TIME ON YOUR SIDE

How to plan your days so there’s always time to exercise.

 

With so much to do and so little time, exercising can get squeezed out. Lack of time – whether actual or perceived – can be the biggest barrier to running or walking as often as you might like. Here are a few suggestions that have helped many people to find time. Some of them may seem obvious or overly simple, or they might even seem as if they couldn’t possibly make a difference; but really, everything in this list has helped others to reclaim a little time to exercise.

 1.      Review your diary

Get a diary and map out your days. What do they look like? Is there anything that could be shifted to make more time? Could you bunch things together to minimise travel, for example?

 2.      Repurpose your time

Are there instances where you could use travel time for exercising? Could you run between meetings? Cycle to work? Cory Wharton-Malcolm from Women’s Health has been in virtual meetings while walking with her camera and audio off, which she switched on when she wanted to comment.

 

3. Declutter your days

Plan as far in advance as you can. This may limit your spontaneity, but something has to give. So, find the things in your life you think are wasting your time and cut them out. Also, plan when you are going to exercise. How much time do we waste looking for socks or tupperware lids? If you’d prepared the night before, you could have been out the door already! 😊

 4.      Know thyself

You know when you’re putting something off, making excuses or being truthful. You may tell others how little time you have, when the reality is you don’t actually want to make the time to exercise, as other things feel more important. So, work out what you have to do, then act on it. Can you get up earlier to fit in a run, or go a little later? Probably.

 5.      Do not disturb

Set boundaries with yourself, others and technology, and stick to them. How much time do you spend aimlessly scrolling? Or playing games? Of course we all need downtime, but how much of that time could you reclaim and redistribute? We can all gradually work on taking our phone screen time down from something ludicrous to between thirty and sixty minutes a day, which is still a lot. But think about it like this – scrolling five times a day for five minutes at a time could instead have been a 25-minute yoga session.

 

6.      Have a mantra

Personally I find a mantra to be hugely empowering, especially if I find that I’m feeling flustered or overwhelmed. I take a moment to pause, breathe and say, “Girl, you got this”. It helps me to reset and start again. I find this helpful when I have a packed day or week. Find your words of inspiration, and see how much they can help.

Till next week!

Take care & be your own happy, healthy self!!