One of the main struggles I hear from my readers is that they don’t have time for a yoga practice. The best way to make time for yoga is to declutter and simplify your life. In this post, I will give you 6 things you can do today, that will leave you with more time for your yoga practice.
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Declutter and Simplify Your Life
Things to Eliminate:
TV (This includes Netflix and movies)
Adults in America spend an average of 2 hours a day watching TV. 2 hours! If you cut out this one thing, you would have an hour for yoga each day, with plenty of time left over. Make TV a special treat. Instead of watching every day, only watch on Sunday evenings. Or, only watch when you are on the treadmill or stationary bike. I know it may seem hard to cut out. But trust me, once I made it a habit, I don’t miss it all anymore.
Facebook is highly addictive for me and I’m guessing it is for you too. I can be scrolling through my feed for 30 minutes and realize that I am not even paying attention to what I am seeing. Facebook as a great way to connect with friends, but it can be (and most of the time for me) a mindless activity with no connection. I tried allowing myself once a day to check in, but I found myself checking my feed multiple times a day. What works best for me is checking it once a week, usually on the weekend. This way, I don’t miss the major things people post, and I don’t get sucked in during the week.
begin overly tired
Do you ever hit a wall at night? It’s almost as if, your body and mind say, that’s it, no more. When this happens to me, I am too exhausted to do anything, but I don’t go to bed. I end up wasting an hour or two just sitting/laying on the couch literally doing nothing. I am even too tired to get ready for bed. These times aren’t relaxing because I am just too tired to enjoy it. I found that if I get ready for bed before I hit this wall, I am much more likely to go to bed when I feel too tired to do anything. I then get a better nights sleep and wake up feeling ready to go.
things that don’t bring you joy
If you have never heard of the KonMari method, I highly suggest you check out the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. The author, Marie Kondo, gives you a step by step guide on how to transform your space into a space that is decluttered and inspiring to you. This book is life changing!
Things to Add-In:
Weekend Chore Checklist
Finding time during the week for yoga can be especially challenging. Which is why I use part of my weekend to get prepared for the week. This way, during the week, I am still able to find pockets of time for yoga.
I have a spreadsheet that I use to help me stay organized in what needs to get done on my chore day.
Obviously, you would want to tailor the list to fit you. But, seeing my list will hopefully get you started.
My list includes:
laundry
clean sheets
dust
sweep
mop
vacuum
clean bathrooms
take out the garbage, recycling, and compost
water plants
wipe down inside and outside of the fridge
give the stove a really good wipe down
wipe out the microwave
make a grocery list
grocery shop
prepare a big bowl of veggies to eat throughout the week
hard-boil a bunch of eggs
clean out my purse
plan my outfits for the week
pluck my eyebrows
do my nails
go through my budget
podcasts
I commute 20 minutes to work. When you are trying to maximize your time, this can seem like a huge waste. Which is why I love podcasts. I have several that I really enjoy; Planet Money, Ted Radio Hour, and Freakonomics are some of my all time favorites. Honestly, I feel like it has replaced watching TV for me. I took a time that seemed like a waste and turned it into something that I enjoy and that is really educational.
exercise with family and friends
Exercising is more fun with a buddy (I think). You are more likely to push yourself in your workouts if you have a buddy. Plus, it holds you accountable to doing the workout in the first place! Also, you hit two birds with one stone, a great workout and time with those important to you.
There you go! Hopefully, this will help you declutter and simplify your life so that you have time for a regular yoga practice.
If you haven’t been physically active on a regular basis, don’t go from 0 to 60 too fast. If you are interested in seeing how I increased my physical activity over time, without getting injured, check out this post.
Namaste,
Abby
