Only owning one type of sock and 2 pairs of underwear are a couple of the ways I reduce time spent on mundane and repetitive tasks. This week is all about ideas to give you more riding time.
We create freedom through systems. It took me awhile to wrap myself around this idea. Even though I like structure, and some of my best work has come from a structured environment. I find it interesting that I struggle to implement systems.
My ah ha moment came when I realised that there will always be tasks that are repetitive in their nature. Whether it is for survival, work or life in general, the important part for me is not to lose focus of why some tasks benefit from being locked down, and putting the time in up front to get your life off the bike sorted will ultimately lead to more free time to do what we love, cycling! Boo Yah!
The macro view of all of this hinges on your goals and your targeted races for the year. Scheduling races and planning your calendar in advance is the first place to start. It will then have a flow on effect, dictating the rest of planning where it’s just a case of working out how much time you can allocate to your goals, then slotting in the pieces of the puzzle.
This is where I’m going to focus today. At the week to week level, squeezing in as much riding as you want with a little tweaking here and there.I started by blocking out the time that I can’t be on the bike. French lessons, work and family time. Then I can realistically look at where training can fit in.
If you do this, look specifically at:
Reduce Shopping Time Food by Shopping Online
I would set up a shopping cart with saved items and order every two weeks and get the food delivered to my work. Regarding vegetables, I have never had any problems with low-quality items being selected for me. Delivery is as low as $5 and all you do is select a delivery window of time.
Make Simple Repetitive Meals or Batch Meal Making
Optimising making food is a combination of batching and simple preparation. My diet through this regime was extremely repetitive, as I believe is the case with most lean athletes. My meals only varied if I was going to be on the bike, or just got off the bike. I don’t want to get too far into specific diets, but my breakfasts consisted of eggs if I wasn’t training, and Weetbix if I was. My lunches lasted the entire 2 week shopping cycle and were easy to prepare, something like frozen fish and veg heated in a special microwave dish. I would eat a couple of sandwiches after weekend training rides and dinner was batched and frozen twice a week, something like chilli or stir fry. I would eat a large pizza after weekday crits. You could batch lunches if you can’t get food delivered to work.One thing about this system. Sometimes you just gotta blow it out of the water. At times I would experience unreasonable needs for other types of food. If I had that craving I would get it out of the way and go and buy it. I usually find out why it wasn't part of my diet straight after I eat it!
Look For Ways to Cut Down on Washing and Ironing ClothesDon’t iron t-shirts and hang up clothes inside regardless of the season.
They’re not without a little bit of hassle but are well worth looking into.
Fold a t-shirt in 2 seconds. If you don’t know this you gotta check it out. Link below.
I optimised all my socks by buying 6 pairs of the same 6-inch black socks so they could be used for work and riding. Plus I didn’t have to sort them after washing. I used DeFeet logo ones as they were the simplest logo wise.
For coming on 4 years I have only owned 2 pairs of undies. They get a nightly wash and dry over night, normal cotton won't do. You need quick dry material.
I wash my clothes with Dr Bronner's and also do hair, body, and I have used it for teeth. Just don’t swallow.
Think about this for a moment. How much of your life is spent buying, evaluating, maintaining and cleaning possessions? I know we all love toys and have more than one bike kicking around, but without sounding preachy how much time do you spend on your things?The saying of your things end up owning you is very true. I’m not suggesting you sell your house if you have a large yard, just to consider the plants in the backyard. Or selling something that needs resources greater than the return on investment you are currently getting from it. The strategy here is to constantly eliminate instead of organize your stuff.
Ramit Sethi - Guilt Free Spending.
Two-minute rule: If you can do it in under 2 minutes do it.
