Something that you can take from the athletes

When you look at people’s lives, you can easily spot that there are quite a few things going on. Work life probably takes up the most time and, of course, also eats away our mental resources. The rest of the time is spent on your own and the children’s hobbies, as well as running basic everyday life. One often admires the discipline and work ethic of athletes, but forgets to look at normal people’s life and how much things happen there. I would say that even fewer things happen in the lives of professional athletes, because many things are optimized and they don’t have to focus on so many things that take time and energy like in normal life. In the lives of athletes, the training and rest ratio has been carefully optimized so that there is as much rest and recovery as possible. Any additional program is minimized, which could have an impact on optimal performance.

You probably think that the next thing I’m going to do is recommend that everyone should live with the same discipline as athletes. By no means. Those who know me know that I do not want to compare athletes and ordinary people. Doing sports is the choice to make sacrifices in life in the pursuit of success. Of course, working in demanding positions and advancing in a career are also choices that require a lot of time and energy, but that is a whole another conversation. However, if you consider how high performance is required of people in their work on a daily basis, I can’t help but think of people in work life as athletes. But does people in work life plan their lives thinking about how they could do things so conscientiously that there would be enough time for rest and recovery? Probably more these days, but I still often hear that life is busy, reactive and running from one thing to another. There is not enough time left for wellbeing and people feel constantly exhausted.

Could we start planning our weekly lives like athletes with more focus, so that time outside of work and recovery would be taken into account? Could planning improve our use of time and our understanding of where our time is actually spent? This way, we could also check whether our use of time is in line with the things and goals that are important to us.

Through planning, we notice more clearly which things are necessary for our own well-being and life, and which things I can give up. When do I eat and take a break and when do I exercise. When do I meet friends and what time is devoted to family. Planning also enables unpredictable things to be anticipated so that there is room for these “urgent tasks.”

Try to plan your week in advance and think at least about these questions:

• when and where do I eat?
• when do I go and buy groceries?
• when and how do I take a break?
• at what point do I relax?
• when do I do deep work?
• when do I finish working
• when do I move?
• when do I have my own time?
• when do I have time for family?
• when will I meet friends
• is there time in my life for creativity, joy and playfulness?

Take care of yourself. Eat well, rest, train and smart make time to think and breathe. Be intentional with your time.”

— Kristin Armstrong

 

Credit: Andrea Piacquadio

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