Tuesday, August 19, 2008

No Time for the Gym


I know a lot of people who want to work out but when it comes down to having a consistent routine, they struggle. Their number one reason for not working out:

"I cannot go to the gym because ...... I have too much work to do!"

OK. I wonder about challenging the notion that skipping exercise because you have too much work to do is always logical for everyone.

The assumption here is that these two items are mutually exclusive. If you go to the gym or do something else to exercise, you will "lose" that time and therefore fall behind more than if you didn't. Well I am not so sure that is always the case.

This is coming from someone who tracked my time for three weeks, and actually realized a few things:

1.) I was more productive overall on days when I exercised.
2.) I was in a (much) better mood on days when I exercised.
3.) I slept better on days when I exercised.

Now I am not ready to publish my results in the Journal of Health, but the best evidence for this was getting feedback from other people, especially about my mood. It was pretty unanimous that I was easier to be around on days where I exercised. It was an epiphany in my life and now I make it a non-negotiable routine to exercise for at least 20 minutes every day. The extra motivation is not about exercise goals, but rather ALL MY OTHER GOALS in my life. I have realized, at least for myself, that there is a direct benefit to me and those around me when I have the discipline to get that done. So, with that thinking in mind, it's actually the craziest days where exercise is more important.

When we get stressed, when we feel overwhelmed, sometimes our natural tendencies are to dig our heels in and just work longer. But isn't it really about how much you get done, your productivity, and your results?

Ask yourself three questions:

1.) Do you feel more energized on days you exercise?
2.) Does exercising correlate to higher production at work and around the house? (This is best answered with facts based on time tracking. )
3.) If the answer to questions 1 & 2 are yes, what time are you exercising today?

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