During 2015 and 2016, I had a different lifestyle. I used to feel very lethargic and unmotivated almost every day. My work seemed like a chore. My daily routine was to wake up, take shower, eat breakfast, leave to work, grab something at lunch, work until 6 pm, come home, watch TV, eat dinner, and sleep. I pretty much did this after I graduated in mid-2015 for almost a year. I gained weight, felt lazy to do anything interesting except watch TV and spend time on social media.

How it all started?

I happened to stumble across a blog post that talked about including exercise in your daily routine. I knew exercise was important but I thought it was more for older people (I was dumb). Since the blog post emphasized the importance of exercise, I thought I would give it a shot. Things changed – drastically.

I started noticing changes in my behavior without me having any intention to change. The first thing that happened was with sugar. I slowly started decreasing my sugar intake. I preferred water over coke. Nuts over cakes and much more. My sleep got better. I started feeling good after workouts. My energy levels increased. I didn’t feel lazy anymore. My TV time was reduced. My thoughts were clear. My focus increased. Social media time decreased. At the time, I was pretty stunned. I knew exercise was important to have a good shape and stay healthy. But, I didn’t know why other parts of my life would have an impact.

I started researching. Read books. I came across a book called “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg. In the book, he talks about something called “Keystone Habits”. I had never heard about the term in my life before. He says keystone habits are habits that have a positive impact on other areas of your life. The concept that if I did one habit, other habits will automatically happen looked so appealing. More importantly, that one keystone habit would just take 3-4 hours per week. I thought it was a no-brainer.

That is the beginning of my workout journey. But, of course like most beginners, I was finding excuses to skip workouts despite knowing the importance of it. The most common excuse was “I don’t have time” (I know you may have used that excuse as well at some point). But, after I read “168 hours: you have more time than you think”, my perspective on time totally changed. She claims that time is elastic and we in fact have more time than we think we do. You shouldn’t say “I don’t have time” but instead say “It’s not a priority to me”. Wow, that was a big mindset shift for me. I started implementing it in my daily life. Whenever I feel unmotivated to work out, I ask myself, “Is this a priority to me?”. The next minute, I see myself dragging to the gym (on most days).

My Current Status

Now, I try to work out 4 – 5 hours a week. I tried to link time and exercise. Let me explain. We have 168 hours in a week. Those 4 – 5 hours of my workout time correspond to approximately 3% of your time (168*3% = 5.04 hours). By dedicating just 3% of your total weekly time to exercise, you will have a significant impact on your life. The changes I observed in my life are:

  1. Improved sleep
  2. More focus
  3. Clear thinking
  4. Healthy eating
  5. Reading more books
  6. High energy levels

Just by exercising, which is 3% of my time, the above 6 activities are automatically happening. Isn’t that amazing?

You might be wondering how to start exercising. Good question? Before starting to exercise, I would recommend changing your mindset about it. First of all, you need to consider that exercise is a lifestyle change. You have to first form the habit of exercising. It is extremely difficult to exercise with just willpower. Some days you might have it, some days you might not. Instead, decide ahead what time of the week you would be exercising. Start extremely small. Let’s say 5 minutes of bodyweight exercises 3 times a week. Then gradually increase the time as long as it becomes a habit. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day. It’s more important to not break the chain than to go all in.

Conclusion

If you don’t think you have time to exercise, first ask yourself if it’s a priority. Then, track your time to see where your time is going. As author Laura Vanderkam says, you have more time than you think. If you feel you are extremely busy and haven’t got an hour a week to exercise, then spend at least five minutes. Don’t break the chain.

Are you ready to spend 3% of your total time exercising? I’m sure you are!