Almost daily, I hear people talk about how they “can’t find time” or “want to find time” for various things they want to do.
If you’re among those people seeking to “find time,” this is for you.
The 2024 CrossFit Open reminded me of a valuable lesson about where to find time.
The Case Study: CrossFit Open 24.1 and 24.2
I did each workout twice. Each time, I managed to improve my performance, either by doing more reps in the time allowed, or cutting my time for the same amount of reps.
The first two workouts were especially notable for their time improvements, because I didn’t drastically improve my strength, skills, or technique in the few days between my first and second performance of the workouts.
I recorded the full workouts on video. I then went through to time stamp the videos so I could see the breakdown of how long each movement took. This information helped me strategize my plan for my second attempt.
After the second time doing each workout, I compared the time stamps to see where I improved: what was faster, and what was slower?
Open 24.1
Open 24.1 was a long slog of 90 dumbbell snatches and 90 burpees over the dumbbell, with a 15 minute time cap.
The first time I did the workout, I hit the time cap with 2 burpees left. I finished the workout over time, in 15:15.
The second time, I completed all 180 reps in 13:35.
A big chunk of time was saved by having more clear counting of reps, which avoided confusion and extra reps that had plagued me the first time. But that alone didn’t explain the big improvement in time.
Nor was I much faster. In fact, my burpees were overall slower in my second time doing the workout.
The biggest factor in improving my time was cleaning up the transitions.
Each transition — from snatches to burpees and from burpees to snatches —was, on its own, only a 5–10 seconds on average. But those transitions added up over the course of the workout. In my second run at the workout, I cut some of those transitions down to 0–2 seconds, on average.
The little things add up.
Open 24.2
Open 24.2 was a 20-minute workout requiring as many rounds or reps as possible in the time (AMRAP) of a 300-meter row, 10 deadlifts, and 50 jump rope singles.
The first time, I got through 6 full rounds plus a 270-meter row.
The second time, I completed 7 rounds plus 117-meter row.
The first time I did the workout I held a steady row pace through all rounds. In the second performance, my row pace slowed down in the middle rounds.
Here, too, transitions were a huge factor — perhaps even moreso than in 24.1. Each round of 24.2 required 3 transitions: from rower to the barbell, from barbell to the jump rope, and from the rope back to the rower.
The first time I did the workout, my barbell was behind my rower, to the left.
The problem with this set up was that I habitually get off the rower to my right. Each time I got off the rower, I walked 8–10 steps just to get to the barbell. By the end of the workout, my transitions from rower to deadlifts were 20 seconds.
It was incredibly inefficient.
The second time I did the workout, I set up the barbell directly to the right of the rower, cutting my transition to a maximum of 2 steps. My transition times from the rower to the deadlifts went from 10–20 seconds to 4–10 seconds.
I also tightened the spacing of the jump rope, shortening those transitions.
Transitions Lead to Distractions and Interference
Transitions create openings for distractions and interference from both external sources and internal sources.
In 24.1, every time I stood up fully in a transition, I allowed the fatigue to catch up with me, making it harder to get back into the rhythm of moving through the burpees and snatches.
In my first performance of 24.2, I got hit twice with interference from other people who were standing in my way, which created frustration that slowed me down.
With tighter spacing of my equipment, I didn’t leave room for people to enter the space.
The Cost of Unnecessary Transitions
The lesson here isn’t one that is new to me. In fact, this lesson informs my strategy for the “workout” of my days.
One of the reasons I do most of my writing in the gym is to eliminate transition time between getting the stimulus I need for my creative work and the location of doing that work.
Driving back home or to another location creates an opening for traffic, external interruptions, or internal disruptions, making it harder to get back into flow and stay on track.
This is especially important for those of us with ADHD, because each little interruption can cost us a lot of time and energy to regain our focus. Every transition to a new location generally requires a period of “settling in” before you’re ready to start the activity. Those little bits of time add up.
Find Time By Cutting Unnecessary Transitions
If you’re looking for where to find more time in your day, start by reviewing your activities. Make note of where you do them, and in what sequence.
Do you spend time driving kids to and from activities? What are you doing between drop-off and pick-up?
Do you run from one appointment to the next, each in a different location? How can you streamline it to minimize transitions?
Look for places where you can cut unnecessary transitions. Even a few minutes at a time adds up to big results.
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