Find More Time in Your Day
/I don’t have time to workout.
I don’t have time to cook food at home.
I don’t have the time to sleep 7 to 8 hours a night.
Are you kidding me? Who has time for all of that? Or any of that for that matter!
Time. Time is probably the reason I hear most often that people are not doing the things they know they need to do to live healthier lives.
But here’s the thing, we all have the same amount of time. You and I have the same amount of time as Oprah, Taylor Swift, and, well, each other. The question is, what are we doing with that time?
I don’t mean that question to rub the wrong way. In fact, the only reason I point it out is to get your wheels turning. In fact, when I first started training and online coaching, I remember the business mentors I was working with saying things like, “you have time, you just aren’t using it right. Just cut out one TV show a night and you’ll have an extra hour every day.” Thing is, I didn’t even own a TV at that time. I wasn’t watching any TV, let alone one (or more!) show a day! Where was I supposed to get that time?
It was frustrating and quite frankly, infuriating at times that these business coaches and mentors were inferring that I was slacking off because I was wasting time watching television! I absolutely wasn’t!
But then, where was my time going?
I was working (a lot). I was working out 4-5 times a week (and teaching), and I was making 99.7% of my meals at home. So what gives?
Eventually I came across a comment that was much more helpful than “cut down your screen time”.
Your calendar shows your priorities.
Wait, what?! How could that be possible? Working, eating, working out, sleeping… wait a minute. Mind blown.
Of course those were my priorities at the time. I was trying to pay off my student loans as quickly as possible and I wanted (more than anything) to feel happier and healthier in the skin I was in. So of course working, eating, working out, and sleeping were important to me!
But now what? This couldn’t be all there was to life, right? After all, I did want a family in the future, so how would that fit in?
I had no idea. So after whining and complaining about it to my journal for a while, I decided to figure it out. I created my own “Time Finding Tool”
It’s not rocket science. In fact, I used to use something similar when I taught the freshmen orientation class when I was in college. The major thing I did differently was break up time blocks even smaller and use these magical tools called colored pencils (highlighters, pens, or markers work too!).
I’m a visual person, so using different colors for different types of tasks made a HUGE difference in seeing a pattern… and a solution to my time situation.
After sitting down with my time tool for just a day, I was able to “find” an extra hour and a half in my week. Not over the course of multiple days like I had been expecting, but on one day. Monday.
What I realized was that if instead of going home on my three hour lunch break I packed a lunch and went to Starbucks (which was in the plaza of the gym I worked in) or the library (which was right down the road), I could save not only the drive time, but the “mental load” time of making sure I was finished with whatever task I was doing at home and back at the gym in time to prepare for my next client.
Did that make Monday a long day away from home? Absolutely. But was that extra hour and a half worth it? 100%.
But it didn’t stop there.
A couple weeks after implementing my long-Mondays I pulled out my Time Finder again. I realized that if I could move a couple of my clients around, I could get even more time back in my week. Sure, that meant I needed to get my clients to agree, but what was the worst that could happen? They say no and my schedule stayed the same.
So I asked. And they said yes.
I ended up staying at the gym an extra hour on Tuesday nights, but was able to completely eliminate coming back to the gym after 1pm on Wednesday! Another two hours of drive and mental “get ready” time. Sure, I was still working the same amount of time at the gym, I just ended up staying a little later one day and had a shorter lunch break on another. Again, to me that was worth it 100%.
And I’ve used the tool again. And again. And again.
In fact, who knew how often I would go back to using this tool? Anytime I start feeling overwhelmed or my life schedule changes completely (hello new gym! Hello baby!), I go back to it. And it’s helped me time and time again (time and time… see what I did there? Ugh…)
Okay, Erin. Good for you. What about me?
If you find yourself using “I don’t have time” as your excuse or reason that you’re not doing something, this week I challenge you to take a hard look at your calendar. To make it easy, you can download the exact tool I use all the time, or you write it down another way that works for you.
Write down everything! Especially this first go-round. Everything from sleep to drive-time (because driving to work or doing daycare drop-off takes time too!). From meal-time to getting ready in the morning and evening times. Write it all down. Oh, and the TV time, social media time, and other book or screen time too.
See if you can spot patterns or things you can eliminate or find help with. Can your partner do a drop-off or pick up a couple times a week? Do you need to set a timer to limit your Social Media consumption? If you picked your outfits out ahead of time would that save 15 minutes in the morning?
The little things add up.
After all, those extra 15-30 minutes a day could be just what you need to start living your healthiest and happiest life.
You’ve got this. I know you do. I believe in you.
BONUS RESOURCES
Time Finding Tool
Inspiration to Find Time
Accomplish Things Faster & Better
Quick Bodyweight Workouts
Slow Down, You Do Have Time