Finding time for exercising
Today is day two of my fitness challenge and so far so good! I’ve decided to get serious with getting fit since lately I’ve felt that I’m way too sedentary and my energy level has been low. I spend a lot of time during the day working on the computer so I’m always sitting down. What I have noticed is that when I sit down a lot on the computer, my breathing becomes more shallow. At times, I’ve found myself holding my breath or barely breathing….someone poke me to make sure I’m still alive!! 
I believe this time around is different because I’m simply fed up with things. Sometimes it takes a person to get to the point of disgust to make the necessary changes and become serious about making the “commitment” to better oneself. So I decided to start yesterday, which was Monday, April 28, 2008!
One thing I did over the weekend was evaluate where my time goes throughout the day. Being that I do research and work on the internet takes up a lot of my time, I have discovered that most of what happens on the web is what I termed “Web ADD”. I have often found myself looking up one thing and all the sudden, I’m chasing down other links from the first set of websites. Then I think of something else because something I see has triggered some bit of memory about another topic I wanted to look up. Next thing I know, an hour has passed by and I’ve got 20 tabs opened in Firefox!
I had a thought earlier…as much as I love the tab browsing, I wonder if there’s a way to make each of the pages show up in a grid like format within one browser window. I remember my brother showing me that Opera browser has a homepage feature where you can load up 9 of your favorites at startup in a grid like fashion. I don’t have Opera installed on my laptop, I don’t think so I can’t be sure if I can view web pages in the same fashion other than my homepage favorites. I think that would make it even faster to view pages to know which to go back to on the fly instead of clicking tab after tab to get to the page I want….sometimes the page titles aren’t very indicative of the page content, webmasters!
Anyway, see how I just went off topic? WEB ADD!
So I’ve evaluated my time management and frankly, I don’t think I have one, at least not before sunday when I set myself a schedule. Being that I have a new Palm TX PDA, I decided to set up a schedule M-F in my appointment book and set alerts/alarms for each change of “events”. When you work from home or work for yourself, it’s VERY EASY to let things slide and not go by any kind of schedule. I think the whole “self employment” thing gives a person a feeling like they are their own boss and can do whatever they want whenever they want….the word “routine” becomes badly associated with being tied to a 9-5 job. 
The problem with that way of thinking is that it is all too easy to not get anything done because a person may slack off with the self discipline thing when they don’t have anyone to answer to but themselves. Therefore, I set down a planned schedule for myself that works with the activities I do daily…or should do daily and set aside time slots to fulfill those responsibilities.
Not only does my schedule fit in times for all the meals which is now going to be 6 of them daily, 3 regular meals and 3 snack times, all about 2-3hrs apart, I have included set times for working out and set times for working online that shouldn’t be deviated from. I have also included 2 flexible slots daily where I can have the option of running errands outside the house, doing household chores, or work on my web empire! Then there is relax time in the evening for a couple of hours that’s obviously flexible and then a wrap up time to get things finished up for the day and then it’s bedtime by 2am.
I find that having Daisy (my pda) alert me to event changes helps me to stay on course. It’s too easy for me to say “ok at 6pm, I’ll stop being on the computer and start thinking about dinner” but only to have 6pm come around and I’ll be like “ok, 15 more minutes!” And then when 6:17 rolls around for me to say, ok I’ll stop at 6:30, etc. I’ve dragged on for hours like that before and then I’m starving and still hadn’t made dinner! But having the alarm sound every 5 minutes until I physically clear that alert, though can be annoying at times, it keeps me focused on my commitment and breaks the tendency to distract myself.
In essence, if you can set up a schedule for yourself with a way to set alarms, it may just help you not only find time for exercising but also the rest of what you have to do for the day! So far, yesterday was a bit challenging since it is a new schedule to go by, but I felt better for having done a workout and I also managed to do 5 loads of much needed laundry (folded and put away) along with the usual web stuff! I even got in all my meals and the times I have set for them seems pretty accurate to when I felt hungry. The wake up time needs to be adjusted as I am just not a morning person at all. But other than that, I would say making up my own routine isn’t such a scary thing after all. 
For day two, it’s still working, maybe in a month I’ll be bored! Time will time.
I also decided to sign up for some online fitness programs too to further my commitment. It’s fascinating what I can find online with calorie or weight trackers. Being a fan of the Biggest Loser, I decided to sign up for Jillian Michael’s online fitness program. It’s pretty cool so far, but Daisy just chimed, I guess it’s time to do something else so I will write more about her program in another post later.
In closing, if you are serious about getting fit, you need to be serious with finding time for exercising. Once you get a schedule made, you may be surprised that you really do have time in a day to fit it in, you just have to be committed to it! Join me on this journey!! 
