Boy, I often wonder where the hours in my day go. It’s like I blink, and the day is over. I have to hold myself accountable for each and every minute and be sure not to waste a precious second, because every second of every minute is just that—precious. Is time management a struggle for you? Does the “lack of time” in your day keep you from exercising and eating the way you should? 
This is one of the biggest struggles that YouAnewers share with me. They are fighting for time. They are fighting for more time with their kids, more time to keep the house organized, more time to sleep, and more time to get their work done. There is NO time for health; there is NO time for exercise; there is NO time for healthy meal prep.
My dad is a pretty with-it guy, and he manages to get done in a day what most people get done in a week. I have on more than one occasion complained about my lack of time only to be met with his expected response, “Well, we all have the same 24 hours.” We all have the same 24 hours. It’s kind of a crazy but very true concept. I have exactly the same amount of hours in my day as the leader of the free world.
Do you watch TV? Is TV (or Facebook or phone or news or whatever) keeping you from making it happen? Do you streamline your day? Do you know how your hours are spent? Are there pesky distractions and procrastinations that are eating away at those precious seconds?
Here’s what you need to do. For 2 full days (1 typical week day, 1 typical weekend day) keep track of everything, and I mean everything you do. Really analyze your activities and look for areas that you can streamline (Do you really need to spend 20 minutes doing your hair? Do you really need to check Twitter and your email every 5 minutes?), and establish an action plan (I’m going to get my hair cut in order to cut my primp down to 10 minutes; I’m going to check my Twitter and email only twice a day). Also, identify those tried and true time wasters like the boob tube, Facebook, phone chats, video games, etc. You’ve got to figure out where the time is going and determine if you can replace those time wasting activities with exercise and other healthy pursuits.
It’s up to you to choose how you want to spend those 24 hours. If Pinterest is a priority and you care about it more than you care about your health, pin away baby. But, you’ve got to realize that your expanding waistline is not about your lack of time, it’s about your lack of discipline. Hey and sometimes it can be about doing both. Jump on a stationary bike and pin, tweet or update your status while watching TV!
Now, you might discover that you are really utilizing every minute efficiently and the way you want, and you’ve done your very best to streamline and plan, but time is still elusive. My best suggestion is to go to bed an hour early and wake up an hour early. This technique has become the answer to my lack of time dilemma. I’ve found that nothing worth-while really happens past 9/10 pm, and early mornings are my best health defense. A morning workout and healthy food prep routine works brilliantly and is finished before most of my neighbors are even awake. BooYah!
Chances are good that it’s not really your lack of time that keeps you from achieving those health goals. You’ve got 24 hours, I’ve got 24 hours, the President has 24 hours. I hear our Commander-in-Chief works outs 45 minutes, 6 days a week. If he can fit it into his 24 hours, I bet you can too.
