomic Habits, which I just want to go on record as saying it's a pretty gosh darn good book.

100

He's not a professor or psychologist, but he's incredibly intuitive.

101

So maybe I should call him a psychologist.

102

But habit stacking

103

or habit piggybacking is great advice for anybody who's going to try to develop a routine or a pure habit.

104

So, gosh, I hope this isn't too personal.

105

But you know what?

106

In the world of podcasting, you can always edit things out.

107

So I was at the gynecologist.

108

I feel like if I finish my sentence, Mike's going to get up and leave.

109

I just feel like every story that starts with, I probably shouldn't say this, is either going to be really good or really bad.

110

Like there's no in between.

111

Nothing else in the middle there.

112

I mean, I'll say this.

113

I was at the gynecologist and I'm a woman of a certain age.

114

So I'm in menopause, we think.

115

And one of the things that happens at this time of life, Mike, is that you basically, you know, have a hard time not peeing on yourself.

116

You get told a joke.

117

Somebody bumps you.

118

You get surprised.

119

You do an aerobics class.

120

And, like, all of a sudden you have a problem because you're not 17 anymore.

121

And these Kegel muscles that are in the pelvic floor aren't working so well.

122

So basically, every woman of my age, I think, has been told at some point that you should do these very simple Kegel exercises.

123

It's free, it's invisible, and every woman that I know of my age doesn't do them.

124

So what my gynecologist said to me is that I should essentially have it stack.

125

She was like, for example, you could stack it onto something like a cue, like when you're watching TV and there's a commercial, right?

126

But I think the most common example that's given is that brushing teeth is something that most people do twice a day,

127

and that means you have two opportunities to habit stack, or I might say, thinking about Peter, routine stack.

128

It doesn't have to be like a purely automatic habit, but even something where, like, okay, I will give you a less embarrassing example, perhaps.

129

I habit -stacked doing my physical therapy routine during my toothbrushing.

130

So I have lunges and squats, and they're all doable exercises while you're holding a toothbrush in your right hand.

131

And so that has become my routine.

132

And actually, it's like you said, it's a strong opinion loosely held in the sense that, you know, if I'm like doing something unusual,

133

like I have to brush my teeth in the shower because I'm late, I don't also try to do my physical therapy there because that could be dangerous.

134

So anyway, my point is, if you think about trying to establish a new routine or a new habit, without something to hook on to, it's really hard

135

so first of all i try i won't claim

136

that i do this all the time but

137

when i brush my teeth i try to do wall sits yes at the same time i'm doing it wait

138

when you say try does that that means that i don't do it all the time

139

I did not do it this morning.

140

Yeah, wall sets are so hard.

141

I did brush my teeth.

142

I did not do wall sets.

143

Let's clarify.

144

You know, a lot of people are under the misunderstanding that if you do something like a million times, it becomes a habit.

145

But that's actually not how the habit system works.

146

We only migrate things from what's sometimes called the goal system in the brain, which is something that takes a lot of intentionality in the moment.

147

You know, you're thinking, you're maybe simulating options, you're deciding.

148

We move from the goal system to the habit system when a behavior is repeated and it's rewarded.

149

So I have to ask you, when you finish brushing your teeth and doing these wall sits, do you feel rewarded?

150

Well, I think like all exercise, nobody wants to do it in the moment, but you're always grateful that you did.

151

And when are you grateful?

152

Are you grateful like right away?

153

Do you feel rewarded right then?

154

Yeah.

155

Yes, I do.

156

So if you feel really good right away, I have some hope that this might become a habit.

157

I think one of the challenges is that wall sits are painful.

158

So when I say that habits are behaviors that are repeated and rewarded, one of the things going against you in this case,

159

Mike, and one thing that might keep it a routine

160

and never a full -fledged habit is the pain of doing it, right?

161

Like if you had another exercise, by the way, that was maybe less good for you, but was less painful, I'm guessing

162

that you would have a greater chance of keeping up the routine and even that routine becoming a habit.

163

Let me take it this way, then.

164

Here's another one where I do feel deeply rewarded, but would still call it a routine.

165

There's this man named Jesse Itzler, and he's written some books about life with a seal.

166

David Goggins is this Navy SEAL who is super well -known.

167

So he had David Goggins before David Goggins was well -known come live with him at his house and train him.

168

But one of the things that he does, and he didn't make any of this up, but he's kind of the one who's the biggest evangelizer of it.

169

He talks about every year having a year -defining event.

170

So you can always look back and say, in 2024, I did this.

171

In 2023, I did this.

172

And then he also says, I plan six mini adventures.

173

So every other month, I know that I'm going to have a mini adventure.

174

And that's something to look forward to.

175

And I am excited about that.

176

So I love the idea of year -defining event.

177

I think it's really important.

178

And I love the idea of six mini adventures.

179

And you plan it in advance, right?

180

It's not just that every year he looks back and he picks one thing as a year -defining event.

181

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

182

Which, again, on this continuum, from pure habit to like, wow, I have to think about everything in the moment, I would call this a plan.

183

So there's a spectrum of how much this thing is already foregone or automatic. For sure.

184

So if you're going to have your year -defining event, and I try to do that, have your six mini -adventures, I try to plan all those out as well.

185

Then I want to have what I call my 365 moments of awe.

186

Ah, this is daily then.

187

This is my daily thing where no matter how busy life is or crazy life is or challenging the day,

188

I challenge myself to have at least one moment.

189

And that can just be 30 seconds.

190

So can I have an example of an annual life -defining experience?

191

Well, year -defining.

192

I'm not going to call it life -defining.

193

Okay, right.

194

Like lower the stakes a little bit.

195

So 2022 for me, the year -defining event was Kilimanjaro, hiking Mount Kilimanjaro.

196

Last year, my year -defining event, I'm only doing one in my life for other people.

197

This is one of their many adventures.

198

It was doing a marathon.

199

That will always be my year of the marathon.

200

Oh my gosh, I forgot you ran a marathon.

201

You know, I'm going to go ahead and say I finished a marathon in 2023.

202

There were parts where I hobbled and waddled, but yes, I finished a marathon.

203

Okay, and then what would be an example of a mini -adventure?

204

So a mini -adventure, for example, I'm going down to the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament for a weekend.

205

Or I have a couple of friends that we get together for a surfing trip every year.

206

I should clarify, they surf and I sit on a surfboard in the water and miss every wave.

207

I have seen you in a photo in a wetsuit holding a board.

208

It turns out you do not have to be able to get up on said board to take a picture with it.

209

That is true and you were on the sand, so.

210

Yes, yes, yes.

211

You've never seen a video of me surfing.

212

These were just props.

213

Okay, so what's an example of an every day?

214

So I will just say yesterday was a crazy day

215

and I just walked outside for one minute and looked up at the mountains.

216

So this doesn't have to be planned in advance, but maybe like a daily practice of gratitude?

217

Maybe you could call it a moment of gratitude.

218

I also try to do that.

219

So maybe the moment of awe is the same thing, but I treat them separately right here's what i say angela

220

and i would love to hear your thoughts on the importance

221

of routines do you find them particularly helpful do you find them restrictive to you

222

or how does your current routine affect your productivity

223

and your mood record a voice memo in a quiet place with your mouth close to the phone

224

and email it to us at nsq at freakonomics .com

225

and maybe we'll play it on a future episode of the show

226

and if you like the show

227

and want to support it the best thing you can do

228

is tell a friend about it you can also spread the word on social media

229

or leave a review in your podcast app.

230

Still to come on No Stupid Questions.

231

Is having a solid morning routine crucial for leading a productive life?

232

For a time, I thought every productive person has a morning routine.

233

But let me tell you how I was wrong about that.

234

now back to Mike and Angela's conversation about routines

235

so a lot of people when they talk about routines talk about their morning routines yes

236

and I'll just share one that I found from a video

237

that Tony Robbins did that I actually really love And

238

so he basically talked about how he starts his morning with three minutes of a breathing exercise,

239

three minutes of gratitude, three minutes of prayer, and then three minutes of what he, I think, calls prioritization.

240

And he says, here are the three things that I need to accomplish today, regardless of whatever else comes into my life or time, et cetera.

241

And I love that idea of a morning routine.

242

You know, I love morning routines, too.

243

And for a time, I thought every productive person has a morning routine.

244

But let me tell you how I was wrong about that.

245

I still think that most productive people have a morning routine.

246

And by the way, you could have like an afternoon routine or an evening routine.

247

And some people do.

248

But there's something about the morning, I think, because it's tabula rasa, right?

249

Like you can wake up and there aren't already a lot of competing things.

250

So morning routines do, as a rule, I think, end up being in the toolbox of very productive people.

251

But let me tell you, not everyone.

252

So Katie Milkman, aforementioned friend, collaborator, behavioral scientist, and I were hosting Cass Sunstein, who was the co -author of Nudge,

253

the famous book that kind of launched behavioral economics into the popular consciousness.

254

And also under Obama, he was like the nudge czar

255

and actually helped establish the first team to get governments to use nudges to make the world better.

256

But Cass is actually not an economist or behavioral scientist.

257

He's a lawyer.

258

He's a law professor.

259

His current appointment is at Harvard.

260

And Cass is truly the most productive writer that I know by a long shot.

261

We joke that he gets on a plane, flies across the country, and gets off the plane and has another book.

262

I've quite literally lost count of his books, but I think it's well over 50 now.

263

Oh, wow.

264

I know.

265

I was like, oh, Cass, do you have a book coming out?

266

And he was like, oh, which one?

267

I was like, what?

268

So I had to ask him because we were doing this conversation.

269

I was like, Cass, I got to know.

270

What's your morning routine?

271

So he thought for a moment.

272

He's like, well, I guess I get up around, well, whenever the dogs get me out of bed.

273

And then he sort of like staring off into space as he was like recreating this.

274

So it's obviously not something where he was like, okay, here's my morning routine.

275

I have calibrated this over the years.

276

He was like, oh, I guess after I walk the dogs.

277

Well, then I get back into bed.

278

I'm like, wow, this is not sounding like a productive morning routine.

279

This is not sounding like David Goggins.

280

I was like, okay.

281

And then what?

282

He's like, I don't know.

283

I guess I get up.

284

I like coffee.

285

And then I said, Cass, what do you eat?

286

Because I'm thinking now we're going to get somewhere, right?

287

He's going to have some high -protein, you know, invigorate.

288

He's like, I had like a donut?

289

I don't know.

290

Maybe I like donuts.

291

And then I, you know, usually want to start writing.

292

And I was like, okay.

293

So I will say that some people have very regimented morning routines.

294

For some people, it is bordering on a habit because it's so automatic.

295

And then I guess there's Cass Sunstein who gets woken up by his dogs

296

because his dogs need to go to the bathroom and then is kind of like vaulted into his life.

297

If I might venture a guess, which is unfounded because I have to ask Cass, I think one of the reasons why he doesn't need a routine as much as other people

298

is that he is really driven to write, like in an intrinsic way.

299

A lot of writers, including me, need these like crutches and supports, like a calendar where you can X off the day, like, okay, you know, I want to keep my streak.

300

Like, I think Cass is so driven to write that he doesn't need any of these external supports to just do it.

301

it's really interesting that you say that

302

because i was reading this review of mason curry's book daily

303

rituals how artists work oh i read his books both of

304

them then you're going to know more about this i've only read excerpts

305

but i thought it was really interesting how he talked about this idea

306

that maybe doesn't apply as much to cast

307

but like you're saying many writers need and it's this idea

308

that order and routine is what allows for creativity and daring yeah

309

and new york times columnist david brooks wrote this great opinion

310

piece inspired by mason curry's work he says quote children need emotional

311

and physical order so they can go off

312

and explore a parent's main job is to provide daily predictability

313

and emotional security then he continues communities need order to thrive

314

and cooperate since when there's chaos and disorder there's distrust

315

and withdrawal the main job of local leaders is to provide basic infrastructure

316

and security roads police honest judges orderly schools etc so

317

that your community can thrive he made the same argument about

318

what people who are in creative fields need in order to actually be creative

319

so it's almost this reverse understanding what you think you think a creative person is just free flowy

320

and go with whatever yeah they need to live a chaotic life with no rules no plans no routines

321

and no habits right like that could be the mental image of an artist right but i loved kind of his thing.

322

I don't know if you've ever read the book Evicted.

323

I have not.

324

Evicted, I think, is a fascinating and heartbreaking exploration into poverty in the United States

325

and how not having a stable housing situation, not knowing that there's a place that you can come home to every day,

326

really disrupts the development of children because they're constantly in flex, whether that's not knowing where they're going to live or going into an unhoused situation,

327

etc., etc. And the massive negative ramifications that has on people's development, their grades, their emotional security, et cetera.

328

Children need this emotional and physical order so they can explore.

329

It's kind of this idea that Curie's talking about here.

330

Creatives need this order and routine so that they can actually be creative, et cetera.

331

I think he has an intuition that is now supported, and I say now because I think this is very recent research.

332

So just the other day, I'm reading this article.

333

It's called What's Next?

334

Advances and Challenges in Understanding How Environmental Predictability Shapes the Development of Cognitive Control.

335

And what these scholars argue is that when a child is growing up, if they grow up in a relatively,

336

not entirely, but relatively predictable, orderly world, like breakfast happens in the morning,

337

not sometimes you get breakfast And sometimes you go hungry.

338

You know, adults in your life say things like, after you do your chores, then we'll have some time to read.

339

That is a kind of world that is very different from a child growing up where, like, you do your chores and then your parents aren't even there anymore.

340

Like, where'd they go?

341

Like, they left the house.

342

Right, right.

343

So what they claim is very bold, and that is that across species,

344

actually, a predictable world is essential for the development of cognitive control.

345

And that is this ability to regulate your thoughts and your actions.

346

Cognitive control is a little bit like the CEO of your brain.

347

But the idea is that it needs to have a predictable environment to develop properly.

348

The reason why this is so interesting is that it not only dovetails with what Mason Curry is observing about artists,

349

but also parenting researchers since forever have been saying that when you observe parents who have the healthiest and happiest kids,

350

and by the way, also the kids who are the most ethical, I mean, all these things go together.

351

Oh, so it's like all the above.

352

It's not just physical health and happiness.

353

Right.

354

You know, parenting is hard.

355

But the one thing I will say is that the things that you want a child to be are all correlated.

356

And consistency in parenting, this is something I wasn't that great at, but I tried.

357

I knew the research.

358

When I was in graduate school, as you know, my one daughter was in the womb.

359

The other daughter was just in her toddlerhood.

360

And I knew that consistency mattered.

361

So I knew they needed to have regularity in when mealtimes were, also in discipline.

362

I knew that I was supposed to be consistent.

363

Okay, I was not so great at that.

364

But I think in many other ways, there was really a kind of orderly predictability.

365

And one theory behind this is that if you grow up in a world like that, you have the incentive to develop a great prefrontal cortex,

366

lots of cognitive control, do lots of planning.

367

If you grow up in chaos, you have an incentive to be an impulsive, reactive, in the moment, I guess I'll do this because it feels good.

368

So I think it's a very deep idea.

369

I don't think anybody is saying you should be so regimented that if you don't have breakfast exactly at 8, the world doesn't come to an end.

370

But I do think it's, like you said, it's paradox going away, right?

371

Like these are the kids who end up being risk -taking

372

and creative and able to deal with uncertainty because they've grown up with a lot of certainty.

373

Right.

374

You actually can't jump that high off of a sand foundation versus a really solid one.

375

You know, I mean, we've been kind of extolling routines as awesome, and I do think they are.

376

I do think productive people have morning routines on average, maybe not Cass Sunstein.

377

And I think children need much more consistency than they're getting in some cases.

378

But as somebody who has studied the downside of routine and habit,

379

I guess I should probably put a word in for why sometimes people resist these rules, if you will, right?

380

So let's talk about flexibility because I think that is actually the cost, if you will, if the routine is too tightly held.

381

And by the way, this is the cost of habit also, right?

382

So pure habits where you're truly on autopilot have a lack of flexibility to them that is sometimes not good.

383

That is why the brain is very conservative about what it puts on autopilot.

384

That's why you not only have to repeat a behavior like brushing your teeth or doing wall squats or whatever, but it has to be basically immediately rewarded.

385

You know, I mentioned this Caltech neuroscientist, Colin Kammerer.

386

He says really what puts something on autopilot is what he calls prediction error.

387

The prediction error is the difference between how rewarding you think something is going to be and then how it turns out.

388

So the prediction error can be really high if you're like, I thought that cheesesteak was going to be amazing.

389

And oh, my gosh, I got food poisoning.

390

Right.

391

So it could be close to zero.

392

In the case of, by the way, like junk food and going to fast food restaurants, you know, the prediction error is close to zero because those products are so consistent.

393

Oh, you just know exactly what you're going to get.

394

Right.

395

Colin and I believe that is one of the reasons why they are so habit -forming.

396

And then it becomes like, again, on the continuum, you stop paying attention to it.

397

You do it without a lot of intentionality.

398

But one of the costs of that, of course, is like maybe you're inflexibly doing something that's wrong or that's bad.

399

I mean, obviously, junk food has its own whole Pandora's box of bad things.

400

But I guess what I say is this.

401

I think flexibility is a cost of routine.

402

So let me tell you about a study that I did with Katie Milkman and also her Ph .D student, whose name is Anish Rai.

403

He's now a professor at the University of Maryland School of Business.

404

And we wanted to ask the question, what is this tradeoff between flexibility on one hand and routine

405

or kind of I know what I'm going to do in advance, right?

406

Where do we draw that line?

407

And so what Anish did was he partnered with this organization called Crisis Text Line.

408

It's this nonprofit where if you are having a crisis, like you're having maybe even suicidal thoughts,

409

that you actually can text a certain number and then a volunteer on the other end will text you back.

410

And you have a conversation for people of a certain generation.

411

They're more comfortable, actually, with texting when they're in distress.

412

Oh, than having a phone call conversation, you're saying.

413

Than having a phone call, especially with a stranger.

414

So we knew that this nonprofit, Crisis Text Line, needed their volunteers to log 200 hours of volunteering over the course of,

415

I think it was a year.

416

And we randomly assigned people to either have just like, could you do some hours every week so that you could get to 200 hours, right?

417

So that was the control condition.

418

Then there was a condition that was on the other end of the continuum was like, can you volunteer four hours every week?

419

So that was a very granular sub -goal condition.

420

And then there was a condition that we designed that we thought was going to benefit from the granularity of the goal, but also have a built -in little bit of flexibility.

421

So in this case, instead of four hours every week,

422

we thought, okay, let's ask this group of people to think about volunteering eight hours every two weeks.

423

So now we're giving them, you know, like there's a little latitude, oh, this week is really hard for me.

424

And essentially what we found is that both of the goal -setting conditions,

425

they actually increased volunteering by roughly 8 % over just the first 12 -week period even of this time.

426

But we also found that the flexible condition, eight hours every two weeks,

427

seemed to have more enduring benefits as we looked at the data over time.

428

I love that idea, the flexibility, because obviously everyone's lives go a little bit differently.

429

So, Angela, we have talked about the benefits of routine, the benefits of flexibility, and the challenges of routine.

430

What would you say?

431

you want to change about your own routines or maybe advice you'd want to give me about routines?

432

So this question that Perfect Peter, your neurosurgeon brother asked, is bringing to mind just like one last study that ends up being,

433

I think, advice.

434

So this study was done by Sidney Scott and Eleanor Williams.

435

They're at Wash U in St. Louis.

436

And it's about how people, when they think about their own life,

437

pretty much want flexibility and they don't want routines and they don't want the rigidity of deciding in advance.

438

But when they are asked for advice for other people that they care about, they are much more likely to choose this kind of rigid plan routine option.

439

And what Sydney and Eleanor conclude is that when you're thinking about other people, you use your head.

440

And when you think about yourself, you use your gut, right?

441

Or your heart.

442

I was going to say heart, but you're going to go with gut.

443

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

444

You know, like, oh, what feels right for me?

445

But when you're thinking about your friend, you're sort of really thinking.

446

You're like, what would be the best thing?

447

And I think the advice then is that if there really is a benefit to routine,

448

then maybe what we should do is think of our own life sometimes as if we're planning for someone else.

449

I think this is just a great life hack.

450

Many business leaders do this when they have to make business decisions.

451

Like if it weren't me, but if it were my best friend making this business decision, right, if it weren't me ordering lunch right now, but like actually somebody I really care about,

452

my best friend, my significant other, what would I order for them?

453

What would I have them do in the morning?

454

Because I think it's true that sometimes we would make a better decision that way.

455

So I think my closing advice is like, yeah, there are trade -offs, but routines are awesome.

456

And there are ways to develop strong routines, but to loosely hold them, right, to build in some flexibility as well.

457

And if you have a problem with any of this, pretend that you're deciding on all this for another person who's not you.

458

I love that concept, though, of making sure that you have this almost third -party view into your life.

459

And look, I think that my life has been so much richer when I have tried to incorporate routines into it.

460

And I think that there are so many ways that routine breeds intentionality in life.

461

And I will say, I will go forward now with that advice.

462

And when I'm about to make these decisions on routine, think about my best friend or as you call him, perfect Peter.

463

You know, Mike, one of the new routines in my life that I have really appreciated, it's having conversations with you.

464

Oh my gosh, ditto.

465

And now here's a fact check of today's conversation.

466

Angela uses the example of performing pelvic floor strengthening exercises while watching television to illustrate the benefits of habit stacking.

467

She notes that as people age, the kegel muscles that support pelvic floor organs may stop functioning as well.

468

There is, in fact, no such thing as Kegel muscles.

469

The pelvic floor consists of the levator ani, which wraps around the pelvis, and the coccygeus, located in the back of the pelvis.

470

Kegel exercises were first described in 1948 by American gynecologist Arnold Kegel as a way to prevent incontinence.

471

The exercises are often recommended for women's health, as Angela mentions, But they can also be beneficial for men,

472

especially those who've had their prostate surgically removed or who have conditions like diabetes or an overactive bladder.

473

That's it for the fact check.

474

Before we wrap today's show, let's hear some thoughts about last week's episode on closure.

475

Hi, Angela and Mike.

476

I wanted to say that what really resonated with me was the fact that psychologically we need closure.

477

And yet there are all sorts of TikToks

478

and Instagram reels from certified therapists and influencers

479

and all sorts of people who claim

480

that you don't need to get closure from someone when you get ghosted or someone breaks up with you.

481

And so I think this episode is really important in helping shape

482

that conversation around how you can create closure for yourself or maybe why we do really owe each other explanations for things.

483

And it's not needy and it's not too much to ask why something happened.

484

Maybe this kind of content can help us improve our relationships with each other in this very digital and somewhat unaccountable world.

485

Hi, my name's Rachel.

486

When we moved to a new city several years ago, we enrolled our son in a new daycare.

487

And through this daycare, we made friends with another young family.

488

And we all got along so well.

489

Our kids played together really well.

490

They were best buddies.

491

And then suddenly in the fall of 2020, they stopped all communication with us.

492

They ignored our texts.

493

They ignored Instagram messages.

494

But we saw they were still hanging out with other people.

495

Anyway, I think about the abrupt cessation of this friendship every couple of days.

496

And I wonder if I'd had closure with the termination of this friendship

497

that I would not be brooding on it so frequently.

498

Hi, Angela and Mike.

499

This is Steve from Chicago, and your show about closure reminded me of one of the best and worst events in my life.

500

In college, I received a bouquet of flowers in the dorm, and not a few cheap carnations,

501

but a rather large and beautiful and probably expensive arrangement.

502

And the card only said, hey, you're kind of cute.

503

I asked around, I looked around, put an ad in the school paper, but I never found out who sent them to me.

504

And even after more than 30 years, I can still look back on that moment with great joy, but also a little bit of sadness for what might have been.

505

That was, respectively, Kelsey Simpkins, Rachel Hampton, and Steve Turner.

506

Thanks to them and to everyone who shared their stories with us.

507

And remember, we'd love to hear about your relationship with routines.

508

Send a voice memo to nsq at Freakonomics .com and you might hear your voice on the show.

509

Hi, everyone.

510

Angela here.

511

I want to tell you about a special project Mike and I are working on.

512

We're planning a series of episodes of No Stupid Questions about personality.

513

In anticipation of the first episode, we have a really fun quiz we're excited to share.

514

To check it out and to learn more about your personality, go to Freakonomics .com slash Big 5.

515

Take the Big 5 inventory and get an immediate personality profile.

516

Your results will remain completely anonymous.

517

And if you have a question about personality, feel free to email us at nsq at Freakonomics .com.

518

We may be able to answer your question during the series.

519

Thanks, and see you next week.

520

Coming up next week on No Stupid Questions, are you motivated by fear?

521

I'm sitting there and I can't move.

522

I can hardly breathe.

523

People are trying to talk to me and I'm like, don't, don't talk.

524

I can't cognitively function.

525

That's next week on No Stupid Questions.

526

No Stupid Questions is part of the Freakonomics Radio Network, which also includes Freakonomics Radio,

527

people I mostly admire, and the economics of everyday things.

528

All our shows are produced by Stitcher and Renbud Radio.

529

The senior producer of the show is me, Rebecca Lee Douglas, and Lear Boutich is our production associate.

530

This episode was mixed by Greg Rippin.

531

Our theme song was composed by Luis Guerra.

532

You can follow us on Twitter at NSQ underscore show and on Facebook at NSQ Show.

533

If you have a question for a future episode, please email it to nsq at Freakonomics .com.

534

To learn more or to read episode transcripts, visit Freakonomics .com slash NSQ.

535

Thanks for listening.

536

Enthusiastic.

537

Now they're going to put that at the end.

538

I hate that.

539

The Freakonomics Radio Network.

540

The hidden side of everything.

541

Stitcher.

Baixar aplicativo

Tudo o que você precisa para falar fluentemente

Pronúncia com IANota em cada frase

Prática de IPADomine cada som

VocabulárioMonte seu banco de palavras

Jogo de vocabulárioAprenda brincando

Escaneie o QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Mesmo canal

George Harrison Roasted Warren Zanes the First Time They Met | Better in Person

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

689. Here’s Why Your Hamburger Just Got So Pricey | Freakonomics Radio

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

FOR YOU

Vídeo recomendado

256 frases

You Are Not Lazy, You Just Need a Better Routine! | Advanced Podcast for Real-Life Conversations

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

54 frases

Episode 1: Learn Real English Speaking! Phrases & Situations for Intermediate Learners

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

155 frases

Think Less. Do More - George Mack

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

971 frases

How to Stay Motivated Every Day | Intermediate English Conversation Podcast(B1-B2)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

86 frases

How to BUILD A ROUTINE That Will CHANGE YOUR LIFE & Stay Consistent

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

751 frases

7 Conversations Every Ambitious Person Needs to Hear | Dear Leila

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

386 frases

How To Manage Your Time | English Podcast For Easy English Conversation | Don’t Waste Your Life

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

Vocabulário e dicas de fala para esta lição

Esta aula de conversação de nível B2 usa o vídeo “186. Do You Need a Routine?”. Este vídeo tem 541 frases e 6793 palavras para praticar shadowing. A fala dura 38:28. O falante fala em ritmo natural, cerca de 177 palavras por minuto, próximo de uma conversa do dia a dia. Apenas 81% das palavras estão entre as 3.000 mais comuns do inglês, por isso o vocabulário é exigente.

Vocabulário principal deste vídeo

As 15 palavras mais avançadas do vídeo, com pronúncia e significado:

Palavra	Pronúncia	Significado
autopilot substantivo	/ˈɔtoʊˌpaɪlət/	piloto automático
flexibility substantivo	/ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪti/	flexibilidade
stack substantivo	/stæk/	pilha
cognitive adjetivo	/ˈkɑɡ.nɪ.tɪv/	cognitivo
gosh	/ɡɑːʃ/	meu Deus, nossa!
closure substantivo	/ˈkloʊ.ʒɚ/	encerramento, fecho
marathon substantivo	/ˈmæɹəθən/	maratona
continuum substantivo	/kənˈtɪnjuəm/	continuum
intentionality substantivo		intencionalidade
pelvic adjetivo	/ˈpɛlvɪk/	pélvico
prediction substantivo	/pɹɪˈdɪkʃən/	predição, previsão
predictability substantivo	/pɹəˌdɪktəˈbɪlɪti/	previsibilidade
bandwidth substantivo	/ˈbændwɪdθ/	largura de banda
predictable adjetivo	/pɹəˈdɪktəbləl/	previsível, predizível
incorporate verbo	/ɪŋˈkɔɹ.pɚ.eɪt/	incorporar

Phrasal verbs que você vai ouvir

Palavra	Pronúncia	Significado
wake up verbo	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	acordar, despertar
end up verbo		terminar, acabar
get up verbo		subir
grow up verbo		crescer
turn out verbo		terminar
come out verbo	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	sair, partir
figure out verbo		descobrir, deduzir
find out verbo		descobrir

Frases que vale a pena repetir

Frases curtas e completas do vídeo que você pode usar na conversa do dia a dia:

What did you learn about habit stacking?
Are you grateful like right away?
Do you feel rewarded right then?
He's like, I had like a donut?
You're like, what would be the best thing?

Gramática neste vídeo

As estruturas que o falante mais usa, com as palavras exatas do vídeo:

Estrutura	No vídeo
Present perfect have/has + particípio passado — uma ação passada que ainda importa agora	You've done · it's been · have had
Voz passiva be + particípio passado — o foco está no que acontece, não em quem faz	was sent · isn't studied · is called
Orações relativas who / which + oração — informação extra sobre uma pessoa ou coisa	friend who he · something which is · People who wake

Pronúncia para ficar de olho

O falante usa 135 contrações e formas reduzidas, como I'm, you're, don't. Diga-as na forma curta, do jeito que você ouve.

Os sons de “th”: marathon /ˈmæɹəθən/, bandwidth /ˈbændwɪdθ/, thrive /θɹajv/, withdrawal /wɪðˈdɹɔ(ə)l/, ethical /ˈɛθɪkəl/
Os sons de “sh” e “zh”: gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, closure /ˈkloʊ.ʒɚ/, prediction /pɹɪˈdɪkʃən/, accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/, beneficial /ˌbɛn.ɪˈfɪʃ.əl/
Palavras longas — acerte a sílaba tônica: autopilot /ˈɔtoʊˌpaɪlət/, flexibility /ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪti/, gynecologist /ˌɡaɪnəˈkɒləd͡ʒɪst/, predictability /pɹəˌdɪktəˈbɪlɪti/, predictable /pɹəˈdɪktəbləl/

Sons difíceis para falantes de português:

Consoante final — sem acrescentar um “i” depois: autopilot /ˈɔtoʊˌpaɪlət/, stack /stæk/, gynecologist /ˌɡaɪnəˈkɒləd͡ʒɪst/, pelvic /ˈpɛlvɪk/, incorporate /ɪŋˈkɔɹ.pɚ.eɪt/
/l/ final — a língua toca o céu da boca, não vira “u”: predictable /pɹəˈdɪktəbləl/, behavioral /bɪˈheɪvjəɹəl/, neural /ˈnʊɹəl/, withdrawal /wɪðˈdɹɔ(ə)l/, ethical /ˈɛθɪkəl/
/h/ — um sopro suave, diferente do “r”: behavioral /bɪˈheɪvjəɹəl/, hype /haɪp/

Como praticar com este vídeo

Ouça o vídeo inteiro uma vez sem falar e anote as palavras que você não conhece.
Comece na velocidade 0,75×, faça shadowing frase por frase e volte à velocidade normal quando ficar fácil.
Grave a sua voz e compare com o original, prestando atenção a palavras como autopilot, flexibility, stack.

O que é a Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing é uma técnica de aprendizado de idiomas com base científica, originalmente desenvolvida para o treinamento de intérpretes profissionais. O método é simples, mas poderoso: você ouve áudio em inglês nativo e repete imediatamente em voz alta — como uma sombra seguindo o falante com 1-2 segundos de atraso. Pesquisas mostram melhora significativa na precisão da pronúncia, entonação, ritmo, sons conectados, compreensão auditiva e fluência na fala.

Técnica de shadowing: leia o guia completo passo a passo →

Prática de Shadowing: 186. Do You Need a Routine? | No Stupid Questions - Aprenda a falar inglês com vídeo

Escolha um modo de prática

Baixar aplicativo

George Harrison Roasted Warren Zanes the First Time They Met | Better in Person

689. Here’s Why Your Hamburger Just Got So Pricey | Freakonomics Radio

You Are Not Lazy, You Just Need a Better Routine! | Advanced Podcast for Real-Life Conversations

Why Are We Friends? | Simon Sinek

Why being bored is a good thing

Jordan Peterson - You Need a Routine!

15 Questions Every Adult Should Answer

If YOU Can’t Focus, You NEED to See This (Science Backed)

Episode 1: Learn Real English Speaking! Phrases & Situations for Intermediate Learners

Think Less. Do More - George Mack

How to Stay Motivated Every Day | Intermediate English Conversation Podcast(B1-B2)

How to BUILD A ROUTINE That Will CHANGE YOUR LIFE & Stay Consistent

7 Conversations Every Ambitious Person Needs to Hear | Dear Leila

How To Manage Your Time | English Podcast For Easy English Conversation | Don’t Waste Your Life

Vocabulário e dicas de fala para esta lição

Vocabulário principal deste vídeo

Phrasal verbs que você vai ouvir

Frases que vale a pena repetir

Gramática neste vídeo

Pronúncia para ficar de olho

Como praticar com este vídeo

O que é a Técnica de Shadowing?