Rep. Maxine Waters of California, affectionately known these days as Auntie Maxine, has taught us many lessons about politics, history and how to brush off haters. But one of the most valuable lessons she has shared with us to date is the art of reclaiming your time. We can all use a bit of help in cutting out time-wasters from our lives. These tips will help you reclaim your time and your health in the process.
Reclaim Your Meals and Workouts: A major time killer is figuring out what to eat and when to workout. For meals, setting aside a couple of hours on the weekend can save you stress and time later in the week when unexpected things always pop up. Make large meals like stir-fries, large salads, and anything else you need to get through the week. Pack everything up to make your meals easy to grab in the morning before work. If you prefer to order out, you can plan those meals, too, by adding notes to your calendar so you don’t have to make hard food decisions while you’re starving.
For workouts, make a plan each week to have a few days of cardio and at least two days of strength workouts. You can find workouts on BlackDoctor.org or work with a trainer to come up with a specific plan. Either way, you’ll reclaim your time in the gym that you’d usually spend figuring out what to do next! Also, be sure to keep appointments on your calendar and schedule everything else around those times.
Reclaim Your Rest Day: Everyone’s schedules are different, but it’s important to reclaim some time to rest and reset. If you have a full day that’s great, but even a couple of hours where you do nothing at all can do wonders for your mental health. Always keep in mind that you are useless to those around you unless you take care of yourself first! Rest days are also essential to remaining at your peak fitness levels. Your muscles need time off to grow and rebuild so your rest day can do double duty.