How to do everything all at once

Ok, I’ll admit, this one is a bit misleading. You can’t do everything all at once, but sometimes it feels like we have to. Whether it’s at work or at home it can feel like a million things need to be done NOW and no-one else can do them except you. When you try and add in healthy living to that list it all seems impossible. How do we stay healthy while doing everything else?

I do not claim to be an expert at this, however over the past 2 years my time management skills have been put to the test almost daily. During which time I have had to learn an entirely new way of cooking, food allergies have changed my outlook on food and my entire diet. There is no such thing as a healthy, quick, shop bought gluten free dairy free meal. I assure you. And trying to fit in exercise was hard. I personally have found the following techniques to be useful when trying to perform miracles!

Plan ahead. For everything.

This involves making a list, I love a good list. Depending how many tasks you have at hand you may need several lists. The good news is we are beyond the days of post-it notes and pens. Unless you like going old school you can download To-Do apps on both iPhone and Android to help you out. There are many to choose from so have a browse for your favourite.

Divide your lists into three categories:

Things to do today

Things to do this week

Things I can ask others to do for me – (nothing wrong with a bit of delegation when you feel a bit overwhelmed)

Once you have your list you then know, task by task, what has to be done this week.

Block out your diary.

Once you have planned, roughly, what your week is going to look like, you can plan, roughly, what your day should look like. By blocking out sections of your day for specific tasks you will quickly see where your spare time is. Only when you do this will you know if you truly have no time to eat healthy/exercise/fulfil your resolution.

What happens though when you don’t have a lot of spare time…?

Be active in your daily life.

It is great if you can make it to the gym, or to a class, the positive atmosphere and motivation you get from exercising with others is brilliant. There’s also that “I’ve just been to the gym” swagger you have once you leave. Some weeks though, you’ll look at your diary and there are no blocks big enough to fit in a gym visit. What to do?

Remember that before there were gyms, there were humans who were active. So if you don’t have time to travel to the gym for your workout you can still be burning calories throughout the day.

Try walking more throughout the day, whether that is getting off the bus one stop earlier and walking a bit further, or leaving the car at home wherever possible.

Going to the shops for your weekly shopping might be more convenient in the car, but walking home with heavy bags of shopping will rack up a bigger calorie burn.

Take the stairs wherever possible, or even better take the escalator and walk up it, those steps are much steeper so require more effort to climb.

Remember that housework burns calories, so unless you are hiring a cleaner to free up some of your time, you are getting your body moving, stretching your muscles and burning calories whenever you wash the dishes or hoover the carpet, plus your house will look nice and clean. Bonus.

Time for a cuppa? Instead of waiting impatiently for the kettle to boil do some bodyweight work, some squats? Maybe a few push ups? Some jump jacks on the spot? Or simply stand on one leg and work your core muscles. Whatever it is it’s more movement in your day. This also works during adverts, we all like a bit of tele now and then but who likes the adverts? That’s at least 3 minutes spare to do something extra.

Make good choices.

If it’s been a while since you’ve managed a full on workout, or you don’t feel very confident that 10 push ups while the kettle boils is doing anything (10 push ups 3 times a day all adds up!), keep in mind that you do something at least once a day that is influencing your health. Eating. Depending on your job and eating plan you might be eating once a day or 6 times. Whatever works for you, the most important thing is the quality of your food.

Exercise is easier, once you are at the gym or in the class you start to work out and before you know it’s over. Making good solid food choices to support your exercise regime is harder, possibly because no-one is there to encourage you to make good choices.

If you are aiming for 80% whole, good, nutritious foods and 20% “fun” foods you are on the right track. Keep this in mind even more so when you are unable to get to the gym. It is easy to feel negative and be over critical of your food intake when you feel “lazy” for not going to the gym but it doesn’t have to be this way. Make more good choices than bad and trust that the more you follow this the easier it will become.

Order food online.

Not online take aways! Your healthy weekly food shop. Not only does this minimise the “Ooooh…” factor when you see new items on offer in the supermarkets, it also allows you to plan your meals for the up coming week and have it all delivered whenever it suits you. When it comes to preparing food it may be time to invest in a slow cooker, this means you can ensure that healthy food is awaiting you at home. There are hundreds of slow cooker recipe ideas online.

Always look on the bright side of life.

Negativity breeds negativity. If you are human then you might have a day off. You will have weeks where life “gets in the way” and you can’t make it to the gym. Keep your positivity and your motivation up by staying active throughout the day, make good food choices, plan ahead and try to live a healthy active daily life.

If you master all of these you can work full time, buy good healthy food, prepare amazing tasty healthy meals, squeeze in the gym or a class in any free ‘blocks’ of time, and if not you know how to be active in your daily life. With a bit of planning (and LOTS of practice) you can do everything all at once.