Can I have 5 Minutes of Your Mind?

Episode 6: The Act of Purposefully Pairing Activities 

By: Yenifer De Lara 

The concept I will talk about is similar to taking advantage of time by going grocery shopping right after dropping off the kids at school. It is not multitasking. It is not mindless. It is intentional. It is planned. It is filling a specific gap of time with tasks, urgent tasks you may need to stop putting off, or new tasks you may want to create as new habits. The act of purposefully pairing activities comes with the benefits of potentially being more productive, gaining confidence about making a choice and going through with it, gaining a feeling of structure/organization, and gaining self-pride through seeing the progress. 

Say you want to implement daily stretching. OK. You would naturally see the mountain top right away. You would be so driven by the end-goal, the ideal you that would stretch twice a day, every day. You would start thinking about this and that, and the other, soon becoming possibly overwhelming. What if you could just add a 10 minute stretching session right after a workout ? Once a week only. Every Monday you stretch for 10 minutes right after finishing your workout, for a month! Seems simple enough? OK. Next month, you stick to the same 10 minutes of stretching but this time commit to Monday and Tuesday. As you see yourself gain mental toughness by doing what you promised yourself you would, you can discover your sense of self-worth and self-esteem expand. Gain confidence by something small and maybe difficult, over and over, over and over. When you challenge a part of you that is stubborn to change, it may be thrilling to see what else you can shed. 

The state of mind you are in right after finishing a workout is the perfect state of mind where you can come up with great ideas, and solve problems. I know we all experience doubt and questions, whether personal or business related. What if you came into the gym with a question written down beforehand? This question really bounced around in your head a lot, and really bothered you. I assure you, the moment you see that question again, after the workout, all the unsureness and confusion would be gone. You wouldn’t remember what about this question made you so stuck because now you’re writing a solution that is surprising you. Here, pairing the mental after effects of exercise with journaling puts you in an advantage where you can write something you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. Having your mental capacities whirring so beautifully helps you write something so unique! Or you could pair exercise with a gratitude list to elevate your mood even more! 

Maybe you want to put yourself in a position where you routinely eat a small meal, or drink a protein shake after a workout. It would help to have a why. [A why is a reason for doing something.] This reason should affect who you are to your core. You are not drinking a protein shake for somebody else. You are not drinking a protein shake because someone else told you so. Having protein within an hour of exercising boosts muscle repair, recovery, and growth. Maybe you want to increase muscle growth and size, you want to look leaner, feel leaner, feel stronger, able to do more activities outside of the gym, or be a better example for your kids? Do not have shallow reasons. Sometimes, the protein shake may not taste as good, I admit, but just knowing that you are fueling your body with exactly what it needs to make you better is helpful. Think about how rewarding it will be to be able to get into a better “squat stance” to play volleyball with your daughter. Think about your arm not getting as tired when holding your aunt’s big baby. Think about being able to throw your grandson into the air a little higher, and a little more times than before. 

*Pair something you already do with something you want to see improvement on.