If you’ve thought, or said

I don’t have time to focus on my health.

You’re not alone. There are many reasons ‘not to.’ Time tops that list.

Let’s break down a day.

24 hours

We all have it.

9 hours in bed

That’s 8 hours of sleep. Most of us are ‘awake’ ~60 minutes of the time we’re in bed.

Read Why We Sleep.

15 hours left

1 hour commute

You may work-from-home with no commute.

I had a 2-2 1/2 hour commute for years when I lived in the Bay Area, traveling from San Francisco to Mountain View, California. That was rough.

If you’re working-from-home 1 or more days per week, re-purpose the time you would have previously spent commuting and

Take a walk.
Movement improves productivity. Walking sparks creativity.

8 hours working

Load up on fruits and vegetables at work to support brain health.

6 hours left

3 hours kid-shuttling and homework

Some of you know I’m not a parent. Parents, I’m looking to you to tell me how much time you spend daily on kid stuff.

I’d estimate my parents spent 1-2 hours.

If you have fur-children, here’s 2 hours caring for pets. Sound about right?

3 hours left

What would spending an average of 2 hours daily on food shopping, food preparation, and cooking look like for you?

…and dishes. I wish I didn’t have to include time for dishes.

That’s 14 hours per week on food.

In the 70s and 80s, my parents cooked dinner most nights. Dinner out was an occasion. Delivery didn’t exist. They didn’t have 24x7 access to work.

Where did we go between school and home on the days my dad picked me up? We went grocery shopping.

Some of you have kids who are no longer in the house.

Did your health habits change when you got that time back?

1 hour left for whatever you want.

I didn’t allocate time for exercise.

If you’re spending <3 hours per day on kid stuff, there’s an hour to pull from.

Start where you can. 10 minutes, 20 minutes. A walk after dinner.

Where else do you spend time?

Television? Social media? I spend time on both.

Though I may go down a social media rabbit hole occasionally, I limit my time there to short spurts for catching up with friends, and a quick scroll to see what other plant-based folks are talking about.

When I’ve been staring at a small screen a few feet from my face for too long, I feel it physically. It doesn’t feel good. That’s good incentive to put the phone down.

We all have 24 hours.

How much of that time do you spend on your health?

If I’ve left out any non-negotiable daily activities from the time inventory, I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading!

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Eat more plants. 🥦 Hydrate.🚰 Move.🤸 Prioritize sleep. 🛌

Cover photo by @enginakyurt on Unsplash

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Time inventory