Life is busy. That’s a fact. We’re all busy with work, with kids, with family….in the modern world it seems like there’s never enough time to get our ‘to do’ list done. So what do we prioritise? Often the things we do for ourselves go at the bottom of the pile. We don’t have time to go to the gym, meditate or cook for ourselves when the pull of work or the family often takes center stage. After all, would your boss be okay with you turning up to work half an hour late because you decided to go to a spin class? And how would the headmistress feel if you didn’t pick the kids up on time because you were busy making juice?!
We have to put ourselves first in some times. It’s not selfish, it’s a priority. If you aren’t healthy and well, there really won’t be anyone to earn a living or fetch the kids from school.
Here are my top tips for creating more time to put yourself and your health first:
- Start with 15 minutes – we don’t have time. So start with just 15 minutes. Get up 15 minutes earlier to do your stretches or stay up 15 minutes later to do some food prep. When you’ve got that down, you can start extending the time.
- Use ‘the cracks of time’ – I use hidden cracks of time to get stuff done, which means I have more time to do what I need and want to actually do. So I write emails on the tube instead of watching funny James Corden Carpool karaoke (sometimes I do both!). I use car journeys to listen to podcasts to learn. Buy your supermarket shop online to save a long journey.
- Prioritise – make a list of all the stuff you need to do. Practicalities like going to work, and then other things like gym etc. Look at your weekly schedule and fit in the top 3 things you want to do into your week. Pin it on your fridge to give it priority.
- Take back your time – if you spend a lot of time doing household chores, speak to your partner to see if they can help to free up some gym time. If you need to leave early once a week to get to a class, ask your boss if you can work though your lunch hour or come in early one day. Make your schedule work for you.
- Drop what isn’t working – you can’t drop your job (probably!) but you can drop that late night TV show, or the extra 20 minutes you spend doing your make up. Drop what isn’t important, so you can schedule in what is.
