“If only I had more time…”
Here’s the deal – we all have the same 24 hours. Nobody is special and gets more.
What you do in that 24 hours is YOUR doing, no one else. Taking responsibility for your own life, decisions and actions is step 0 of this process. Without being in that position, you will continue to blame others, play the victim card, and not do anything for yourself.
Okay, tough love talk is out of the way, and you have accepted that you are in control of your life, right?
Cool.
Now to the actionable items…
How can we add more time to our day?
1) 15 Minute Time Audit
Yes, write out your whole day in 15-minute blocks. What were you doing during each of those blocks. What EXACTLY were you doing? Were you at work working, or at work creeping on your ex-girlfriend on Facebook?
Were you spending time with your partner, or actually just sitting on the couch browsing Instagram while some boring show played in the background?
Be brutally honest with yourself.
Within your full day of 15-minute windows you will find 2 different opportunities:
A) Instant cuts – things you can get rid of right now to free up more time
B) Linkable habits – things you always do that you can LINK new habits to.
2) Habit Linking
What is something you do every day, without even thinking about it? This is a pure habit. Find something that you WANT to do every day…and link it to that habit, preferably BEFORE the habit you currently do…so you have to “earn” it.
“I need to start exercising” –> “I currently brush my teeth every morning after breakfast, then watch the morning news for 15 minutes”
Cut out the news, it’s all fake anyway 😉 (but you can check it later really) and make it habit of – after breakfast, before I brush my teeth, I will do 5 squats and 5 pushups every minute on the minute for 5 minutes.
Another example:
I always walk by Sharon’s desk at work AND grab a piece of candy out of her bowl.
Sharon is an awesome lady – don’t stop walking by her desk and saying hello. But guess what, you can say hello without mindlessly eating 100 calories every day. Swap the habit of grabbing candy with saying something nice about Sharon every day (don’t be a creep though)
How does this add time to your day though? Think forward. By mindlessly skipping the candy, you have saved yourself 100 mindless calories. When you save those calories, you don’t need to stress about eating a “healthier” dinner because you shamed yourself for eating that candy (THIS IS NOT A HEALTHY BEHAVIOR, BUT Let’s be real, people do it), nor do you “need” to walk that extra mile to burn off those 100 calories… (again NOT what I condone, BUT in reality, people do this)
3) Outsource Tasks
We live in a crazy new world. You could stay in your bedroom all day (with the right job) and get everything you need. This is a curse and a blessing – but if used wisely, you can add time to your day.
Hate grocery shopping? Most places will deliver for FREE if you spend at least $50. That saves you a trip to and from by itself.
The other benefit to this – you can decide what food enters your home, and not leave it up to chance at the store. How many times have you gone grocery shopping hungry, stress, or sad…only to buy food that you didn’t really want, and definitely didn’t need?
So let’s put this into practice with the previous hacks.
When is it that you feel the most motivated to be healthy? Usually after a good workout, or after doing something else for your health. So link it up.
After working out on Fridays, I will take 15 minutes to log in and online grocery shop for the foods that 90% support my goals, my families health, and 10% are enjoyable treats.
You can outsource so many other things…even if you have to spend some money.
Figure out what your time is worth. Whether it is based on being able to work more (what is your hourly rate) OR being able to do more of what you love (no price needed).
Pay the neighbor kid $20 to mow your lawn so you can meal prep, spend time advancing your business, or just spending time with family.
Whatever value you put on your time, or what you want to be doing – figure this out, and find a way to make it worthwhile.
4) Schedule Out Your Entire Day
Yes, this might seem OCD, but it really helps.
I am terrible at time management. If I am working on one thing, and an email pops up – I will stop what I am doing, and check the email…and then somehow find myself on facebook, and then decide I need a snack…
Schedule your day. When you work. When you eat. When you play. When you sleep. When you have family time. When you check emails.
After doing your 15-minute audit, clean it up. Designate specific times for the things that matter most.
I removed my work email from my phone and designated specific time EACH day to check my work email from my home computer. This has helped incredibly with focus, and stress in my life, and it is so simple!
I schedule in time to train, and I have my phone automatically lock me out of all apps besides my music app during this time. No more getting wrapped up in facebook, emails or reading the news – just my time to train because it makes me feel better, keeps me in shape, and is a stress reliever for me.
5) Plan Out the Next Day the Night Before
What are the 3 things I NEED to accomplish tomorrow?
Nothing else matters until those 3 things are done.
Write this out. They might be 3 very simple tasks – but you will be much more likely to actually do them. If you only do 2 of the 3, put the 3rd task as #1 on the following day’s goal list.
Put the easiest task first. That way it puts you into a winning mindset for the day. As soon as you do task #1 – cross it off, and say “hell yeah, I got this”
When you plan out these things and trim the fluff from your day, you will find yourself having more time, more freedom and honestly – a much better life.
Would you like more help on taking back your life, learning to love health and food again, and getting life long results along the way? IF so —> CHECK OUT ONLINE COACHING***
Stay healthy my friends,