4 Ways to Make Time for Health When you Have NO Time
Exercise is part of your job. So is nutritious eating, getting enough sleep, and learning how to manage your stress. No matter who you are, making time to meet your basic healthy living needs is part of your job, because of the mental and physical benefits doin so provides in both the short and long term.
Like:
- Improved concentration
- Improved memory
- Enhanced creativity and problem solving
- Improved digestion
- Increased energy
- Increased self-confidence
- Increased resilience
- Decreased anxiety
But you know this already. It’s not that you don’t know or don’t want to, it’s that you “just don’t have time to______.”
I hear this a lot, so you’re in good company.
To get the busiest professionals moving, here are 4 tips I often give. Which one(s) will help you?
1. Something Over Nothing:
Not moving at all because you don’t have time to do the entire workout is the same as not starting on an assignment because you can’t finish it in one day. Let go of the “all or nothing” and embrace the “always something” mindset. Do what you can, when you can. Try your best and give yourself a break.
2. Multitask When Appropriate:
Multitasking is actually not super helpful for tasks that really need our attention. Single-tasking conserves more energy. BUT there are some situations in which you can multitask just fine. For example: hope on the treadmill, indoor bike, or elliptical when you need to: study, read, take a call. You will get movement in, while checking off your to-do list. And you may even find you retain the information better!
3. Schedule it:
“If I know how you spend your time, then I know what might become of you,” van Goethe
4. Play Devil’s Advocate (with yourself):
Sometimes you really don’t have that 30 minutes. Sometimes it is a crises. Other times, you may only t think you “have to do this right now.” Start challenging yourself. Ask yourself, does this email/text/etc really need immediate attention? If so, then work on it.
If not, give yourself the time to eat or exercise or meditate or sleep or nap, or whatever it is, and then come back to the notification refreshed. You’ll likely find on returning, that you’re working more efficiently.