Joanne the Coach

Exercise Time

It was something of a shock to realise that I am turning 40 at the end of this year.  (Though now I'm a bit bored of waiting for my fortieth and am thinking of saying I'm already there.  Better to say you're a bit older, so everyone thinks you look well, rather than say you're younger, so you look like you've had a rough life.)

The main thing I want to squeeze out of my thirties is health.  I want to be fit 'n forty, rather than fat n' forty.  But too many visits to Audrey's Chocolates were getting in the way of that, so at the start of this year I decided to start exercising more.  Minimum 3 times a week to be precise - sometimes more, rarely less. 

Below is an article from the archives about how you can find time to exercise.  Though really I think it all boils down to finding an activity that you enjoy enough to want to get up off your bum and do it.  Currently I enjoy BodyCombat, because of all the the Power Ranger moves.  Never thought I'd be strangling imaginary villains in public, but there you go.  Also enjoy Wii Fit, because you can pretend to be a penguin.

Here's the article, hope it's useful to you:

TIME MANAGEMENT FOR EXERCISE VIRGINS

'Well, I just don't have time for exercise' - how many times have you heard (or said) that one?   The flesh may be willing, but the timetable is weak.  Still, it can be easier than you think to find time for exercise if you apply some basic principles of time management to it.

Write your exercise plan in your diary just as you would any other appointment.  Think about what might stop this happening and how you can make it happen – who do you need to tell?  What preparations do you need to make?

One common mistake is to attempt to cram 3 sessions of exercise in, when all you’ve ever done before is run for a bus.  If you were to try to do anything new so often it’d feel like a lot, and be almost impossible to stick to.  Start slowly and build it up.  For the first 3 weeks, aim to exercise once a week.  Once this is well established, gradually build in more sessions so that it feels like a natural progression rather than a big chunk out of your life.

Another approach is to look for ways to build activity into your every day life – park in the furthest corner of the supermarket, get off the bus a stop early, always use the stairs instead of the lift.  Look for opportunities to be active and you’ll find them.

Above all, make it juicy – if going to the gym makes your heart sink, but swimming makes it sing, stick to swimming.  It’s amazing how easy it can be to find time to do something you enjoy.  After all, how do you find time for watching the telly?  Or sex?

Look for something about the experience that you’ll love and want to do again.  Try out new activities until you find one you enjoy – if you’re prone to that old ‘I hate exercise’ excuse, remember that you may only hate the exercise you’ve tried so far.  Things have changed a lot since school gym class.  Your local fitness centre may offer everything from yoga to pole dancing to kickboxing.  It may not be the activity itself that gets you going – could be the chance to spend some time by yourself at the gym, or meeting up with friends at the aerobics class. Most gyms have facilities for you to watch TV or listen to the radio at the same time, so aim to go when one of your favourite programmes is on.

 Often it's not so much a case of lack of time but lack of energy that's the real problem.  In this case it’s a chicken and egg situation – as you do more exercise, your energy levels will increase.  But you’ll never know until you give it a go.  It’s all a question of priorities – if it’s important enough to you, then you will find the time to do it.  If world leaders and CEOs can find time to exercise, then so can you.

(c) JoanneMallon 2008

Procrastination for Freelancers - is it really so bad?

So I nearly signed up for a time management course but didn't get round to it.

I sometimes think that procrastination isn't as bad as it's cracked up to be. It may even be a neccessary part of how you work.

We all have a dance we do when it comes to work. Some people are super-organised and have everything done and dusted the day before the deadline. Others run right up to the wire but still get everything done just in time.

If you are ultimately getting things done, even if you put them off, then maybe a tendency to procrastinate isn't too bad after all. Your subconscious mind will still be churning during this time, which is why we need to move our focus away from tasks in order to come back to them with fresh perspective. If you do 'mind work' of some sort (writing/performing/anything creative) you will know how much your mind is like an iceberg, and what's visible is only part of the story.  The real power lies in the stuff under the surface.

The trick is to look out for the procrastination devices which fuel you rather than drain you. This is because it's all about the energy not the time.

You may love chatting to friends online - it's good fun and stops you feeling disconnected if you work from home. That's the sign of a positive procrastination device - there are benefits and it's not just about wasting time.

Worry is the most shocking energy-drainer. If you can let go of worry and let it float away like a helium balloon, you will feel infinitely lighter for it.