2698: Create Time to Change Your Life by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits on Simplifying Daily Routines & Habits

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep?

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep.

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily, is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations.

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And these affirmations aren't just comforting, they can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for true good sleep.

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_00]: So, press play on good sleep tonight because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep.

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Just search for good sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily.

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Health Daily, Create Time to Change Your Life by Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net and I'm your host and narrator Dr. Neal.

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey there, happy middle of the week Wednesday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily where I read some of the best health and fitness blogs to you and always with a bit of my commentary at the end.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And every Wednesday I like to share a little bit of inspiration with you.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So with that, here we go.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Quote, View health as an investment, not an expense.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Anonymous.

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, and with that let's get right to today's article and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Create Time to Change Your Life by Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: When I decided to change my life a little over five years ago, I had a very common problem.

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't have the time.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to exercise and find time for my family and eat healthier instead of the fast food junk I'd been eating and read more and write and be more productive and increase my income.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Unfortunately, there are only 24 hours in a day and we sleep for about eight of them.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Subtract the hours we spend eating, about three, showering and dressing and fixing up, about one, cleaning and running errands, another one, driving, maybe two hours, working, eight hours or more, and you're left with an hour or two at most and often less than that.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually I figured out how to do all the things I wanted to do.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I've achieved all of that and more and in fact I have more leisure time now than ever.

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: But first, I had to figure out the fundamental problem.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: How could I find the time to change my life?

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I know many of you face the same problem.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: You've told me as much.

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: So I thought I'd share some of what I did in the beginning in hopes that it'll help.

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: The First Step

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: You must make a commitment.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: You have to decide that you really want to make a change and that it's more important than almost anything else.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: For me, only my family was more important and in fact I was making these changes for my family as well as for myself.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: So these changes I was making were really my top priority in life.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: It has to be that urgent for you.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Think of this not as improving your life but saving it.

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_00]: The changes I made saved my life.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I am so much healthier, my marriage is better, my relationships with my kids have improved,

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and I am happier instead of depressed.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't feel you're saving your life then you won't make the tough changes needed.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Next Steps

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Once I made the mental commitment I took small steps to give myself a little wiggle room to breathe and move.

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_00]: 1. Cut out TV

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I watched less TV than ever before.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually I watched none, though I now watch a few shows a week over the internet.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: For many people this one change will free up a couple hours or more.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: 2. Read less junk

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I used to read a lot of things on the internet that were just entertainment, same with magazines.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I cut that stuff out early so I could focus on what was more important.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: 3. Go out less

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I used to go to a lot of movies and to dinner and drinking.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I cut that mostly out for a while to make time.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00]: 4. Wake earlier

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Not everyone is going to do this but it was a good step for me.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I found that I had more time exercising and working in the morning before anyone woke up.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: The world was quiet and at peace and without interruptions.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: In general, find the things that eat up your time that are less important than the changes

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_00]: you want to make.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: That's almost everything except the things you need to live,

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: work and eating and stuff like that.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Cut back on them where you can.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: 5. Simplify commitments

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I had a lot of commitments in my life.

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_00]: I coached soccer, was on the PTA board, served on a lot of committees at work,

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: had social commitments as well and worked on a number of projects.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Slowly I cut them out.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: They seemed important but in truth none of them were as important as the life

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to create and the changes I wanted to make.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Lots of things are important but which are the absolute most important?

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Make a decision

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're having trouble making a decision, try an experiment.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Cut out a commitment just for a little while.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: See whether you suffer from cutting it out or whether you like the extra time.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're worried about offending people, don't.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Send an email or make a phone call and explain that

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: you'd love to keep doing the commitment but you just don't have the time

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: and don't want to half-ass it.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: The person might try to talk you into staying but be firm.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Respect yourself and your time and the changes you're trying to make.

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Here's a secret.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: The people and organizations you've been helping or working with will survive.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: They will go on doing what they were doing without you.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And OMG they will survive without you.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Your departure will not cause the world to collapse.

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Let go of the guilt.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Streamline your life

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually I made many other changes including

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00]: 1. Making bills and savings and debt payments automatic.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I set everything up online so that I wouldn't have to run errands

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_00]: or spend time making payments.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_00]: This put my debt reduction on automatic and I got out of debt.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: 2. Streamlining errands

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I tried to cut as many errands out of my life as possible.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Often that meant changing my life in some way but I adjusted and things became simpler.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I cleaned as I went so I didn't have a lot of cleaning to do on weekends.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I did the few errands I had all at once to save running around.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: 3. Work less

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: I would set limits to how much I could work forcing myself to pick the important tasks

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and to get those tasks done on time.

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I learned which tasks needed to be done and which could be dropped.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I became much more effective and worked less.

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And 4. Say no

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: When people asked me to do stuff that was important to them but not to me,

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I learned to politely decline.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Instead I focused on what was important to me.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Slowly I learned to simplify.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I simplified my daily routines, my work, my social life, my possessions,

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: my chores, and my wardrobe.

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: It took time but it has been more than worth the effort.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Life is so much better now that I've created the time to do what I want to do.

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to the post titled

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Create Time To Change Your Life by Leo Babauda of ZenHabits.net

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Neal here for my commentary.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I loved it when today's author Leo said,

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_00]: quote, you must make a commitment.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: You have to decide that you really want to make a change

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and that change is more important than almost anything else.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: End quote.

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I could have used that as today's inspirational quote, it's that good.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_00]: But he didn't stop there.

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: I love this line even more.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Think of these habits as not quote, improving your life but saving it.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: End quote.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I've talked about how eating nutritious foods and exercising regularly

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_00]: are ways to care for your body

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: but thinking about this as saving your life is even more powerful.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I love this phrase so much.

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I may have to save this quote and use it for a future Wednesday episode.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: But for now, that'll do it for today.

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for being here and listening every day.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you if you've ever shared this show with someone

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: and I hope you have a great rest of your day

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.