You’re a busy person. You have a long list of things to get done. Your attention is being pulled in many directions. You’re fighting fires with every passing hour, at work and at home. Life is complex. And as fun and life changing as the jiu jitsu journey can be, it requires your time, regular practice, and ongoing commitment.

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”

With every commitment, there is a trade off of another commitment. When you come to jiu jitsu class, you will forego the opportunity to work longer hours. You won’t be able to look after your kid, mow the lawn, or wash the dishes.

What’s more, this demand for time doesn’t go away. When you’re in it for the long haul, jiu jitsu only gets deeper, and you’ll find that you want to do it more and more.

Like anything, the more attention you give to something, the more it will flourish. This is why you need to proactively plan your jiu jitsu time.

A regular practice of jiu jitsu will not happen by accident.  Time will not leap up and bite you in the butt. Nobody will give it to you, they’ll only try to take it away. That’s why you need to anticipate, plan, and strategise. Seek out time, snatch it, and hold onto it for dear life.

Create jiu jitsu time, carve it out, and defend it like a berserker.

Here’s how:

1. Be Realistic To Be Consistent

Decide how many classes, realistically, you can do throughout the week. Aim for a minimum of two. The optimal amount of classes per week will depend on many factors. When you train with slow and smooth, you can train more regularly. If your school is all about training hard, you physically will not be able to handle as much.

You may want to aim high shoot for the stars. But in this case aim for what you think will be easy, and achievable. It’s important to set the right expectations from the start. Consistent training is what will create progress, and give you the most joy.

2. Get A Calendar & Practice Defence

Use your schedule planner. Carve out those times in your week that you’ll be going to jiu jitsu class. Render yourself unavailable during those times.

You may have to reschedule social outings, and perhaps your boss can accomodate some changes to your plan. Have the end goal in mind and work backwards towards it.

If you don’t prioritise this time then nobody else will. Expect it to be threatened. Someone or something will try to take your time away. Prepare and plan accordingly.

• Do you need someone to watch your kids?

• Do you need to juggle schedules with someone else?

• Perhaps you go into work earlier to accommodate an early exit?

Think ahead. You know your routines. Few chores are truly surprising.

3. Know Thyself

You are in the best place to create your plan because you know what suits you. If you hate mornings, don’t expect to go to jiu jitsu for 6am class.

It is never a good idea to work against your habits and nuances. This will only further ingrain them into your psyche. Listen, and look around. See how you work best. And do that.

You know what makes you tick. Work with yourself.

4. When the Time Comes, Go To Jiu Jitsu. 

It’s not easy. You may not be perfect. But when you plan ahead, and you make the necessary arrangements beforehand, you can make it work for you.

Consistency is contagious.

As you become more consistent with your jiu jitsu practice, you will notice that it seeps into every other part of your life. This is the ultimate joy of jiu jitsu. Everything becomes better, and easier, because you are learning effectiveness – what works for you and what doesn’t.

Soon you will realise that jiu jitsu times becomes less of an expense, and more of an investment. When this happens, you know your jiu jitsu journey is well and truly under way.

Sit back, show up, and enjoy the ride.