Short read

Not having enough time is one of the most common barriers to activity. However, if we can move away from focusing on what activities or movements we can’t do and instead on what activity we can do, we’ll utilise more opportunities to be active and spend less time disappointed or dissatisfied by what we haven’t achieved.

There’s no ‘right’ or ‘perfect’ way to be physically active. We know from research that we don’t need to do be active for long periods for it to be effective. We also know that not all activity has to be intense, sweaty, or exhausting to be productive.

So even if we don’t feel like we’re doing enough, always remember that any activity is better than none and that all forms of movement, no matter how big or small, are worth it.

So perhaps our mindset needs to change, rather than our schedules, to create space for activity.

A useful analogy to help explain this approach is how we find ways to save money throughout the week.

We do lots of little things to save a couple of pounds, such as collecting coupons, opting for non-branded products, signing up for loyalty cards, taking the cheaper transport option, choosing products included in discount deals, or saying no to expensive social events. We do this because we know it all adds up in the end.

But what if we thought about physical activity in this way? Adding a couple of extra steps to our walk, hoovering our kitchens at the end of the day, or simply standing up now and again from our desks. All of these things can add up over time too,

Rarely do we take a moment to consider how we spend our time. When we do, we might notice we’re spending lots of time on things we don’t need to be or that don’t entirely align with our goals. Or, we might find we have more pockets of free time that we hadn’t noticed before.

If we’re getting enough sleep, we’ll have roughly 17 hours awake each day, which is around 1,000 minutes. We can think about those 1,000 minutes as 100x 10-minute blocks.

So, every day we wake up with 100x 10-minute time to fill. Throughout the day, we fill up each block with our daily tasks until we run out of time.

We’d like you to reflect on how you spent your time yesterday (or another day). You could draw out a grid like the one below and use it to fill out how you spent your 100x 10-minute blocks.

For example, if you spent 6 hours in the office, you’d fill in 60 blocks with this. Maybe you did 30 minutes of reading before work, so you’d fill up 3 blocks with this.

You could fill 2 blocks for making breakfast and 1 block for eating it, 5 blocks commuting to and from work, 4 blocks in the supermarket, etc.

Remember to consider what you did from the moment you woke up to the moment you went to bed.

Next, reflect on how you spent your time and whether there are opportunities to fit in more movement.

For example, if you always drive to work, perhaps you could park slightly further away and walk some of the journeys. If you usually watch TV while you wait for your dinner to cook in the evenings, maybe you could do some stretches while you watch.

Some other ideas for active opportunities are:

We’d recommend writing down your active opportunities so you can look back at them next time you feel you don’t have enough time for being physically active.

Written by Robbie Puddick