I have NO TIME in my BUSY LIFE!

I found myself struggling with time a while ago. I was convinced I did not have enough time in the day to take up a course that I know would make a huge difference to my small yoga business. I am pretty good with finding time for my own yoga practice but to think I could manage to squeeze a few hours of study along with all the other hats I wear and roles I play. No way, I had not time in my busy life!

Most of us go through this especially when we are wearing so many hats as women who have professions or have businesses they run from home. We have families and chores to do. We wear too many hats and truly believe that we do not have for selfcare.

Self care is a MUST when you are transitioning through Perimenopause. There is no two ways about it. But it so happens that you are of the mindset that life is busy and you have no time to put yourself first.

"NO TIME", "trying to do too much for everyone else", "feeling fatigued" this is the common reason not just for you but for most of us.

Is lack of time, the number one factor that hinders you in achieving your selfcare/ wellness goal?

You have bitten off more than you can chew. You are busy as a bee and have too many flowers still to float over! You have way too many irons in the fire. I completely get it. You are totally snowed under and have way too many balls up in the air whilst stuck in the snow.

The reality is that, THIS is exactly when you need to find sneaky ways to lengthen out the day for yourself. This is why you need to peer into the nooks and crannies of your day and carve out time. You need to command the clock and tell those coo cooing birds to shut up for once and stay put..Nah! do...not coo coo!

Only when you are rested and are able to look after yourself do you have the space and capacity to look after others, properly!

Think about it. There are T W E N T Y F O U R hours in a day. All you need is a thin sliver of 1 hour to yourself.

Is it really that tough to make the time? I know it is harder if you are employed and have to travel into an office and sometimes even WFH will mean you spend longer in front of the computer at odd hours.

Hopefully these points will help you arrive at how you can make time for yourself.

*Read with the mission impossible theme tune in your head*

Your mission: 30 mins to 1 hour each day

Your goal: Self care, slowing down and space in your life

These are all things you know and chances are you are probably doing, so I am keeping them short and to the point.

1. Get the bigger picture. Jot down under each day of the week, all the work/chores/tasks/drop offs/outings you do. Dont go into detail, just bullet points. You will get clarity on all that you do in the week. You can prioritise and see times in each day where you can slot in self care.

2. Swap/drop/adopt habits. Many a times we stick with habits that we are used to doing. Perimenopause is a time we can review those and check if some of these might be causing us more discomfort than ease. Can we swap/drop/adopt a habit to help us. Easy examples: Drop staying up later than we need to. Swap driving with walking to a destination. Adopt drinking warm water instead of coffee first thing.

Read my blog on habits that will aggravate your menopause symptoms to see if you are doing any of these.

3. Become a batch processing beast. Do a bunch of washing/folding together. Batch cook your food and freeze. Buy food in bulk or online shop parts of your grocery list? Batch process parts of your work if you can.

4. Delegate/ask for help. Teach your children to help out. Delegate chores in the house. It is good for kids to feel part of the family responsibilities and learn this from a young age. My children help with unloading the dishwasher, clearing dinner table. We fold clothes together. Sometimes they clean the laundry cupboard together (for some $$ or treats) but it is all good learning.

5. Reduce wasting time on the phone/devices/tv. OH this one is a big one for me. I have had to ween myself off the blasted mobile. Much as I love technology, I think mobile phones are the modern day curse! But we can be disciplined and prioritise self care over a instagram or facebook binge. Having said that sometimes sitting in socks and under a warm blanket with a cup of tea and binge watching a series can also be self care. BUT ONLY if you are also doing the other things that help your nervous system.

6. Say no to things. You have heard of JOMO by now, Joy Of Missing Out. It is much better for you to stay home and relax and unwind that try and go to that event or gathering that you might enjoy at the time but will have its toll later. You decide.

7. Wake up one hour earlier. Honestly this again is the best change that I made so I could get my morning practice in. That hour in the morning when the house is asleep is the best time for you to practice yoga or exercise or go for a run or a walk. Yoga scriptures suggest 'Brahmamuhurta' is the morning period between 3.30 a.m. and 5.30 a.m. It is suitable for yoga and meditation. After a good night's sleep, the mind is refreshed, calm and serene. There is the preponderance of purity (sattva quality) in the mind at this time, as well as in the atmosphere. Do not get me wrong, for some, it is hard to wake up early (like me even tho I do it everyday), but keep at it.

8. Use time efficiently. Can you multitask? Can you watch your fav netflix while prepping food/clothes etc. Can you meditate when using public transport? Can you cook while your kids read to you? Can you load dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher or get your kids to wash as soon as they have eaten?

9. Set the intention. I set my yoga clothes out every night before bed. This has now become my ritual. I know it is there and ready when I wake up. Days I am extremely sleepy or very cold, I jump into the shower at 4:30am and I know my clothes are nice and warm on the towel rail waiting to be worn. I know some friends who set out the mat in their place of practice, some have their shoes and socks handy so they can go for their run first thing. Set the intention, not just in the mind but also physically, signalling your brain that you WILL do it.

10. Change the mindset. From 'I don't have time' to 'I will make time' That is all you need to do. You know you can do it. You just need to will it.

Time is the most expensive and precious commodity. It is free, but priceless. Once you have used it, you can never get it back.

I am hosting a free Yoga Tutorial: Empowerment and Endocrine. Its a two part workshop, the first one is happening this week on Thyroid. We will cover how Yoga can help our endocrine system, hormones and drill deeper into Thyroid.

Register here

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