It’s now three weeks into 2019. Many of you are kicking those New Year resolutions you made into high gear. You’re maintaining your 3 days of week at the gym. You increased your daily vegetable intake. You haven’t missed a day of meditation. Then, there are some of you who are struggling. Last week, you got busy at work and had to stay late, which meant missing the gym. Part of the challenge of working out is making time.
Type “time management” into the search bar on Barnes and Nobles’ website and you’ll get 2,098 results. Time management is always a hot topic, so I thought it would be an appropriate subject for today’s post.
One of the mistakes when people start goal setting is that is they add too many things to their already busy schedule. I recommend that you do the opposite. Look at your schedule monthly, weekly and daily and decide what task could you eliminate? Determine what is on your schedule, that you aren’t truly committed to, but still takes time. I’ll provide you an example of something I recently did that helped me. Along with running the studio, I’m also the Nevada state director for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Part of my job in this role is to organize an annual state clinic that allows coaches, trainers, therapists, and others in the strength and conditioning world to receive continuing education. One of my core values is to improve the current fitness standards of trainers in Las Vegas. It’s a volunteer role, but I enjoy doing it. Shortly after taking this role, I was asked to be on a national committee which organized this same organization’s national and international conferences. It was a great honor to be asked. When I was performing a self-audit on things I needed to eliminate to create more time, this committee was it.
The pursuit of less has been defined as essentialism and plays an important role in helping you to make time in your hectic life. A key take-away is that you don’t have time for everything. Once you understand this, you need to determine what’s most important in your life. Faith, family, and your career are typically at the top of these lists, but don’t forget your health. To be more productive in all of these things, your health must be a priority. Feelings of guilt and selfishness commonly occur when people take time away from family and work to get in a workout. Remember, when a plane is going down they instruct you to put an oxygen mask on yourself first and then assist anyone next to you. Being fit allows you to offer the best version of you to the world.
The next dilemma is when people see that they have to get in an abbreviated workout. Thoughts of “why bother?” pop up when this happens. My way to help you deal with this emotion is to explain that the best workout program is the most consistent workout program. Cutting a workout short by 15 minutes is better than missing it.
A good practice is to start your day with a list of 3 to 5 things which you must get done by the conclusion of the day. If that means grabbing a workout by jogging the stairs during lunch and then eating lunch at your desk, do it. Instead of meeting your friend for drinks after work, invite them to join you for a workout as your guest at your gym.
You get to spend some time together and get your workout in. It’s all about choices.
Remember that if feelings of overwhelm are creeping in as you attack 2019, think of eliminating before you add.
See you at the studio.