Time Management Strategies and Techniques

Summer is usually a tough season to do workouts in the gym. A lot of people go on vacations and outdoor activities and many seem not to commit to workout in their usual routines. It’s a mode that only happens during the summer— a time when people seem to be carefree. In other words, people tend to forget about indoor stuff. That is fine if they do activities outside of the gym. But for the most part, it is ice cream, barbecues and the like. I understand the fact that it’s fun outside but I still believe that some workouts should be made in the gym for you not to stay off track.

Time Management is the answer. You come in the gym for a quick workout so that most of your day is spent outside, whether it is having fun or spending time doing outdoor exercises. Allow me to discuss with you two ways to go through that indoor workout effectively and efficiently.

TIP #1: Focus to finish fast, don’t look anywhere and simply workout. In this strategy, you need to psyche yourself up to finish your workout without any distraction.

No talking, no daydreaming— just simply going at it. Intense interval workouts are the way to go. Here, you can lessen your rest periods and no time is wasted. Trust me, a good 30 minutes will be spent productively and you can go ahead with your day. Workouts usually take longer because we spend so much time daydreaming and talking. I have clients who live a fast paced lifestyle. I design their workouts with less time periods— lesser than the 30 second boxing breaks or no breaks at all. I put them into an interval- based workout that focuses on compound movements that involve strength, conditioning and boxing full body work. I am not a big fan of long workout “death marches” anyway. They come to the gym to workout, and not socialize.

Ironically the 2nd tip is the exact opposite of number one. Am I contradicting myself? Absolutely not. I wanted to give you this tip since in my experience, people react differently to different approaches.

TIP #2: Focus on talking, so that time goes by fast, and you don’t feel the toughness

In the first tip, I talked about just going ahead and focusing on your workouts. For some people, this strategy does not work. They rely on the “speaking power” of their workout partner or trainer to get in the zone of working out. Some of my clients do the boxing workout because they need a positive outlet. By outlet it could be a stress reliever or simply a way to catch up with friends. Believe me, when they talk more, their intense full hour passes by without a problem. No matter how workouts are hard, when you go to that “happy place” you can go through it with minimal difficulty. These clients of mine shoot two birds with one stone—- socializing and working out effectively and efficiently. Multi- tasking is a skill, in my opinion.

A lot of people give up on their preferred workout routines because of time. But in any problem, there is a solution. Try doing compound movements. You can either talk your way through the intensity and have a positive mind set to just do it. Time management can be applied anywhere. Put working out on your list. It is not just a luxury, but an investment— so that you can add more years to your quality of life. I’m sure that you want to experience that quality…