Is the following statement true, “ swimming takes so much of my time I have no time for anything else.” How do you juggle everything such as swimming, school, rest, homework, family, friends and everything else that comes at you every day. It’s a lot but manageable if you have a positive mindset that allows you to let things go when they smack you in the face.
Finding balance is about planning in advance. Let's break down your week and Ill fill in the hours that I can and you can do the rest.
- the day has 24 hours
- the week has 7 days
- the week has 168 hours
- swimming takes up depending on your group or amount of workouts 3 hours/4 hours/6 hours/7.5. (figure out where you fall) that leaves about 160.5 hours at a minimum. Thats about 5% of your week. Interesting fact
- school takes up about 6.5 hours of the day, totaling 32.5 hours of your week (about 19% of your week)
- home work takes an average of________ hours per day. You need to fill that one out.
- Breakfast and dinner takes an average of ________ hours per day. You need to fill that one out also.
- sleep could differ but I'm guessing a minimum of 9 hours (63 hours a week) (about 38% of the week)
- How many hours of the week are left?_______________
When your trying to plan your week to find that balance I have some advice for you that may or may not be of value and I will dispense that advice now
- HYDRATE YOURSELF
- use a calendar or your diary ( take a few moments on Sunday and make plans for the week, this is when I make the general plan for your workouts for the week.)
- do not procrastinate (stay clutter and baggage free)
- stay on a consistent sleep schedule ( you can't maker up for lost sleep) If it's not consistent you'll be on that roller coaster with all the ups and downs and your life, school, swimming will all suffer in the end.
- prioritize practice. this is crucial to your success. when your there BE there in total. work is work don't look for excuses not to do something
You're a swimmer, we all know that and see your commitment to your sport and that's a good thing. However you need to understand that you have a life outside of the pool and you need to allow yourself to enjoy that life to it's fullest. When you find that balance it's when all the things in your life seem to be better.
If your always occupying yourself with swimming and make little room for anything else in life, two things may occur. "First, it's very easy to become physically and mentally burnt out. Secondly, it can make swimming seem very monotonous and somewhat of a grind." Both of these factors can quickly take the fun out of anything even swimming.
Enjoying other things outside of swimming will go a long way to keep you motivated in swimming. It will keep you fresh and allow you to keep working towards your goal.
Now don't get me wrong I am NOT telling you to skip a bunch of practices in a row as that would be a determent to your progress and that is where the planning comes into the picture. For example coming off a big three day meet the best thing we can do for you is to allow you to skip a practice and allow to hit the reset button. Our jobs as coaches is to educate you to the fact that's it's okay to take that day away from the pool. You just need to be smart about it and plan ahead.
In closing I would say that in order to stay balance focus on the now. worrying about the task at hand. At practice in the middle of sets I hear "Can we do this or can we do 4 rounds instead of 6?" Your head is somewhere else b ut definitely not on the task if front of you. That will make that task be it swimming, homework or anything you're doing seem all the more impossible. This leads to anxiety and leave you feeling stressed out. Everything suffers.
Finding that balance will lead to a happier life at home, at school and in the pool. Don't forget to reward yourself from time to time because you are important and you deserve it.
Next topic-- The Letter E
Comments