One of the biggest struggles we all have to deal with is time. How do we find the time to do everything we need to? This is probably the number one excuse I hear from people. I would love to exercise, but I just don’t have the time. When someone tells me that I don’t believe it has anything to do with having the time. Rather it has more to do with having an easy excuse to not do something that makes us uncomfortable. Working out can be hard and it should be. To push your body to the point of changing you have to take out of its normal operation. But that is an entire different topic I will come back to at a later time. Right now I want to focus on the concept of time.
It used to be one of my favorite excuses. No time. But when you really start looking at how you spend your time you will become quickly surprised about how much time you waste in a day. Our modern world has made it easy to waste time. One of the biggest things that has changed our country’s health is our advancements in technology. New products are designed around making our lives easier. The easier it is to access entertainment, the easier it is to waste time. Our country was not dealing with an obesity crisis 100 years ago; not even 60 years ago. One of the biggest reasons our country is now dealing with an obesity epidemic is television. Yep I said it. As television broadcasting has taken over our homes, our weight has started piling on. Everyone seems to have time to watch their favorite shows, but they just can’t find the time to exercise. The answer…..SHUT THE TELEVISION OFF!!! This isn’t alone to blame, but it has played a large part in influencing our culture of laziness.
To find out how much time you waste watching tv every single day, put a notepad next to your remote and write down all that you watch in a day. Figure out how much time you spend doing this one time waster and you will be amazed. We do not have cable tv in my house. We do not have satellite tv in my house. My wife and I decided about 4 years ago to shut it off. Not only do we save money by not having that bill but we also have more incentive to be active.
Ok, ok. I know some of you will say, but I already don’t watch tv and I still don’t have time to exercise. Re-evaluate your time management and see where you are spending your time. If your health and fitness is truly important, trust me you will find the time. How do I know? Let me share my “average” day with you:
4:30 am Wake up – check blog site, write down thoughts for making team-unleashed better (I do this all day)
4:45 am I push play. P90X, Insanity, P90X2 (coming soon)
6:00 am Recovery drink, and then shower
6:30 am Wake kids and wife up so they can start getting around for the day.
6:45 am Shakeology and lunch prep
7:30 am Leave to drop kids at school and day care and go to work
8 – 5 Work at the university. During the day when I take breaks I check my website, write for my website or do homework.
5:15 pm Pick up kids and go home
6:00 pm Make supper for the family (yes I do the cooking)
7-8:30 Family time (Most important time of the day). This may include homework, playing race cars or having tea time. Doesn’t matter because this time is so important for my kids and me.
9:00 pm Bed time. While this isn’t always the case, I really try to go to bed by 9 every night. My body needs its rest. What works for me is about 7 hours. To see more read my previous post about sleep here. Some nights I have homework to do, but most of the time I try to get it done during the cracks in my day. (I am about to start my last semester of course work on my PhD-oh yeah I forgot to mention not only do I work full-time I am also a full-time graduate student at the University of Nebraska.)
Do I watch TV? Yes, I see some TV. But I don’t let it own my life. I love watching football and on the weekends I spend a fair amount of time doing that. I also work on homework a lot during the weekends. I am a full-time husband, dad, employee, and graduate student. I find the time to workout each and every day. So I can do all of those full-time aspects of my life, for as long as I can.
You want to know what I found out when I really looked at my time and how much of it I waste. I found out I wasn’t taking the time to live. I wasn’t taking the time to be healthy. Ultimately, I was cheating myself and my family, because I was too busy. Don’t be too busy to live. Don’t be too busy to workout. Find the time to do what you love and then give it your all. I love working out. I would have never said that a year ago. But I will still be able to say that ten years from now and had I not decided to change my life NOW, I don’t think I would have been saying anything in ten years because I wouldn’t be alive anymore.
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Well said, its a lifestyle and when we can break away from the hypnotic boobtube we can free up a lot of time. I feel when someone is ready for the change it will happen and you are a great example of this. Thanks for sharing.
It is amazing how much we can change our lives by just doing the little things. Looking at our time is really a little thing but it can make a big difference!
That’s a busy schedule you have there, but you still BRING IT everyday! That’s very inspiring. Thx for the post!!
With a schedule like that, there’s no room for anything but success. It’s funny how people do come up with excuses when it’s easy to put a schedule together and stick to it. This is very motivating and thank you so much for it Coach Justin!!!!
Good write-up on time. Congrats on your kicking TV habits in the pants. Time is all we have to enrich our lives… and 20 years from now, I’m probably not going to be telling my awesome experiences of watching the results show from Dancing With The Stars.
Wow. Crazy schedule. I need to take a page from this. Results require dedication and you seem to have found that delicate balance. Thanks for putting this together. Great post and very helpful.
It has definitely been a process.
Thanks for the insight coach… I’ve tailored my schedule to now look a lot like yours!
You are the master of time management coach!! You are definitely a busy guy and still get it all done! No excuses…love it! Thanks for the inspiration coach!
Coach, thanks for sharing this. I don’t have as much going on as you do right now and I still feel overwhelmed at times. But through Beachbody I’m meeting more and more people like you who find a way to push play every day no matter what it takes. Truly awseome and inspiring. Somehow the workout regimen makes us stronger in all aspects of life.
Great post Coach, a lot to think about. Time management is something we all struggle with too often Thanks!
Time management is a key to success! I honestly believe that if people want to be successful they must first learn how to make their time truly theirs rather than a product of the world around them they are required to fit into.
Thanks for the kick in the rear Coach! No more time excuses here!