by Haley Elder, M.A.
Throughout my life, when discussing exercise goals with friends/acquaintances/family members/colleagues/etc., I must say I’ve found it bordering on humorous when they say, “I really should work out more… but I just don’t have time.” In response to this, my immediate instinct is to say, “Are you serious? How dumb do you think I am?” but I’ve somehow managed to bite my lip in most cases, probably preserving most of my relationships through such restraint. Instead, now I’ve tactfully chosen to shout the same thing here online, for the expansive e-world to see: “ARE YOU SERIOUS? HOW DUMB DO YOU THINK I AM?”
Interestingly, this excuse doesn’t only come into play when discussing whether one chooses to exercise or not. I’ve heard the “I don’t have time” line for everything from returning a phone call to hanging out with friends to vacuuming a six by eight foot rug. Really, people? Is it that you don’t have time or that it’s “too” disconcerting to step outside your comfortable routine to engage in something that might be challenging, require some effort, or even take up five minutes that you’d rather be spending surfing Facebook or sending a useless text message?
I have met very few people in my life who do not have time to exercise for 30 minutes a day, do a light clean of their apartment once a week, or meet a friend for coffee once in a blue moon. But let’s face it, these activities require significant energy and planning that many people aren’t willing to invest their time in. I think the first step here is for the “I-don’t-have-timers” to actually look for the evidence supporting this life-sabotaging belief. Do you really not have time to wash your sink once a week? Unless I’m especially gifted at sink-cleaning, last time I checked it takes approximately 2.5 minutes, tops. Apparently, you can also make your abs hard by performing 8 minutes-worth of crunches on a regular basis. Returning a friend’s email most likely will take less than 15 minutes, that is, unless your wpm is somewhere around 0.3.
Look, I get it. It’s very possible that you’d rather be spending the 2.5 + 8 + 15 = 25.5 minutes zoning out to a re-run of Family Guy. It’s probably pretty unnerving to step outside your comfort zone. However, engaging in uncomfortable tasks in the present that will most likely benefit your health, the cleanliness of your apartment, and your relationships with others in the long run might be worth enduring now. Don’t lie to yourself by saying that you “don’t have time.” You might actually be taking the first step towards making some admirable life changes by recognizing that when you try to convince yourself that you “don’t have time,” you are in fact unrealistically saying, “It’s ‘too’ hard to participate in these unpleasant, unfamiliar activities.” I’m fairly confident in saying that nine times out of ten when you look at the facts, you DO indeed have the time and these activities are NOT as difficult as you initially anticipated. In fact, you might even feel better after accomplishing them. And they certainly aren’t impossible or unbearable!
So do yourself a favor. Next time you find yourself using the “I don’t have time” defense in response to doing something that you know damn well will be difficult yet not intolerable, do this–challenge the validity of both 1) the erroneous assumption that there aren’t enough minutes in the day to complete the task, and perhaps more importantly, 2) the illogical belief that you will not be able endure the discomfort of engaging in behaviors that are demanding or, heaven forbid, out of step with your typical routine.
Call yourself out! Announcing you “don’t have time” for things is, as Penn & Teller would so eloquently say, “BULLSH#%!”