Finding Time for Healthy Habits as a Busy Woman in Your 30s & 40s

Healthy habits are an essential part of life if you want to feel good, move well, and age in a way that doesn't completely suck. Unfortunately, a lot of us struggle with fitting healthy habits into our lives because of TIME.

Time is the thing that always seems to get away from us. We're always trying to figure out how to get more or simply give up and say we just don't have it. It varies on why there's so little of it and it's essential that we figure it out so that we can get some back because our well-being truly depends on it!

This is part 2 of a 3 part series talking about how busy women in their 30s and 40s can learn how to motivate themselves, find time, and have the self-discipline to follow through with the tasks they need to.

Today we're going to talk about...

finding time for healthy habits as a busy woman in your 30s & 40s.

Below are a few of the most common reasons women tend to have for why they don't have time to do things like work out, eat healthy, practice self-care, and get better sleep. (List whatever healthy behavior you want here):

1 She legitimately doesn't have time

2 She sucks at time management

3 She has no time because she has too many things to do

4 She has no time because no one else can do what needs done

Then, regardless of which one of those things is happening (or combination of those things), her capacity is next to zero. Any kind of effort feels like too much- so she doesn't try to change anything- and continues to feel cruddy and push through a bunch of ick she shouldn't have to. Until one day she's in her 50s or 60s meeting with doctors, physical therapists, and me to try to get her health back to a better place.

Most of the time women start working with me because they're trying to "make up for lost time", but I want more women to learn how to prioritize their health sooner so it's more about PREVENTION than treatment.

Picking up what I'm putting down?

Let's take a closer look at each one.

She legitimately doesn't have time.

If this is the case, it's also probably a phase of time. For example, a family emergency, financial struggles, unexpected shit life throws at you. Those times won't last forever THANKFULLY. We'll put this one off to the side. (Though you could likely still practice some healthy habits even in a phase like this depending on how you define healthy habits and what your expectations are. We'll talk more about this in a few.)

She sucks at time management.

I think this one is super common and the REAL problem is she sucks at managing herself within time. I've had someone tell me that they have no time, but then I see how often they're posting on Facebook. Or they're telling me about all of these tv shows they've been watching. Or how they went to a shindig over the weekend. Obviously none of those things are bad to do, BUT if you take a step back and look at how much time you spend on your phone, watching shows, going out and about shopping or whatnot...do you really not have 15-60 minutes to spend on your health? Really?

Or is it actually an expectation issue? Something like telling yourself that if you're not in the gym for 1.5 hours it's not worth it. Or if you can't eat perfectly every day why bother? I mean let's be real...why can't you do a workout or stretching while you're watching a show? And you may say "that's my me time. I worked all day! I just want to veg out!" I totally get that.

But what is vegging out for 3 hours straight actually getting you?

If you don't learn how to make time for your wellness now, you'll be forced to make time for your doctor appointments, physical therapy sessions, surgeries, and medications later.

May not be something you like to read, but it's true.

She has no time because she has too many things to do

The REAL problem is that she has no time because she can't get herself to say no or ask for help. This could be due to deep-seated things like tying your worthiness to productivity or feeling like you'll be a giant bother to someone if you ask for assistance. Or that you'll somehow be less than or not good enough because you can't just do it all yourself.

You'll just shove down the stress, anxiety, aches and pains, and feeling generally shitty that comes from neglecting yourself and never refilling your own cup. Then wonder why you struggle with your weight or why your joints hurt or why you can't get your brain to shut off at night.

We aren't meant to carry everything on our own. Your output will be much better when you take care of your own needs and stop setting ridiculous expectations for yourself.

Learn to say no. Let yourself ask for help.

She has no time because no one else can do what needs done

The REAL problem is that she has no time because she can't bring herself to let go of control. Being able to control everything gives us a sense of safety. The whole "if I just do it, I'll know it's done, and I'll know it's done right!" can reduce stress in its own way. We'll just shove aside the higher stress of actually having to do it all. 😏

Letting go of control feels scary, especially when things could end up not being perfect, but over time trying to do it all will wear you down physically and mentally then you're not going to be doing it well, either.

So what do we do about these? How do we get past them?

First off, it's going to take some time. These are behaviors and patterns that you've been following a long time. Becoming aware of them and seeing them for what they are when they pop up is essential. It's then you get to make a choice.

Should I really watch another episode or should I do that Youtube workout I pulled up earlier?

Should I really say yes to another obligation when I know I don't really have the capacity?

Should I really hold on to this task when I have a perfectly competent person who could do it for me?

I encourage you to break the pattern.

Do the 20 minute YouTube workout before melting into your couch for another episode.

A simple "hey could you give me a hand with this?"

A small step back to let someone else do the task while you observe. (Just a little bit-no micromanaging!)

Finding time for healthy habits as a busy woman in your 30s & 40s is possible!

You have to show yourself that taking your time back won't cause your world to implode.

Now there's one more thing we have to talk about that's makes a big difference on how you follow through with what you've learned here.

You have to be aware of your expectations and beliefs around healthy habits.

If you've got the belief that a 10 step morning routine, followed up by perfect nutrition at all 3 meals with no snacks or desserts, plus a 2 hour workout at the gym, and bedtime by 9 pm every night is what equals success then you're setting yourself up for failure. And if you believe that it's not even worth trying if you can't be perfect then you've done a fantastic job of setting ridiculous unachievable expectations for yourself (and really most other people).

Remember healthy habits can be small and they can changed based on what's going on in your life.

The option you don't have is to do absolutely nothing. So, before you limit yourself because you can't spend 2 hours in the gym (cuz for real why would you anyway?!) allow it to be a 15 minute walk or a quick YouTube workout at home. Let that be enough.

Focus on adding in more healthy things rather than taking things away. And focus on small steps rather than trying to take giant leaps.

When you know specifically what you're aiming for plus you have a strong why and you pair that with...

Being aware of your struggles with your expectations and time AND what to do about them...

Then you can create steps that only require so much self-discipline so that you can make consistent progress forward even when things aren't perfect and your motivation is low.

Which we'll talk about in part 3. Stay tuned!

In case you missed it read part 1 here: How to Motivate Yourself as a Busy Woman in Your 30s & 40s