Time: < 30 Minutes

STEP 1: If you decide that you want to start exercising again, don’t attempt to start with five times a week for an hour each time. Instead, start with twice a week for ten minutes each. This way, your body will get acclimated (to decrease potential injuries) and you can ease into it. Once you see how motivated you are after ten minutes, you will likely increase it to 15 or 20 rather quickly. Even though you might want to be an expert at the piano or immediately fluent in Spanish, skills like these (and most others) take time, patience, and dedication to master.

STEP 2: Set specific times aside for when you DON’T work or DON’T look at your phone. Enlist your family or friends to hold you to it, as it has likely become a habit that you aren’t even aware of. When you aren’t looking at your phone, you have your undivided attention to apply to many different things going on in your day. This will give you additional time to pursue old hobbies or take on new ones. Additionally you can be present in your relationships, to do something for yourself or others, or simply decrease the amount of noise in your brain. 

STEP 3: Once you recognize the time that you are saving, make a list of things you’d like to do with your newfound time that will be beneficial to you.