The reason it’s so hard to get and stay in shape is because we are all so busy! We have to get the kids to school, go to work all day, run errands, cook dinner, spend time with the family, clean the house, relax… the list goes on! Every day there is a lot going on in our lives! It’s obvious that people who can transform their bodies and maintain great physical health have so much less going on in their lives… right?
As much as you may want to believe time is a good excuse for not building the body and the health you deserve, the truth is, you’re wrong! Believe it or not, people who are successful have exactly 24 hours every day, just like everyone else. Don’t start making more priority excuses yet either…please read on!
I understand that it may sound hard to believe, but nobody has learned how to add more minutes to our day. We ALL get 24 hours, that’s it. In reality, people who are successful in their health and fitness goals are just as busy as the next person- their lives are just as hectic wishing that each moment they have wasn’t monopolized by another need or task! Does this sound familiar?
So why does it feel like we don’t have the time to eat right and exercise? It’s the most popular excuse people use why they “can’t” build a better body so I hear it very often. So then, what’s the answer? Some might say that people who use time as an excuse are just lazy, cop outs or really don’t want an extraordinary body. But after working with hundreds of amazing people over the years patterns become obvious. These people are the hardest working people I’ve ever met, so “lazy” isn’t the offender here. I’ve seen that many people haven’t discovered how to “make time,” therefore; they buy into the perception that they are too busy. Well, our perception becomes our reality!
Here’s the good news, we have all the time there is! I have seen so many “busy” people who have a goal to change their body allow their “busy” mindset and focus overcome they’re mission in unleashing their true potential and body they are meant to have and enjoy! Please don’t let your perception destroy an awesome destiny for you. Begin to redirect your focus by using some of my time saving tips that will help you get and stay in great shape. After using these tips you will undoubtedly have more time to give to yourself and even more time for what matters to you most.
Before I give you these tips, please understand that you need less than 5 hours of exercise per week! Yes, that’s it, merely 3% of your time! This is not a huge investment, now is it? Once you’ve started and see the wonderful benefits related to eating and exercising properly, you won’t want to give it up. You will soon discover that it creates time instead of costing you time! Remember, no more excuses, here we go!
Tip #1: Create Urgency
We are not human do-ings we are human be-ings. Don’t just go through the motions of your day, perform with passion and purpose! When you create a sense of urgency and put deadlines on tasks before you begin them then you are much more efficient at getting the task done. I don’t mean rush so you don’t produce quality. I mean stay efficient instead of comfortable. You could pick up at least an hour a day using this tip!
Here’s a good example. Ever get the most work done when you knew you had a deadline and you threw your state of mind into “crunch time” mode. How bout this analogy, when two basketball teams have a tied score with 2 minutes left of the game. All of a sudden the players are moving up and down the court piling up points much faster than the pace before. This is the pace you need to keep all day!
By practicing this tip you will see more benefits in work productivity, add time to your day, create a higher level of confidence and satisfaction and quite possibly get a raise at work or increase profits in your organization!
Tip #2: When You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail
A VERY simple time saving tip is to plan ahead. Each night, make a small list of “Must-do’s” that will create a major outcome for you. Only write what you will need to accomplish the next day and be sure to include exercising on your list! By doing this every night, this will already engage your mind into completing the tasks, so by the time you begin them the next day your mind has already devised a plan to move forward with them more smoothly than if you did not prepare your list. Keep your list with you for the next day. Be sure to create an efficient urgency to accomplish them. Make sure you check them off as they are completed and give yourself a small celebration and feeling of accomplishment as a reward for a job well done each time. This is to make it a little fun. The process should also be a pleasurable one so you don’t link stress (fear) to working efficiently. Make sure you celebrate in some way!
If you wait till the next day to figure out “what’s next” then you waste a lot of time adjusting and reacting instead of accomplishing. Of course you can’t plan everything so leave a little time in your schedule for unexpected circumstances. This planning method only takes a few minutes and can save you at least an hour a day!
Tip#3: Don’t Watch “Mindless” TV
Watching TV can be valuable if used to unwind after a long day, learn something or simply laugh out loud! TV can also be a time eraser as well. The average person spends 20 hours a week watching TV. Please realize that most of the time watching TV is wasted and the content often seen isn’t really that comical, interesting or educational, including the news which is most commonly saturated by useless information to the majority of us. If it’s news we really need to know about, don’t we find out soon enough because “everyone” is talking about it anyway? I’m not saying give up what is important about TV, I’m asking you to be conscious of time being wasted, when you are, I’m sure you’ll discover in many cases that your time is being erased!
You don’t need to give up TV, just use your time to be productive. (Like building the body and health that you deserve so much!) When you fall into that normal pattern of crashing down to the couch just ask yourself (no matter how tired you are) could your time be better spent doing something more gratifying? Instead of letting the TV hypnotize you, use that time wisely and you could gain a lot of time each day!
Tip #4: Terminate Unproductive Internet & Phone Use
Need some time? Well, quit typing it away. Most people burn an hour a day on irrelevant e-mails, text and instant messaging. If you need to chat with someone then pick up the phone, try to keep it to the point and end the conversation. Don’t get caught up chit-chatting your life and goals away. If you can’t use the phone to speak with someone then the conversation is most likely not important enough to speak about. When possible (and always adhere to your local laws) use the phone while driving, at least you are using your time wisely.
Too often I sit at my desk and see or hear a “pop-up” indicating I received an email, text or instant message. I’d say about 75% of them are junk. I don’t mean spam either. I mean, someone I know felt the need to contact me with a useless comment, a silly internet picture or video. Usually they bother about 20 of their friends with the same e-mail because I can see them all attached. Every time you take part in these, you waste time looking at them and in addition to that you lose your focus which also erases more time. If you’ve got the time, great, take part in it. But don’t use time as an excuse not to exercise, if you do.
My suggestion, take off all the “message” indicators and alerts that you have until you get done what is necessary in your day. Don’t respond to these messages. When people know that you don’t take part of wasting time with these messages, they understand that you communicate with them in a different more productive way and will leave you out of these distractions. If they see that you respond to them, your messages will increase and the amount of your available time will decrease! Use your typing and phone usage wisely and gain significantly more time on your clock!
Tip #5: Eat Right & Exercise
Another excuse I hear often is that it takes too much time to “eat right.” Actually, it is a lot easier to “eat right” now than it ever has been before. Thanks to modern nutritional advances, healthy, vitamin and nutrient packed meal replacements (that actually taste good) are available to us. When you feed yourself what your body needs, you have constant energy throughout your day. By not having slumps of energy in your day, you stay efficient in your activities which will give you more time.
It doesn’t take much time or resources to prepare healthy meals, in fact it should take even less (especially if you eat out a lot). If you are one of those people who eat out a lot, a great way to save time is to eat out less!
You don’t have time NOT to exercise. It’s a proven fact, if you exercise properly (not too much or too little) then you will gain more energy! Another proven fact is that exercise improves the quality of your sleep, which means you get to wake up refreshed instead of waking up last minute in need of your coffee to wake you up (which also robs future energy). Believe me on this one, if you are trying to skip a workout with hopes to save some time, you are making a big mistake. That “quick solution” will come back and bite you!
When you “eat right” and exercise properly you WILL have the benefit of more energy but also more confidence, certainty and efficiency in your overall goals toward health and life! By investing some time for proper exercise, you’ll get back at least double the time invested!
In Conclusion
I hope you have some more clarity and awareness of where you might be losing time and how you can use it more effectively! By using some of these techniques like hundreds of others have, you’ll be able to spend more time with those you care about, look and feel better and enjoy life a lot more! Just as importantly, you won’t have to feel guilty or make any more excuse why you can’t fit about 4 hours of exercise (or anything else important to you) into your lifestyle. If you really want something bad enough, you’ll FIGHT to get it, you won’t let foolish perceptions get in your way of anything you want. (Even your values can be changed, if what you “believe in at this time” destroys your life around you, it might be a good idea)! This only happens if you really do care. So, do you? Remember, it’s “emotion” that really matters, not knocking out a checklist. Your values, nature, actions and choices today will be the result of your tomorrow, choose wisely!!!
