It can be hard to stay on top of your health when you are busy. In recent years Pew Research asked Americans if they felt their lives were too busy, and a massive 60% said their lives felt like they had gotten busier in recent years. And with life showing no signs of slowing down, being able to care for yourself to help you support a life that has you running around constantly is vital.
If you aren’t healthy, you won’t be able to perform as you need to, resulting in you becoming ill, increasing your risks of accidents or injuries, and negatively impacting your mental health. But is there any way you can improve your health when you don’t have time to stop and take a breather? It might feel impossible, but there are many ways you can squeeze in something good and positive to help you look good and feel good too.
Multitasking
If you are getting ready to leave the house in a rush each morning, the last thing you want is to be having to go through a complicated skincare or cleaning routine to be fresh and look good. You want to use products that double up and convenient services too. This can be done by using products such as moisturizers with SPF for added skincare protection. You want to drink water with added vitamins to boost your body and ensure you get everything you need in your diet, or even make a protein coffee if you have time for breakfast. This way, you get your caffeine hit and some protein to keep you going throughout your busy morning, all in one drink.
Or it could be taking your doctor appointments online instead of going to the doctor’s office so you can maximize time in your day. This will allow you to still get any medical care you need, get antibiotics from an online doctor if you need to then be on your way with minimal disruption; you can even take video calls and online appointments during your work break, meaning you don’t need to leave and lose pay.
Look for ways to double up on things (not just your morning breakfast muffin from Mcdonald’s) to help you cut down on time and still get what you need. Think smarter, not harder!
Meal Prepping
Meal prepping isn’t for everyone and won’t suit everyone’s lifestyle or activities. But it is worth seeing if this is something that enables you out in a pinch. Suppose you find you are always grabbing food on the go or resorting to pastries from the local coffee shop or fast food for lunch. In that case, spending some time in the evening making a slightly more significant portion of your dinner can give you a better meal option for lunch the next day. Meals like chicken and rice, bolognese, or even fajitas (unwrapped, of course) can travel well the next day and be reheated at work, or you can even find meals you can eat cold on the go. Not only will this give you a good healthy meal to look forward to, but it can also save you money on buying your lunch daily.
Another good idea to try is making overnight oats. These days influencers are sharing their macro-friendly overnight oat recipes that not only give you a protein boost but satisfy a sweet tooth and can be prepped the night before and taken with you in the morning for those who need breakfast.
Water
If you are busy and on the go all the time, you need to ensure you are staying hydrated. While the general rule of thumb is 8 glasses daily, these don’t work for everyone. But you need to make sure you are drinking frequently throughout the day to ensure proper hydration levels. If you are dehydrated, you will have trouble keeping up with activities, have difficulty focusing, have a dry mouth, and become fatigued more quickly. Not drinking enough can also increase appetite as you mistake thirst for hunger and increase irritability as you fight both signs of hunger and thirst. Keep a refillable water bottle with you and drink it throughout the day to ensure adequate hydration. You don’t need to aim precisely for 8 cups per day; this is simply something to give you a reference point. If you are in a hotter climate, you will need more water, for example, and if you exercise a lot again, you will need to drink more to accommodate the water you use from working out.
Remember, you also get water from other sources, such as soft drinks, coffee, and some foods. Your body expels water by doing every single activity, both externally and internally, so you must be as hydrated as possible.
Get Moving
If your day is busy because you also fit in an exercise session, then this point isn’t for you, and you can move on. But if you don’t, you need to find a way to squeeze in some movement to raise your heart rate and get slightly out of breath. This could be taking an extra flight of stairs at work in stride riding the elevator to your floor. It can be getting off public transport one stop earlier and walking the rest of the way or parking further away than you need to. The aim is always to lose weight but to desire good health, heart health especially. A sedentary lifestyle is often considered a silent killer. It has been proven to increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and chronic health conditions and experience increasingly negative mental health.
It doesn’t matter how busy you are; you need to make time in your day to get your blood pumping, even if for a short while. WHO recommends you get around 150 active minutes per week which is just over 20 minutes per day of movement where you increase your heart rate.
Sleep
Every adult needs around 7-9 hours of sleep per night; everyone knows this; however, not everyone manages to get this. If your nights aren’t filled with dreams, and instead, you are awake and getting minimal sleep, then you need to address your sleeping habits and implement methods to help you combat poor sleep routines.
Your body processes what has happened during the day in your sleep and performs vital restorative duties internally. If you aren’t getting good quality shut-eye, then chances are you will be constantly feeling exhausted and reaching for the coffee when you do get up the next day.
Try setting yourself a set bedtime and wake time-based on your day’s activities. Avoid working in need or using electronics. Use sleep aids such as chamomile or lavender to help you drift or white noise machines to lull you to sleep. A good idea is to time your sleep in 90-minute blocks. You go through sleep cycles when asleep, each one lasting around 90 minutes. You should ideally get 4 per night, 6 if possible. Set your alarm to coincide with the end of a 90-minute schedule and then adjust it as you go until you find the right time for your body to wake up, plus waking up at the end of a sleep cycle is much easier than being woken from a deep sleep by your alarm.
Don’t Burn The Candle At Both Ends
There is often the temptation to blow out over the weekends of your days off from work and out of your routine. But try to avoid this as much as possible. Keep to the small habits you have in the palace, and try not to go to the excess over the weekend, as this will make you feel sluggish and even worse on Monday morning. While you shouldn’t avoid doing things you want to do, be mindful of the good habits you are putting in place and how you feel when you aren’t at your best. It could be that your time off antics are negating your entire week, meaning you are then clawing it back. Instead, use this time or any downtime; you have to treat your body well, nourish it, and get the rest you need to support your lifestyle.
Stop
It can be hard to stop when you have a lot on your plate. But allowing yourself to take a minute or ten to stop and breathe can help you to remain calm and focused and ensure you have everything under control. It can be an extra five minutes in the car alone before going into the house after work. It can be stopping off at the coffee shop earlier in the morning to allow you to sit in and not have your morning coffee on the move, or you can take some time on your work break to stop, close your eyes, and clear your mind of everything you have going on. It doesn’t matter how or when you do it, but you must stop before you push yourself too far.
Being busy seems to be the norm in modern lifestyles, and if you are under pressure from a hectic schedule, you need to make sure you are putting good habits into practice to help you get through your day with ease and not make things harder for yourself.
