Time management is a weight management strategy

Much of what we work on in nutritional coaching, be it with emotional eaters or those who just struggle to find a better way, is stress management. Stress eating is a common denominator.

We don’t want to remove stress, even if we could. But we do need to manage it. While there are many skills we may work on to understand our emotions around eating better, one that is oft over looked is time management.

Much of our stress in life revolves around time. Trying to fit everything in. Work, exercise, meal planning, chauffeuring kids to practice and games, getting enough sleep and having a social life. But most of us are actually horribly inefficient with our time.

Creating a schedule to your day beyond just going through the motions can be game changing. I like to block time off, from the moment I wake until bed time. These time blocks allow for some flexibility while also adding structure.

Another strategy I like is eliminating distractions. If social media draws you away from tasks, place your phone out of arm’s reach during the day. If you get caught in emails, set up specific times for checking it. If phone calls (or scheduling them) eat up your day, set specific times in an app like calendly to field and schedule.

Time management, like nutrition and training, is a skill. It requires practice and focus; it doesn’t just happen.

Time is the most valuable resource we have. We don’t want to waste it. Take control over how you allocate your time, and watch how your daily stress is reduced. With mitigated daily stress we can better manage mindless and emotional eating episodes. It’s all full circle.

Nothing exists in isolation. Fix one thing and everything will change. Take the time to work on what actually matters. Nothing matters more than time.