How to find an extra hour in every day
The biggest reason I hear clients struggling with self care such as exercise, MELTing, breath-work and preparing healthy meals is lack of time.
Whether you work full time, attend to small children or aging parents, or have a house full of grown children, you can find the time to take care of you. And, I'm being honest here, if you don't make the time to take care of you, no one else is going to.
Grab a pen and paper. Take a few moments and think, what is my most important self care goal? If I could accomplish one thing, what would it be? Is it exercise, meditation, MELT, meal prepping or a combination of any of these? Write it down. Realistically how much time will that require from you every day? Write it down.
Now, let's find you that time. Let's search for an hour in your day. We are going to get really honest with ourselves. What are your "time sucks" those little things you do that fritter your time away? Think of your day from when you first wake till you lay your head down on your pillow.
Do you check social media or emails often?
Are you a serial Netflix or Hulu watcher?
Do you answer texts or talk on the phone?
Do you say yes to appointments or engagements that you wish you didn't?
I'm sure there are other "time sucks" but you get the picture. If you add up all those minutes in one day, I bet we're at least at an hour. I know that this may not be one block of 60 minutes, but you don't always need to do everything at one time. Plus, as you get in the habit of eliminating the little "time sucks" you'll start to notice you've created more time in your day.
Instead of checking social media, take that 5 minutes and do breath-work or a Mini Hand Treatment. Instead of laying on the couch binge watching a series, how about getting a walk in after dinner or doing some exercises while the tv is on? After all, if you have a goal of feeling better, isn't that more important than anything else?
As far as finding time to prepare home cooked meals, spend 5 minutes in the morning making a shopping list. You'll know what to grab at the store.
Planning a week of meals before hand makes life less complicated.
Planning the same dinner for the same day of the week, really simplifies your shopping. Getting kids to help in the kitchen at a young age will instill good habits and quality family time.
Keep a cooler in your car and run to the store on a break or while waiting to pick up the kids.
I know how fast time flies. We all feel it. I use these tips in my own life and the rewards are huge. Give it a try and let me know what changes you've made and the benefits you've received.