Making time for fitness is hard, we know because we are busy too and many busy adults with kids, high value jobs, demanding work hours and other responsibilities still manage to squeeze in their training with us over the course of the week.
So how do they do this when you’re struggling to find any spare time let alone the energy to do something with that free time?
“No amount of money ever bought back a second of time.”
Howard Stark, Avengers End Game.
- Start small, substitute.
I know you really want to be super fit, have a better body, more energy etc, etc but you can make a huge difference by starting off really small. My first recommendation to starting a fitness journey or choosing tasks that build energy rather than deplete it would be starting off small and finding things to substitute. A walk first thing in the morning instead of 30 minutes of scrolling through the news or social media is a great substitute. 30 minutes of reading instead of 2 hours of Netflix in the evening. Scheduling in a time during the day dedicated to simply eating a portion of fruit. It really only needs to be this simple, if it’s simple you can probably do it week after week consistently enough to see some results and just like that you’ll want something more. - Write it down
Constantly cycling through a to-do list in your mind hinders productivity and creativity. Go buy yourself a new diary or my personal favourite ‘BrainDump’ pad so you can literally dump your thoughts somewhere. Clearing your mind will help you to come up with work solutions and new ideas more quickly. Writing is a skill, there is actually a reason we learn to write at school but no one mentions the importance of it. Writing, particularly about ones self can help you life hack yourself, your choices, your thinking, your decision making and your productivity and creativity. - Schedule your time on Emails, Phone Calls and other life admin tasks.
This was single handedly the best thing I ever did for myself. I used to find myself checking emails whilst starting to warm up before a training session and would inevitably stop training to take care of any ‘urgent’ things that came my way. But the truth is. it’ll be still be there waiting for you after you’ve done whatever it is you are currently doing. Emails, texts, phone calls unless they are scheduled in can wait until you’re ready to pick them up. I’m not saying you wait all day and waste time at work etc, I’m saying that If you schedule an email/phone check into your day where you also take action immediately for example 30 minutes of emails at 9am, 1pm and 4pm you’re actually more likely to get things done if and when your inbox is full. Sitting on your emails all day waiting for things to come in is the most unproductive thing you can do. If you schedule this time in consistently week after week, you’ll find an extra 2-3 hours in your day that needs filling. - Lean on your partner, discuss your why.
Have an honest conversation with your spouse. “I need you to look after the kids between 5 & 6pm tonight without me. I know you’ve had a long day but my health and fitness is really important to me, I’ve been feeling miserable and less effective as a wife, mother etc, etc and I really feel that if I can get my health and fitness back I’ll be happier, healthier and have more energy for you and the kids, it’s also important to me that I show them the importance of health and fitness, would you agree?”
If you tell your loved ones your ‘why’ they will take you more seriously. I’ve heard it all too many times when clients tell their friends “I’m going to start watching what I eat.” It’s often met with ridicule. “Oh yes, me too, Oh wait no I love cake, haha good luck.” It makes you feel terrible, why even bother trying right? All that is missing is the emotion to your decision, the ‘why’. If you tell them why and they don’t support you, they’re not your friend, you’re their enabler. - Write down your values and life mission statement.
This one might seem a little weird but the most common deep health factor adults struggle with is a sense of purpose in life. So if you haven’t ever done this grab a piece of paper and write down 5-10 characteristics or traits you value in humans. Mine for example are Honesty, Humility, Growth Mindset, Hard Working & Empathy. Once you’ve hit ten try to then narrow it down to 5. Then write a mission statements as to how these values will help you live your life to the fullest. What type of person would living your life in accordance to these values attract into your life. Do your current friendship or family circles live up to these values? Are you able to move forward with your life in your current set of circumstances be it, job, house, partner, country etc, etc. This creates time because you’ll start to identify the things in your life that don’t serve you. It’ll give you time to think about the things that will.
Most of the folks we talk to about their health and fitness wish they had done more for their fitness when they younger. Everyone has health simply until they don’t and it can come as quite a shock to the system if and when a streak of poor health arises. Fitter people are different, they have way more warning signs before they experience a loss or depletion of health. We can help you become more healthy even with just a conversation, a shift in perspective just like this blog is intended to do for you.
Our free no sweat intro session gives you the time to discuss freely your ultimate health and fitness goals, tell us about your struggles in the past, your available time and resources that could help you move things forward so we can best prescribe your best course of action to take.
