MAKE the time (guest post)

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It is a time-honoured tradition, a corker, a classic excuse: “I don’t have the time”

It doesn’t even have to apply to exercise (but it often does).

For a large portion of my life I have viewed this as a perfectly legitimate excuse……that was until last week.

Let me set the scene, I was talking to a friend about doing a 70.3 triathlon and the training involved, when I asked if he had the time – to which he said, “if I don’t have the time, I will make the time”.

Make the time. It is so simple, but is something that many are hesitant to do. As Eric Thomas said in his inspirational speech: “some of you want to sleep more than you want to be successful”.  I find this idea of ‘making time’ to be incredibly poignant, and something that is very applicable to fitness.

Again, success does not necessarily have to be winning a race, or making a million, it is anything that you want to do. It just takes a little bit of commitment.

I love playing sport and exercising, I find it very enjoyable – and I know I am not alone in this. People do want to get fit.

So if you are one of these aspiring individuals, make a commitment to yourself and make it happen. No excuses.

Apply this to running or going to the gym in the evening.

“I don’t have the time”.

B*llocks.

How many of us get home from work stressed, feeling lethargic and sit on the sofa for an hour before cooking? I know I used to.

If you are committed to exercising you will get home, you will drop off your bags, change and get out the front door within 5 minutes.

45 minutes later you can get back, have a shower and start cooking at the same time you would have if you had sat on the sofa.

Who feels better at 8pm when they are cooking– the person that watched mindless crap on TV or the person with invigorating endorphins flowing through their body after exercise?

Its the same for those who get up an hour earlier to start their day with a gym session, run or swim. They are the ones who for some reason are happy/smug on the tube in the morning. They haven’t made excuses.

They have made the time and are reaping the benefits.

People also complain about the amount of time it takes to do a workout.

Again, this is not necessarily true.

So again, no excuses. If you don’t know how to be time efficient then get reading and researching!

The funny thing is that hard work seems like such a chore before you do it.

But if you just get on with it and don’t waste time, you will feel that much better. Productivity is key – there are seconds, minutes and even hours to be saved throughout your day.

Don’t faff.

This time adds up and allows you to do whatever it is you have chosen to do. Nike has been trying to tell the masses this secret for years….Just Do It.

 

The musings and ramblings of Dan Millington, natural fitness, outdoors enthusiast and blogger can be found at GO CAVEMAN!

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Comments

  1. I was just having this conversation with a coworker…she always comments about my leftover lunches and my workouts saying “oh I don’t have time to cook!” Bull!!!! I really think Nike has the best saying of all time. JUST DO IT!

  2. I used to be guilty of “not having time”‘. A funny thing happened, I decided to make exercise part of my lifestyle one day and it worked. I started by telling myself just 10 minutes of moving. Once I started, it would always turned into a longer time.

  5. As someone who has been sleep-deprived for ten years, since perimenopause, that quote REALLY rubbed me the wrong way. Damn straight I’d rather sleep than be successful, because I can tell you from experience that nothing is more necessary than sleep except air and water.

  7. Love, love, love this!!! I think “not having the time” is the lamest excuse in the book!!!
    I think we find a way to make time for the things that are really important to us! I am the opposite of a morning person but often I haul my happy self up at 4:30am because I know it is the best time I will have to get my work-out in!!
    Just get it done!!!

  9. We all make time for what matters most to us. Saying you don’t have time is really saying you don’t care to make time because it’s not important to you.

    Fess up and stop lying to yourself!

    • FESS! It’s my latest bulletin board at the pool! F= Flexibility E= endurance S=Strength S=speed. All add up to fitness. Can you FESS up? Are you FIT?

      (Is is Fun?
      Is it Intense?
      Will you do it again Tomorrow?)

  10. Yup – I totally agree. I look at my morning workout as when I make the time for myself in the mornings before work to workout…it’s not always easy to get up at 5:30 but I know it’s good for me and works for my schedule. I used to say I don’t have time. But now, I MAKE time. Cus I’m worth it 🙂

  11. I always take the time to workout. Probably because it has been ingrained in my brain from all the years spent in the military. But mostly because I want to do it for myself. It keeps me physically and mentally healthy!

  12. May we use your phrase instead “I am too busy doing mindless crap?” heh heh When I get the “I don’t have time” excuse I retort-y-tort-tort with the Fun Fit Fact that every hour of cardio exercise may extend your life span by two hours, so we gain the time and more right back. Take that!

  13. I have had the “I don’t have time” mentality for years…I still have to fight that off sometimes, but I am committed to getting healthy, so 4-5 times a week I get out of bed before 4am in order to get a workout in before work. Those are the days I feel like a million bucks. They days where I give in to my excuse I feel like crap. I am having more workout days than excuse days now.
    Like you said – Make the time! 🙂

  14. LOVE THIS!!! True! I worked 60+++ hours a week at times in my life & add commute on top of that & I still fit it in. Yes, you have to make time when life is crazy but it is worth it!

  15. The comparison between the amount of time sitting on the couch & then going to prepare dinner vs. working out and then preparing dinner is spot on! There’s always time to exercise; you’ve just got to choose to do so!

  16. So true. Back in college I applied to work on the student newspaper. They lined up all the applicants and asked each of us, “Do you have time to do this?” Everyone responded, “Yeah, I’m an English major, I have loads of free time.” I didn’t say that. I said, “I don’t have a lot of time. But I make time for things that are important.” Guess who got the job? 😉

  17. I just want to say thank you for reminding me that I need to not be a lame-o and make excuses, and also, and perhaps more importantly, thank you for reintroducing me to the word “b*llocks.” Love it. Am going to start using it in conversations. 🙂
    Gaye

  18. It can be really hard for people to make time and now ive got kids I understand that excuse even more. I think rather then criticizing people for using that excuse we need to help them find ways to implement activity in their lives. Maybe an hr after work is impossible if you’ve got to watch three kids, but maybe a family fun workout in the park is achieveable.

  19. I totally agree. I used to think that if I did not workout for 60 minutes or more, it was not worth it and I would skip the day. I now get my butt moving even if it’s just for a 15-20 minute HIIT workout or treadmill run. Ever bit counts.

  20. High-Fives! Love this post and on that note, I’m going to make the time to workout this morning. Time to put on those running shoes and jump on the dreadmill and get those endorphins moving, so I can smile through this COLD day! XOXO

  21. Amen to this! If it’s important to you, it will get done. Same with exercise. I think the easiest thing to do it have your gym bag in the car. If you’re able, go straight to the gym BEFORE you get home and sit on the couch. You won’t want to sit down after your workout. At least not me, I’m usually full of those feel good endorphins!

  22. Training for my 113th tri (happens to be a 70.3) currently- up at four a.m. to get in the run/swim before work and bike later. Cook all day Sunday to have meals/lunches (yes, I pack healthy lunches!) for the week. If you want to do well in anything…you find the time for it, whether it be raising your kids well, completing that second master’s degree or training for an Ironman. If it’s important you can fit it in!

  23. To Mary Anne and Jess – I can appreciate that having kids could be likened to an exercise in sleep deprivation and making the time is even harder. But as Jess said, finding a different way to do it (like the park) is a great way of making time. Making time does not necessarily mean having less sleep – it might mean running home from work rather than getting the tube, it is about finding times in your day where you might be doing nothing. Good luck!
    – p.s this was certainly not an attempt to criticise people who have incredibly busy lives, it was simply an attempt to try and make a large proportion of people realise that excuses are excuses. Maybe having 3 kids means that you cant do something (lets say exercise) 5 days a week, but it might be that you can do it twice at the park with the kids.

    To Gaye – B*llocks is indeed a great word and is so much more effective than just saying “you’re lying”. Have fun using it.

    Cheryl – Good luck with the training, I am currently training for an Ironman and am starting to feel the wear. Need to push through the tough patches.

    Finally, to all the others I hope it helped in taking a hard look at your day and shuffling things around / not procrastinating so that you can fit in things that you want to do!

  25. Great blog! Sorry to change the subject, but, since this is the time for New Year’s Resolutions, I’d like to find a great personal trainer in Nashville TN. Have you read any recent buzz? There’s a new gym called Next Level Fitness, but I’ve only seen a few reviews. Here’s the address of this new Nashville Personal Training Gym, 1917 Church Street Nashville, TN 37203 – (615) 329-2747. Thoughts? Thanks!

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