“I don’t have the time.”
How many times have you uttered or thought those exact words while wishing you could get out for a ride? In a world where 7-Minute Fitness is a thing, taking an hour (or two…or more!) to ride can sometimes feel as luxurious and out of reach as a two-week holiday to Hawaii.
The reality, however, is that it’s not – for any of us. And we need to stop treating time to ride like an exotic vacation, says Pedram Shojai – author of the New York Times best-seller The Urban Monk and upcoming The Art of Stopping Time, as well an ordained priest of the Yellow Dragon Monastery and doctor of oriental medicine.
“This is what I call quality of life meets burn rate,” says Shojai. “People will say, ‘Ugh, how is it only Tuesday? I can’t wait to get through this week, then this weekend I’ll ride for nine hours.’ It’s the same as the people who crush themselves working non-stop and don’t take care of themselves and then go to Maui for a week and believe that somehow seven days in paradise will fix everything. It’s an imbalanced budget.”
And just as we often do with our financial budgets, the real problem is that we are leaking time here and there until we feel we have none left and we are positively burned out. The solution: Systematically, one day at a time, make small changes that will yield spacious results. Here are some strategies Shojai recommends.
Chunk your time and eliminate the inefficiencies
“It’s all the dumb little inefficiencies in our lives that lead us to just drag wind all day, go home and eat, and then feel like it’s all over because there’s no time or energy left,” says Shojai.
“This happens because we check our email every time the phone pings. We have Facebook, the weather, texts, and all these distractions running in the background of our lives. It’s not that you don’t have time for social media or texts, but not all the time all at once.”
Turn off everything aside from the task at hand. Schedule time to catch up on e-mail. Designate social media breaks. “Doing one thing at a time will get you there faster and give you plenty more time to enjoy the ride,” he says.
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