Footbag and Time Management

matt_bailey · Post by **matt_bailey** » 03 May 2009 13:40

So I know this issue probably applies to most hobbies and sports, but find it applies especially to footbag in my case.

I'm currently on a gap year after finishing college, with the aim of earning some money before going to university in october. So, for now apart from work the only thing that competes with playing footbag for my free time is my karate training, so i find im able to play at least 8 - 9 hours a week. This has resulted in a nice improvement in my game and also an increase in the pleasure i take in playing.

However I'm worried that when I re begin my studies footbag might have to take a bit of a back seat, both in terms of the time i will have to play and the focus i can put on the game.

What are your experiences with fitting footbag in with work / studies / other hobbies or sports?

Iron Clad Ben · Post by **Iron Clad Ben** » 03 May 2009 16:18

For me it's all about planning and prioritizing. I rarely ever watch TV or play computer/video games any more. Plan your days, block out time. If you are worried about being bored with a set schedule or a slave to routine don't be, life will still throw you plenty of curves to keep it interesting. I'm able to stay on top of footbag, exercise, volunteering etc. because I set aside specific time for them. If you just let it be "when I get to it" you may or may not actually get to it. Having things on regular repetitive schedule will ingrain them as habits, and will make them much easier.

I'm a huge fan of the book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Habit #3 is "First Things First", it's a really good chapter on time management. Get that book out of the library, read it and USE it.

james_dean · Post by **james_dean** » 04 May 2009 00:48

Yeah, when I was working 20 hours a week at a supermarket and not doing much else, I kicked some serious footbag ass. Good days. Since I started working full time I've really struggled to actually get it in, but I'm pretty lazy. I don't know what your schedule is going to be like, but any success I have at getting footbag in usually involves organising to do it immediately after work. Also I try to fit as many sessions in early in the week because I know the closer to the weekend I get, the more my priorities shift towards drinking and socialising

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 04 May 2009 03:58

Yep, I'm a fulltime worker and a part time student, so time is an issue for me. I too block out the "immediately after work" spot for footbag, 3 or 4 times midweek. I find that playing before dinner is allot better than playing right after.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 04 May 2009 05:06

Yeah, this is sort of what I was feeling out with this thread. Basically, I encourage high school students and undergrads to play as much as they can, because once you start working a real job or enter a difficult graduate program, your ability to play really gets cut.

Tripp · Post by **Tripp** » 04 May 2009 06:20

Any advice for anyone who has a toddler and both parents work full time with no set babysitter?

Rieferman · Post by **Rieferman** » 04 May 2009 07:12

Any advice for anyone who has a toddler and both parents work full time with no set babysitter?

my wife's a stay at home mom, but otherwise, this is my situation. I built a shred barn so I can play at home while they sleep at night

Frank_Sinatra · Post by **Frank_Sinatra** » 04 May 2009 10:16

I think you've already nailed the answer in your topic's title - you've got to have some kind of time management strategy. It is definitely possible to make time for footbag while keeping a full time job, but you've got to decide how much time you want to spend, and which other things in your life will take a back seat to footbag.

I didn't start playing seriously until I already had a full time job. And at the time I was replacing other activities that weren't very rewarding anymore. So that's how I found the time. But as things have progressed over the last few years the choices have been getting harder. Which isn't a bad problem to have, but it can feel like I'm just trying to do too much in too little time.

Generally I bring my gear to work, change in the bathroom, head to a park near where I work, and kick. Then I still have to commute home, eat, & shower. And that's pretty much all I have time for in a day. Basically, no matter what plans I make on weekdays, I've only got time for that one activity. If I make plans other than footbag, it can become very stressful to try to fit in a session and fulfill whatever my other plans might be.

Juggling a career, a family, and footbag? Whooo boy I can't even imagine how difficult that can get.

matt_bailey · Post by **matt_bailey** » 04 May 2009 11:38

Thanks for the book suggestion ben, will have to check that out

I can tell by the response this issue is a prominent one

Actually Ken it was partly that thread which got me thinking about this (as I will be studying architecture like Olav)

Do you think work is more intefering than studying then?

Totally agree with Nathan in that sometimes it does feel like cramming too much into too little time, and wouldnt want footbag to become some sort of burden

P.S. Ive got to get myself a nocturnal shred barn!!!

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 04 May 2009 12:15

matt_bailey wrote: P.S. Ive got to get myself a nocturnal shred barn!!!

Just build one. I hear its super easy.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 04 May 2009 15:52

The period of my life when I played footbag the most was when I was working full time for the first time in my life. I used to play 2 to 4 hours every working night - we had a group kick on Saturdays and I took a break on Sundays. During this time it took me from Mid Jan to late April to go from not being able to play tiltless to being completely guiltless (although I had a fairly high non-tiltless base).

Really I'd say there is one thing that's important, which is motivation. If you really want to get good at footbag and make it your number one priority, finding time to play is not difficult at all. Full time work is 8 hours a day - plus, lets say 2 hours commute time (I only had 1 hour). That's 10 hours for work. 8 hours for sleep sounds reasonable (except when I'm hungover or particular tired I always sleep almost exactly 7 hours). That gives you 6 hours a day to do other things. Of course there are other things you need to do in your life, which is why sometimes I only played 2 hours (especially touch football nights). I find it very hard to believe that everybody can't find at least 1 hour every day to play footbag (if they choose that over other leisure activities)

If you're studying it's probably even easier. Not because you have more time, but because your time is more flexible. In fact usually when I'm studying I'll do 2 hours study and then spend half an hour doing something physical (footbag, go for a run, kick a footy if my housemates are about etc.) - breaking up your study with physical exercise will actually help you study and improve your results - so if you're studying it's in your advantage to also play footbag. I think you're supposed to have a half hour break every hour to get the best results (I could be wrong, I read it in New Scientist a few years ago), however even if you take 1 hour long break after 4 hours of studying you're still going to be both improving your results from study and playing footbag an hour a day.

If you want to get really serious than you need to have a disciplined routine. All serious professional athletes do this. Obviously in footbag you're not a serious professional athlete, but that's what works for getting the best results.

Lon Smith once told me that every day he puts on his favourite CD of the time and plays for the length of the CD no matter how he's feeling. That's the kind of discipline you need. If you're exhausted or sick or sore it doesn't matter. You don't have a choice. You have to play. Obviously a tiny bit of common sense applies here, but only in instances where you risk doing serious long term damage to yourself. On an individual day it might be detrimental to play while sick or really exhausted, but overall getting in to that routine of playing no matter what far outweighs that detriment on the odd occasion.

These days footbag is not my number 1 priority and I spend a lot less time playing. I still have a bit of a kick now and then, but only twice a week regularly. Despite the fact that I play sport 6 nights a week now, and work full time, I'm still sure that if I chose to, I could also play footbag every day as well. Instead I've adopted the same strategies I've talked about for footbag towards the thing I've replaced it with in my life - studying science.

abstract · Post by **abstract** » 19 May 2009 07:35

i remember reading an old interview with vasek on the old footbag.cz site--i tried searching for it again, but could not find it.

vasek pretty much walked through what a normal day was like for him with respect to his practice.

it was something like, 2 hours in the morning before school, then 1 hour on lunch break, then 2 hours after school before dinner, then 2-3 hours after dinner, making up about 8 hours of training on a good day.

if you have a passion for something, often all you need to do is to let that passion drive you & you'll find you won't have a problem making time. ( ie. schedule your needs--school, work, social--footbag will work itself in there if you dedicate yourself to your passion )

morning training is something i need to explore. it could be the best way to work a 2nd session into the day, while giving my body some time to recuperate between sessions.

i agree with the above comment that it is easiest to get into a footbag session immediately following work. but i suppose this can vary depending on what type of work you do. i have a sedative desk jockey scenario, so getting outside & jumping around like a lunatic is just what i need at that time of the day.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 19 May 2009 08:18

I have great interest in pre-work morning workouts. But I am the night owl type, and I always go to sleep as late as possible and wake up at the last minute possible.
I recently read about a very prolific writer who simply wrote for 2 hours every morning before work, and got hundreds of novels out that way.

If you intend to pick up the habit, do tell how it goes!

abstract · Post by **abstract** » 22 Jun 2009 09:11

PoisonTaffy wrote:I have great interest in pre-work morning workouts.

If you intend to pick up the habit, do tell how it goes!

i am on day 5 of 2 play sessions per day.

i did have to give up the night owl lifestyle entirely to accomplish this, but it feels pretty awesome.

sleep is critical to the success of multiple training sessions without burnout, as your body only rebuilds itself during rest, never exercise.

The single greatest cause of improvement is remaining injury-free to train. - Olympian Runner, Jeff Galloway

so i sleep at 9pm now, get up at 5am to train, then sleep for another hour before work & sleep another hour after the 2nd training session. roughly 10 hours of sleep per day. what a world of difference it makes. i didn't think i'd last a week doing multiple sessions, but i feel stronger now than when i was only doing a single session every other day.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 22 Jun 2009 09:28

I tried waking early for a session last week and felt too drowsy to even read a newspaper.
Your experience sounds great, though, I'll be strong and try to break my night owl habits, too.

james_dean · Post by **james_dean** » 22 Jun 2009 20:56

abstract wrote:
PoisonTaffy wrote:I have great interest in pre-work morning workouts.

If you intend to pick up the habit, do tell how it goes!
i am on day 5 of 2 play sessions per day.

i did have to give up the night owl lifestyle entirely to accomplish this, but it feels pretty awesome.

sleep is critical to the success of multiple training sessions without burnout, as your body only rebuilds itself during rest, never exercise.

The single greatest cause of improvement is remaining injury-free to train. - Olympian Runner, Jeff Galloway

so i sleep at 9pm now, get up at 5am to train, then sleep for another hour before work & sleep another hour after the 2nd training session. roughly 10 hours of sleep per day. what a world of difference it makes. i didn't think i'd last a week doing multiple sessions, but i feel stronger now than when i was only doing a single session every other day.

Damn that's sweet. Props on a tough training regime, hope you keep it up!

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 23 Jun 2009 11:32

Managing your own time can be frustrating but it gets downright aggravating when people continually show up late or flake out.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 01 Aug 2009 23:04

Greg, are you keeping up with your new routine? What are the good and bad in it?

After I got back from worlds I started going to sleep early and waking up early to get a footbag session before work. I find tons of benefits in splitting my spare time to two parts of the day, especially in the fact that two sessions per day is not far fetched any more.

abstract · Post by **abstract** » 05 Aug 2009 10:29

the routine has been going through a lot of changes. i am not playing footbag in the mornings at the moment, just stretches & a light workout ( crunches, push ups, etc ). at the same time, i stopped taking days off entirely & have played every day for about 5+ weeks now.

my job is moving to a new location which has me biking 11 kilometres each morning, so that is replacing my morning sessions.

one thing i learned, though, is that morning workouts, in whatever form, are incredible. it sends a message to your body about how you want it develop. your body just finished rebuilding itself when you woke up, so there is very little "developmental" downtime if you use those newly strengthened muscles right away. ( there's no science backing that statement, just the way i feel based on experience--i feel much more alive when i exercise in the AM comparatively )

the only bad thing about the morning workout is if you overdo it, you kind of feel like garbage for the whole day. there were a few times when i would try to shred really hard in the morning, but it ultimately made the 2nd session much less productive. before i stopped the morning sessions, i was using them as a large warmup for the 2nd session later in the day. lots of kicks ( multiple hundreds ) & basic tricks.

maverick-morley · Post by **maverick-morley** » 08 Aug 2009 10:28

wake up an hour earlier every day and play then. i play better when i do this becasue it not so hot, and i have more energy.

and its quiet so i can get into the "tora" faster and for longer.