How to Win Back More Time: 10 Hacks You Should Know
Stop Investing Time Doing Long Workouts at the Gym.
Yes, you read that right. To become more productive in less time, you should eliminate your hour-long workouts at the gym. Instead, aim to start exercising every morning for just twenty minutes or less.
A scientific study discovered that just 10 minutes of exercise a day markedly improved the health of a sedentary group of people all over the age of 50.
After 24 weeks of daily 10-minute jogging sessions, all groups experienced reduced cholesterol, fasting blood glucose levels, and high-density lipoproteins, which are indicators of better heart health and lower risk of diabetes.
The study compared those doing just 10 minutes of jogging as to those doing between 30 and 60 minutes of jogging three to five times a week.
The research results concluded that the daily 10 minutes of exercise was as good as going for long runs 3-5 times a week!
How to be More Productive with Less Time HACK #1 Start Moving Your Body at the Same Time Every Morning for 5-20 Minutes.
Do you get your blood circulating every morning at the same time?
Moving your body at the same time every morning will drastically reduce the will-power you require to get in your exercise.
In between sixteen and forty days, you will create a habit that moves your body and mind to take action without you needing to motivate yourself to do it.
What kind of exercise should you do first thing in the morning?
Engaging in any kind of movement each morning is going to increase the circulation of blood through your body and to your brain. It will release stress and tension from the body and mind, stimulate your digestion, and elevate your well-being.
My recommendation is to start your day with 10 to 20 minutes of yoga, but hey, I’m a yoga instructor who has had a daily morning yoga practice for the past twenty-two years. I am passionate about yoga.
Additionally, yoga is perfect to add to your morning routine effortlessly because it is something that you can do at home in your pajamas.
Each person’s constitution, fitness, and personality differs, so there is not a one-size-fits-all best solution for exercise. Instead, focus on doing an exercise program that:
You enjoy! This is a critical element.
It gets your heart rate up, but not racing. Improves strength, flexibility, balance, and lung capacity. You can do it at home or somewhere you can quickly get to each morning.
Options include yoga, tai chi, qi gong, or a program that combines strength training and stretching with cardio work such as biking, running, swimming, walking.
You will be more productive the entire rest of your day when you commit to doing at least 10 minutes of exercise first thing in the morning. A few minutes daily adds to massive returns in terms of heart health, fitness, and how good you feel in your body all day long.
Additionally, just ten minutes of exercise in the morning can even boost your brain functioning, which primes you to work smarter.
#2: Start a Morning Routine Leveraging Habit Stacking
Have you consciously designed your morning?
Some of the most successful, joyful, and healthiest people in the world have sat down, put pen to paper, and designed an ideal morning routine for themselves.
In the first half-hour to two hours, you can schedule in time to invest in your health, spirituality, well-being, knowledge, skills, pleasure, and dreams.
While I may believe I have the best morning routine, someone else, like the Dali Lama, may have a completely different morning ritual that works for his unique personality, life situation, and goals.
First, start with what emotions you want to experience more of in your life.
What do you want to feel more often?
Care-free? Inspired? Blissful? Excited? Serene? Playful? Strong? Balanced? Healthy? Connected? Contributing? Relaxed? Exhilaration? Pride? Confidence? The list goes on…
Step 1. Start by naming 3-5 emotions; you want to feel more of in your life.
Step 2. Brainstorm what activities, goals, or dreams can flood you with more of your desired emotional-states.
For example, if you would like to walk around in your daily life, feeling more connected, serene, strong, flexible, and blissful. Then investing time in the morning into a daily yoga session, followed by a meditation and some time for spiritual reading while drinking a favorite hot beverage, would be the answer.
Or, if you would like to feel more exhilaration, pride, confidence, and care-free, then a new morning ritual could be training for a marathon, followed by qi gong to stretch and relax, and some time studying for a new skill acquisition via an online course.
Step 3. Believe it’s possible.
Now, you may think you don’t have enough time in the morning to add in 5 minutes of mediation, let alone training for a marathon.