OK, you’ve heard it before – thirty minutes of solid cardiovascular-based exercise per week is the minimum a well adjusted adult should be getting. How many of you out there do it? That letter or note that you wanted written last week is still sitting, half -finished in your drafts folder. Sound familiar?
We know that we should be doing quite a few things. But these things are the best reasons for keeping us away from accomplishing them: ” no time”, ” too busy” , “too tired”, ” My TV programme is on in a minute”, ” I have a dinner to go to tonight “. Here are some simple strategies which like all simple things just need a little practice before you start seeing some results:
1) Set Yourself a Personal ” To-DO” list in Writing e.g a Post-It inside your organiser. You will get great satisfaction as you tick off the items you SHOULD have accomplished by your set time-frame. Always have a time frame or you will be a victim of time-drift. Since your truly has been doing this, things get done AND there’s the added bonus that you’ve done somethings you’ve put off for a while
2) Massage the Right Side of Your Brain: Spend a few seconds or a minute imagining the satisfaction of accomplishing a goal or fulfilling part of your weekly exercise routine. Wait – don’t rush. Close your eyes, and FEEL what it would be like to be feeling healthier, fitter or have that note/proposal on its way to help you professionally ( or personally ). Imagine, just imagine. You’ll find this a pretty good motivational tool with nice emotional juice. And when you achieve the goal, nomatter how small, you’ll get a commensurate buzz for having done it.
3) Track -what you should be doing and external elements that derail your good intentions from becoming solid fact. When and where are you when your good intentions evaporate. A simple tracking process will allow you to find out if you are letting certain external elements which are irrelevant affecting your drive to achieved. Get support from colleagues or friends. Tell people who are distracting you from achieving a specific daily goal that you need some focused time, and that you’ll have that chat/coffee/disccussion with them later. Prioritise.
If you can practise all of the above, you’ll start getting to do things you know should be done, when they should be done.