The 26 hour day

Congratulations! You have just joined a gym, and got a personal trainer. Your trainer tells you that you need to increase the time you spend sleeping, training, stretching, grocery shopping, doing meal prep, cooking and washing up. She says that you also need to take up swimming to help with your shoulder instability, and see the chiro once a month for a tune-up. She’s just added 16 hours to your week.

You know, the same week where you haven’t had more than 6 hours sleep a night because of that deadline at work. Where you haven’t seen your kids since Sunday and the lawns are so long that you’re worried snakes will move in. It all sounds pretty hopeless so you take the easy option and tell the trainer you can’t make tomorrow’s session because of work. You’re not lying… technically. You do have work to do….but what if there was a way to make this all fit into your day?

The good news is that there is…..

It’s called a timetable.

The first step is to draw, or download a template for the week. One with 15 minute increments is ideal.

The next step is to carry it around with you for one week and write down how you spend your time. You don’t need to go into fine detail, just record how much time you spend getting ready for school/work, commuting, working, eating, sleeping, moving, mowing lawns, laying on the couch,etc.

Often, this activity helps people who consider themselves to be “time poor” to realise that their perception of themselves as time poor is vastly different to the reality. They actually have 30 minutes spare each day to do some type of movement.

Next step is to get another blank template and write down an ideal week, that includes exercise/movement.

The final step is to follow it.