An exercise for people that "have no time"
One of the biggest and most important things we are not honest with ourselves about is time. I learned through reading Laura Vanderkam’s 168 Hours that most of us have a very skewed reality of how we spend our time. It may be a bias towards my chosen profession, but I think this especially holds true when it comes to health and fitness.
You do not have to be a busy, working professional to be short on time. Many of us fill our days with our normal routines and tasks, whether that involves going to a 9-5 job or not, and can’t imagine squeezing in time for more routine things. Wake up early enough to meditate? Couldn’t possibly. Get 8 hours of sleep but still wake up in time to workout before work? You’re crazy.
What I learned from a very important time tracking exercise in 168 hours is that we do not spend our hours quite like we think we do.
The exercise is this: keep a spreadsheet of each hour of your day, for a couple of days (or perhaps a week). I segmented mine into 30 minute intervals and tracked everything I did for three days. Include absolutely everything (your commute, your chat with your significant other when you first get home, your bedtime routine) and see where your valuable time could be better spent.
Do you set your alarm for 5:30am, only to scroll Instagram for 20 minutes before you actually HAVE to get out of bed? Maybe those 20 minutes are valuable sleep time, or perhaps you could get up and have that early morning meditation session you’ve always wanted to do.
Do you allow yourself 2 hours of TV before you turn in to go to sleep? I know TV is a great mindless leisure activity, but we can certainly still enjoy it in smaller amounts. Maybe you watch TV for one hour, read for an hour, and then go to sleep. Or perhaps that second hour gets tacked on to your nightly ZZs- getting you to that 8 you never thought you could achieve!
Sleep and meditation are both integral parts of wellness- but what about fitness? The most common excuse we hear as trainers is that people really struggle to find the time for fitness. This may ring true in some cases- perhaps getting to a workout class or the gym, staying for an hour, getting to work/home all will truly not fit into your schedule at this time. We completely understand that, which is why at SpeciFit we pride ourselves on offering the most convenient fitness services. We have in-person and virtual training plus we offer a virtual monthly coaching option.
Even if in-home or virtual training is not for you, you have options. One of our most successful clients to date is a mother of two young kids with two jobs that got into fitness by starting with 10 minutes per day. You can certainly find 10 minutes! Depending on your goals, you may need more time than that; this is when it’s a good idea to schedule at least a consult with a trainer. Let us help you find those extra minutes in your day and shift it all together to get you to that goal.
Eating healthy is no quick task either. To get your nutrition in check, you must make SOME time to plan and prep. Your meal prep doesn’t have to be 4 hours in the kitchen every Sunday; prepping to you may be ordering pre-made healthy meals the week before, ensuring you have emergency snacks on hand, and tracking your food. You don’t have to figure all of this out on your own- there are endless amounts of free resources at your fingertips.
So, how to fit it all in? We would love to schedule a consult with you to discuss your particular situation, but if you’re not quite ready for that yet, one important thing to remember is that you HAVE TO value your health. If it is more important to you to stay up for one more episode than it is to wake up for your workout in the morning, no program is going to magically fix that. If you’d rather spend your money on lavish weekend nights out than on a gym membership, you cannot expect good health to just fall into your lap. You have to value looking and feeling your best, and then you must put in a bit of work.