Recently, I’ve been very busy working on film sets. When you’re busy working 4-5 days a week with many 12-hour plus days, if that work isn’t directly related, it can be a challenge to keep progressing toward achieving your goals. In my case, these goals are related to the development as a martial artist, as a stunt performer and as a writer.

I find that if you stop working on your goals completely when life gets busy, it can be hard to come back to it after work lets up. I’ve seen this time and time again with my Jiu-jitsu students. Their work life or their family life gets busy, so they stop training to focus on those things. After the busyness eases up, they are usually out of the habit of training and they find it harder to be motivated to do so. They may have replaced the habit of going to class with some other form of recreation or stress relief, whether it’s watching TV, playing video games, or some other pastime.

If you’re serious about your goals, whatever they may be, it’s better to keep progressing in some way, than to take a break from it altogether. This may, however, require some creativity with your schedule. Here are a few tips:

1. Settle for less. Some people simply don’t want to compromise. If they can’t work toward their goals in the manner they’re used to, they don’t want to do it at all, despite the fact that doing something less will keep them more on track. For example, some people want to train in a martial art a minimum of say 2-3 times a week because they’re more easily able to build on their skill base. But if something comes up and they can’t make it that often, those who are stubbornly stuck to the habit of 2-3 classes a week, might just stop altogether rather than settling for once a week. In my own example, I haven’t been able to go to the gymnastics or parkour gym to work on my stunt-related skills as often as I like. I just go when I can and accept the situation for what it is.Try to be flexible and do what you can. You can always make up for it in other ways, which brings us to our next point.

2. Find alternative opportunities. While you may not be able to keep progressing toward your goals in your preferred way, you can always do other things. If you’re not making it to your martial arts classes as often, you can find ways to train at home, at work, or even on your commute. To keep working on my physical skills, I find time to work on my fitness. It’s usually not too hard to find 20 minutes to do a high intensity interval training cardio workout, or 30 minutes to do my circuit-based strength training sessions. I can work on my striking skills on my heavy bag. If one of my room mates is home, I might ask them to take a few minutes to help me work on a technique or practice fight reactions and/or choreography. Or if I can’t really work up a sweat because I’m working on set, I might just work through my techniques slowly, do my stretching, or I’ll just do visualization training. Books and videos can be another good way to keep progressing when you aren’t able to do physical training for whatever reason.

3. Keep in touch with your network. Humans are social creatures. When we surround ourselves with people who have similar goals, it helps us stay motivated and focused on our own goals. Even if I don’t have as much time to go to the gymnastics gym to train with other stunt performers or go to the dojo where I can teach or train with my students, I try to stay in regular touch with people from those networks. One accountability buddy of mine is a martial artist working towards his 2nd degree black belt, as well as an aspiring stunt performer and novelist. Since he is one of my room mates, we are able to chat regularly about our passions and our related goals. I also like to stay in touch with my dojo’s other instructor who takes over for me when I can’t be there, so I know how the classes are going. Whenever possible, I also like to chat with other martial artists/stunt performers who happen to be working on set with me.

4. Focus. My biggest problem with my goals is that I have so many. I have 3 main passions, martial arts, stunts and writing, each with specific goals. It’s widely accepted that you’ll make more progress in a field if you’re focused on that field, but I can’t bring myself to close the door on any of my three passions. This isn’t such a big deal when I have lots of free time, but when I have to devote time to working on set in a way that doesn’t directly support my goals in my 3 passions, I have to accept that I simply can’t do it all. Depending on my inclinations at the time, sometimes I’ll reduce my focus on one or two of my passions, in order to streamline my attention. Sometimes I blend my passions. For example, I’ll work on martial arts techniques that are also useful for stunts, or I’ll focus on writing for my martial arts blog or martial arts related book idea. While not perfectly ideal, at least it allows me to keep progressing. But oh how I sometimes envy who those who have a single passion on which to focus.

5. Forgive yourself. Some people beat themselves up for not spending more time focusing on their personal goals, sometimes so much so that they burn out and lose the flame that once drove them. Sometimes you have to put a goal on the back burner so you can re-fuel the stove. Just make sure you don’t turn off the burner.

Now over to you. Have you any tips for moving forward toward goals when you’re super busy? If so, please share in the comments. 🙂

Tags: productivity tips