The Dilemma of Time
Time, We all receive the same 24 hours every single day. So why do we all think the person who goes to the gym or meal preps gets given more than we did? I hear the same excuse for not implementing healthier lifestyle changes “I wish I could but I just don’t have time.”
Now let me preface this by saying I am a mother, not just a mother, but a young mother to a young child. I work, and I’m a military spouse which leaves me with much of the responsibility of my household as well as my child. So, believe me when I say I empathize with people and their struggle of finding time. The real irony is, the longer we ignore and set aside our health for whatever is “more important” we are shortening our total time on earth in the long run. So how do we practically add in fitness and health into our busy schedules?
- Stay organized. Take some time to sit down and plan out your week and take an honest inventory of what you are spending your time on, even if that means going over every hour of the day. Are you maybe watching too much tv? Scrolling through socials a little too much? I know it can be the easy way to unwind when the baby takes a nap, or on our lunch break but those minutes or hours add up. Organizing our day can set us up for success by teaching us to value our time.
- Set boundaries with yourself and others. When I first started going to the gym after I had my son, I was apprehensive. I had a really hard time not feeling guilty about being away from my son. I eventually had to set a healthy boundary between myself and my family, exercising was the best thing I could do for my mental and physical health. That hour a day became built into my routine, as well as my family. Setting boundaries sometimes means distancing ourselves from people and things that take up our valuable time. It means saying no to drinks after work because that may be the only time you can make it to the gym. Sometimes it means putting off that new episode to spend an hour cooking food for the week.
- Put yourself first. This one goes hand in hand with setting boundaries, but is probably the most important thing everyone can start doing right now. Whatever you are watching, reading, saying, doing or spending money on, ask yourself “is this adding anything to me as a person?” when we flood our brain with bad news from facebook, or fighting on a reality tv show we are spending our time and emotions on someone else with nothing in return. Now there are some cases where it’s totally fine to spend our time and energy on others, but in those cases we are strengthening our real life relationships which in the end, is still in our self interest. Even right now, reading this blog you are taking time to better yourself and learn something. If we build the habit of looking at what comes from our actions we will begin to make better choices overall. Do you wait in line at a fast food restaurant and put money in someone else’s hand at the expense of your health? Or do you just use nearly the same amount of time to cook a nutritious meal at home?
Our time is precious and limited. The moment you start placing value in your time, is the moment you feel you have more of it. These are just some of the ways that we can maximize our time! As we move into a new year, and a new decade I hope myself and others can learn even more ways to value and optimize the time that we all spend here together!
