“I’m too busy to exercise.”
Even if it were true, it isn’t a reasonable excuse. Exercise gives
you more energy to do work. In many ways, most people are too busy not
to exercise. But still, a lot of people feel they don’t have time for
starting new habits like exercise, reading or doing extra work. Being
able to find time is a big obstacle in starting new habits.
I’d like to make two arguments. These are generalizations, so while
they may not be true in specific cases, I’d say they apply to most
people, most of the time.
- Time is never the most limited resource in your day.
- A lack of attention, not time, is what prevents you from adding new habits.
You Have Enough Time
Even when you’re extremely busy, you aren’t using your time with 100%
efficiency. There are gaps in everyone’s schedule where they aren’t
doing anything important. Even if your schedule has no gaps, there are
probably chunks of time where you aren’t working as fast or as
effectively as you possibly could.
Why aren’t you completely efficient? It’s because time isn’t the
limiting factor. If it were the limiting factor, people could work
non-stop without breaks or any unproductive distractions. Instead
people, even those who are highly productive, need to take breaks,
occasionally procrastinate and slow down on tasks throughout the day.
The real limiting factor for productivity is your energy levels and ability to pay attention.
Energy levels limit your productivity because when you’re tired, you
can have ample time and still not get everything done. Your attention
span is even more limited, because even if there are a million things
that need to be done, you can only focus on one or two at a time.
You might not be able to insert another 4-5 hours into your schedule
without making some sacrifices. But even extremely busy people can add
an hour or two into their schedule without eliminating something. The
reason it’s hard to “find time” isn’t a lack of time. It’s because you
don’t have the attention span left to focus on something else that needs
to fit into your day.
I first suspected time wasn’t the real problem during an extremely
busy period in my life over a year ago. I was insanely busy, but at this
time I still exercised regularly. I had daily to-do lists with over
twenty items, and I still found time to exercise.
However, after a few weeks off, due to illness, I stopped exercising.
I was not busy by any standards, in fact, my schedule was incredibly
light. Despite this free time, I found it hard to find time to exercise.
It seemed to get pushed later and later into my schedule until it was
gone. How could I explain this odd experience?
Paying Attention is Expensive
Some studies estimate that there are close to eleven thousand sensory
inputs into your brain during any second, but you only process around
forty consciously. This means out of everything you could be thinking
about, you are reduced to examining less than one percent.
Even when you do think, you’re handicapped. Your short-term memory,
or active memory, can only hold about 7 items at a time (why do you
think phone numbers are typically 7 digits long?). Your attention is
extremely limited, and given the amount of things you do each day,
paying attention is very expensive.
I believe this lack of attention is the main culprit in finding time
for new habits. You may have very little time, but you have even less
attention. Even if you could find an hour or two to spare for
exercising, reading or a new activity, it’s mentally costly to keep
reminding yourself to do it. New habits have a start-up cost that you
pay with attention.
Finding Time for New Habits
There isn’t much you can do to free up more attention. But you can be
smart in your usage of it. Forming a habit makes continuing much easier
because, after several weeks, you stop thinking about it. My exercise
during the busy period in my life was easy because it no longer required
thought. When I stopped for a few weeks, I suddenly needed reminders,
which made finding time more difficult.
You can reduce the attention needed to start a new habit by writing
it down. Write it into your to-do lists, and place it on Post Its around
your house. If you allow the environment to remind you of your habit,
you can cut down on the amount of internal attention you need to use to
remember it.
The best way to find time is to focus on it. If you can focus on a
new habit for a few weeks, you can find the attention to make it a
habit. Once exercise, reading, studying or whatever you want to do
becomes a habit, it won’t cost you anything to keep going. Attention is the currency of productivity, so if you want to find time for anything, find the energy to pay attention first.
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