Short on time doesn't mean no results. How to turn your lack of time into results!
It may be harsh, what I am about to say, but I think that sometimes harsh reality hits home better than anything else. And today it is what I have heard the most during my coaching days - "I don't have the time":
To work out
To prepare food
To sleep and rest properly
To learn more about health
To work on my habits
To reach my goals
However there is plenty of time for everything else: the boozy weekends, lazy days off, take-away meals and unfortunately oblivious self sabotage in many cases. Ok ok, maybe that is a little bit too much. There are so many of us who simply feel like we are always on the run, we have families to take care of and so many other responsibilities that we simply feel stuck in that cycle.. But how can you break free?
First of all you need to understand that not having time and managing your time poorly in is the problem in many cases. It all goes down to perspective and your need for change.
You can start by simply getting the basics right and evolve after that:
To have a successful training session, you don't need a gym or even a stadium or loads of weights at home, all you need is a high intensity 15-20 min or low intensity 20-40min well planned sessions at least 3-5 times a week. Surely the gym and equipment is great, but let's not forget that we are talking about the people who struggle with finding the time. So how about walking? You can add so much to your healthier living approach by simply doing that every day. Walk to the store, tube station, park, pick up kids if you can and anywhere else where you can actually travel by foot, get some fresh air and get some movement in your body instead of sitting on your coach again after working in front of your desk..
Let's look into food preparation, the average meal takes around 20-40min depending on the process, and here you can perfectly say that there is no time to spare for every meal you have, and that's true. But the fact is, if you plan ahead at least 2-3 days at a time, you can easily get away with cooking once in 3 days! And even more so, you can have all your meals done in 1h (prepping main products in the oven, steam cooker or any other appliance doesn't require you to actively sit next to it and be chained down for that time) and even better, here is your work out time or reading, last touch ups on work or ironing or whatever else you need to do at home. And to not forget the snacks, grabbing a fruit or a yogurt, pack of nuts or anything else for your day does not take more than a minute, so don't even go there. It is all about choices you make in the store, so next time don't rush, think about what really is good for you and what you just simply crave for and go with the first option, trust me, soon enough you will thank yourself for that.
Resting is another somewhat touchy subject in today's hectic lifestyles, it seems like nobody has the time to take care of themselves because of the commute and work and whatever else it may be, but have you ever really looked into the real issues?
Daily "happy hours" in the pub near work, cocktail Saturdays and Sundays, countless hours on social media, especially before bed, 5 seasons on Netflix over two days and so many other activities that are taken to such extreme where health and control takes the back seat for good.
And I am not saying that people should stop having fun, by all means, but that fun shouldn't be the excuse nor the reason why we as humans fail to take care of our bodies and minds first.
Teach yourself to switch off from the technology world, learn to calm your mind down with simple meditation or just a nice talk with your loved ones instead of zoning into the media overload that results in your poor sleep habits.
The reasoning behind our actions in our daily routines create the discipline that we need for those life changes that we want so much. But without mindful choices there will never be any discipline or change.
So ask yourself, is it really a time issue that holds us from reaching goals and aspire to be better?
I think that once we are brave enough to look at our own actions and see those decisions that have led us to where we are today, only then can we become accountable for it and make the decision to change. Simply because you can't change the actions that you can't see. And it's not something to be upset about, it's just something to look into so you could learn from it. At the end of the day, we all work with 24h every single day, and believe me there is enough time to make great change which you are looking for. Start small, one new habit at a time and soon enough you will not recognize your new reality!
Follow @viktorijafitness on Instagram for more tips on how to start changing your habits and daily motivation!