If
you typically eat a rushed lunch over your keyboard because you're too swamped
to take a break, or you check e-mail on your phone when you're talking to a
loved one, you're doing yourself more harm than good. While you may think
you're an expert multitasker, being pulled in too many directions can take a
toll on your health. Busyness is a top excuse for skipping workouts. And when
you're constantly frazzled with so much to do, your sleep, sex life, and mood
suffer. But if you streamline and prioritize your schedule, it's possible to
work and work out, get everything done and carve out downtime. Start now.
Be
honest: Are you truly busy, or does constantly being on the go help you define
yourself? "You have a sense of purpose when you're busy," says
Elizabeth Lombardo, PhD, a clinical psychologist in Chicago
What's
more, even though a frenzied state might feel productive, it's not.
"Research shows that when you're stressed out, you focus intensely on
problems and obstacles instead of solutions," says Jill Farmer, a life
coach and the author of There's Not Enough Time... and Other Lies We Tell
Ourselves. "We have difficulty prioritizing; every task feels as important
as the next one, which isn't usually the case." Physically, your body is
producing the stress hormone cortisol, and while a little cortisol can provide
the jolt you need to get you going on a project, a nonstop flow will leave you
exhausted and frazzled.
Time out
Track
what you do every hour for a week, advises Laura Vanderkam, the author of 168
Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. While that might sound somewhat
excessive, the trends you'll see over the course of seven days will give you an
accurate picture of where your 168 weekly hours go. "I've had hundreds of
people keep track of how they spend time, and every one of them had some space
to repurpose if they wished," Vanderkam says. An app like aTimeLogger
(free, iTunes) makes it easy to keep a tally.
Reframe your perspective.
While
portions of your day are most likely filled with the demands of your family,
your boss, or a leaky faucet, the reality is you have more control than you
think you do. "We actually have quite a bit of choice about how we spend
our time, but we often don't look at it that way," Vanderkam says. She
suggests that you come at your obligations from a different direction: Instead
of feeling as though your tasks control you, realize that you make decisions
about how to spend each 24 hours and that your choices reflect your priorities.
Time out
If
you find yourself missing workouts repeatedly or you haven't been to the doctor
for an annual checkup in years, say out loud, "My health is not a
priority," and see how that feels. Chances are, it probably doesn't feel
great. (No worries, keep reading.)
Now frame your day.
One
reason a hectic feeling overtakes us is that we rarely distinguish necessary
tasks from those that aren't. Give yourself some structure by looking at a
weekly calendar. Fill in your top nonnegotiable daily items first -- work
hours, a sit-down family dinner, and eight hours of sleep, for example -- then
consider your energy flow to schedule the next must-do: an exercise session.
Are you a lark or a night owl? "Claim the time that works best with your
natural energy cycles for a workout," says Julie Morgenstern, a productivity
consultant and the author of Time Management from the Inside Out. And be sure
to enter it in your phone or work calendar. "If it isn't scheduled, it
isn't real," says Melissa McCreery, PhD, a psychologist in Bellingham , Washington
Time out
Morgenstern
suggests taking a few minutes at the end of each day to prepare for the next
three days. That way, you can forecast potential obstacles: Is that 4:00 p.m.
meeting on Tuesday going to interfere with my workout? Do I know where that
Pilates DVD I'm going to use on Thursday morning is? "By looking forward,
you're more likely to honor the structure you've already set and to handle any
surprises that pop up," she explains.
Just say no.
When
you boil down your life to the areas that most deserve your time and focus,
Vanderkam says, you usually end up with three: relationships, which can include
both family and friends; self-care and nurturing; and career. Next time you're
asked to volunteer or give your time to something or someone, ask yourself if
the task falls into one of those three categories: Will it foster a
relationship you want? Will it help you become the best person you can be? Will
it build your career? If not, think twice about it. "That doesn't
necessarily mean you shouldn't do it," Vanderkam says. "It just
means, don't automatically say yes."
Time out
If
you're a people pleaser and the idea of saying no makes you a little queasy,
Farmer recommends that you be as nice as possible but firm. "Say something
like, 'Thank you for thinking of me, but I'm going to have to pass this time.
Good luck finding someone else,'" she says. "You don't have to
overexplain."
Don't set your workout bar too high.
"Exercise
makes you mentally sharper, more creative and efficient, and better able to
cope with stress," McCreery says. "The busier you are, the more
important it becomes." Even so, workouts can easily be shoved aside on
hectic days because they can seem so onerous. "Many people think, I have
to run five miles or it doesn't count," Farmer says. "Not true."
Doing walk-run intervals for two miles is much better than no workout at all.
Similarly, consider whether you have a setup that will help you succeed: Is
your gym a reasonable distance away and not a 25-minute commute? Do you have
space to exercise at home?
Time out
In
order to embrace the exercise you have scheduled, Farmer recommends that you
start with an activity you love -- running, biking, a Zumba video -- for a
duration that feels "almost ridiculously easy," even 15 minutes. Stop
before you feel exhausted, so that you come back wanting more the next day, and
slowly increase workout length once you're in the groove.
Enjoy your free time.
Nobody
says you have to be scheduled down to the nanosecond with productive tasks,
workouts, and relationship building. In fact, if you don't factor in downtime,
your hamster wheel is only going to spin faster, and you're eventually going to
fall off. "If you keep pushing and pushing, you become more and more
inefficient and depleted, when all you truly need is a break to reboot,"
Farmer says.
"Consciously
choose when you are going to have downtime, then embrace it," Vanderkam
says. "Our temptation is to fill empty moments with low-value activities;
you could be sitting in your backyard and truly relaxing, but instead you're
deleting e-mails from your in-box." If you're watching a Real Housewives
marathon, don't have another screen in front of you. If you're reading a book,
try not to let your mind wander to what you have to do tomorrow. If you're
eating lunch, the only thing that should be in your hand is a utensil, not your
phone.
Time out
You
don't need hours to relax, nor do you need to wait until the end of the day or
the weekend to do it. Intentionally take a break after you check two or three
things off your to-do list: Indulge in a 20-minute power nap; grab a cup of tea
and just sit and savor it; call a friend and catch up. You'll return to your
tasks with new energy. "If you wait to reward yourself until you're all
done, you're likely not to do it," Farmer says. "Something else will
demand your attention."
Status Update: Control Digital
Distractions
"Up
to 40 percent of a person's time is stolen by invisible time thieves like
social media and not making deliberate decisions about how you will spend your
day," says Julie Morgenstern, a productivity consultant in New York City.
Here's how to stay on track.
Be
mindful when you read your e-mail. Otherwise, you'll read some messages twice,
forget to answer others, and end up just wasting time. "When you open a
message, be prepared to answer it or file it to be answered later at a specific
time in your schedule," Morgenstern says. "Go in with a purpose;
don't be checking it constantly."
Set timers for social media. A few minutes on Facebook or Pinterest can easily turn
into more than an hour. Give yourself what feels like a reasonable amount of
time -- say, 15 to 30 minutes twice a day -- to catch up on social media, and
then stop. Try the online tools at minutesplease.com or rescuetime.com if you
need help policing yourself.
Source:
ph.she.yahoo.com by Dimity McDowell
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