Busy Schedule? 5 Ways to Still Schedule Yoga

You want to do yoga. You keep reading and hearing all about the benefits of yoga. You know it will help you, but you just don't have the time. I've been there. Yoga used to be something I always wanted to do but never did. It was the furthest thing on my mind, and I only ever did it in the few occasions that I was bored. I knew I would feel better if I practiced more consistently, but my schedule was so busy that it was still difficult to do. If this sounds like you, here are 5 ways you can still schedule yoga into your week even when you are very busy. I used some of these ways to help me build a consistent practice, so I know they will help you as well!

1. Wake up 15 minutes earlier

I know you don't want to be told to wake up earlier, but it really is the easiest way to find extra time in your day. Waking up just 15 minutes earlier doesn't dramatically alter your sleeping time, but it can drastically alter the rest of your day in a positive way. Having 15 minutes to yourself in the beginning of the day sets you up for success. You'll be able to do yoga before everything else on your to-do list starts getting in the way. You'll get it done first thing, and then you'll be in the right mindset and have even more energy to tackle that to-do list than if you had slept for those 15 minutes. "The early bird gets the worm." For more reasons why doing yoga in the morning is the best, check out my other blog post "Gain Time in the Morning by Doing Yoga".

2. Make it non-negotiable

Make yoga non-negotiable by telling yourself it is a doctor's appointment. After all, it is something you plan to do to feel better. By classifying it as a doctor's appointment, you are writing it down in your planner or putting it in your phone just as you would schedule an important appointment. If you wake up too tired for your doctor's appointment, would you cancel it that morning? If you don't feel like going, would you cancel it? If something last minute comes up, would you cancel it? If you just feel too busy, would you cancel it? No. Because it's important, it's rude to cancel with such short notice, and you'll likely have to pay your co-pay anyway. So, treat yoga with the same importance. It's an appointment you make with yourself for your health. Don't negotiate with yourself about it. Don't rank it low in importance. Tell yourself you are going to do it and do it. Show up for yourself.

3. Ask for help from your spouse

Accountability partners are shown to increase the likelihood of sticking with a new habit. If someone does it with you, you are more likely show up because you don't want to let them down. If you don't have someone to do yoga with (whether physically there with you or doing it separately and checking in with each other), asking a loved one for help can be just as effective. What do they need to do? They just need to ask you every day if you've done yoga yet or not. Now, you may not be trying to do yoga every day (totally fine!) but having your loved one ask every day will help keep it on your mind to do it when you have planned on doing it. For example, if you told yourself that you want to do yoga 2 or 3 times a week, tell that to your loved one and ask them to ask you every day if you have done it. Simply respond "Yes, I have." or "No, but I am planning on doing it tomorrow before work". This acts as a reminder to you and an accountability tool. You don't want to let them down tomorrow when they ask you again, so you are more likely to do it.

When I was starting out with yoga, I asked my husband to do this for me. I told him I want to do a minimum of 10 minutes of yoga every day. Again, you don't need to do it every single day, but I wanted to because I wanted to see how I felt after doing it consistently every day for a month. I asked him to check in with me after work every day to see if I had done it yet. Usually I did it before work, but if I hadn't done it before work that day, his question would remind me that I needed to do it before the end of the day. It reminded me that I had a goal to work towards. His simple question reminded me that I only needed to spend 10 minutes doing it, which really isn't that long. Were there times that I was annoyed with him for asking me? Yes, absolutely! But that was because I hadn't done yoga yet that day and I was tired and didn't want to. My annoyance came from disappointing myself, not from him. Having him ask me made we want to prove to him and myself that I was doing this. It made me want to go do it and then report back to him that it was done. It honestly became a game to me to tell him "yes". Without this, I would have skipped so many days and I probably would have quit. This made me accountable, make it easier, and made it more fun!

4. Invite your kids to do it with you

If kids are a reason why you are too busy for yoga, get them to join in with you! There are tons of YouTube yoga classes for kids that will benefit them and yourself. Once they get the hang of some of those basics, you can do your yoga classes at home, and they'll want to join in. They will likely want to do what you are doing anyway. How many times do you catch them trying to mimic you? Why not get them involved and show them a healthy habit for their minds and bodies at the same time? It'll give them something to do, allow them to burn some energy, and it will equip them with tools to calm their mind when they get upset, scared, or frustrated in life. There are many benefits of kids doing yoga. You can look up more benefits, but some can include being calmer, being happier, doing better in school, less social problem reports from school.

5. Replace 15 minutes of t.v. at night with yoga

Nowadays most of us end the day with binge watching something. This is an excellent way to relax, wind down, and have something in common to talk to others about. I am in no way knocking this behavior (because I do it too!) but it is easy to sit in front of that screen and mindlessly lose track of time. Think about how many minutes or hours you typically spend watching something before bed. Why not stop watching just 1 episode earlier and do 15 minutes of yoga before bed instead? This will be especially beneficial to you if you don't like to do yoga in the morning, if you usually do it in the morning but for some reason you couldn't that day, if you have issues falling asleep, if you have problem staying asleep, or if you don't sleep deeply. Set an alarm on your phone for what time at night you should be doing yoga before bed. Then set an alarm for 15 minutes before that, as a way to tell yourself to get ready for bed. Have your face washed, your teeth brushed, and your pjs on. Do everything you need to finish before ending your day, that way once you finish yoga you can go right to bed. Maybe even put a book next to you bed ahead of time so you read to fall asleep instead of scrolling on your phone. Studies about using screens with blue light have shown that it can heavily impact sleep quality. By doing yoga and then reading before falling asleep instead of watching t.v./scrolling on your phone, you'll have much better-quality sleep.

15 minutes is 1%

15 minutes is literally less than 1% of your entire day. Even if you have a very busy schedule, I am sure you can find 15 minutes during your day that you can squeeze it in. Maybe that means you need to wake up 15 minutes earlier. By scheduling it into your day and acting as if it is an appointment, you will have the mindset that you cannot cancel on yourself. Finding an accountability partner or asking a loved one to check in with you every day will help you want to show up for yourself and that person. You won't want to let them down, so you will be more likely to actually practice yoga. If you have kids, get them to join in! It'll be a great time for all of you, and it may help them in many ways as well. If none of those things seem to be working for you, try cutting out just 15 minutes of screen time before bed to do yoga. You'll even experience better sleep by doing this! We are all busy, but we all have the same 24 hours in the day. What we choose to do with those 24 hours is the difference between someone who works towards their goals and someone who continues to complain about not having time. Which one will you be this week?