Eva Longoria on her priorities: 'If I'm not investing the time in my family or spending it wisely, then the answer is no'

The Unwind is Yahoo Life’s well-being series in which experts, influencers and celebrities share their approaches to wellness and mental health, from self-care rituals to setting healthy boundaries to the mantras that keep them afloat.

If you've ever wondered how Eva Longoria manages to do it all — and between acting, hosting, producing and more, she really does do it all — allow us to introduce you to the concept of the 15-minute meeting.

"I don't waste a minute in my day," Longoria — whose latest projects include hosting the new CNN+ docuseries Searching for Mexico, podcasting with iHeartRadio and fronting a consumer health awareness campaign for Allergan, an AbbVie company — tells Yahoo Life's The Unwind.

"If I'm in the car, I'm doing a conference call; if I'm on a conference call, I'm getting a pedicure," she says. "I'm doing three things at once and really utilizing [my time]. I do a lot of 15-minute meetings. Like, I don't know why we were conditioned to do an hour. Every time you have a meeting, you put it on your schedule for an hour and that doesn't make any sense. All I need to do is talk to you about this specific thing; let's have a game plan and I have to move on to the next call."

Clearly, the Golden Globe-nominated star doesn't have a moment to waste, and not just because of her hefty workload. In 2018, she and husband José "Pepe" Bastón welcomed son Santiago. Making time for her little boy, now 3, motivates her to use her time wisely.

"I want to be as efficient as I can with my workday so that I have more time with my son and my family," Longoria, 47, explains.

"My family's my biggest priority," she adds, "and when you have that center of your universe, it's really easy to schedule everything else. ... This is the most important thing. This is what I have to make time for."

Setting boundaries also helps. Longoria has no problem turning down things if it means being able to prioritize her loved ones.

"I love to say no, actually, more than yes," she shares. "I say no to a lot of things, and I'm OK with it. You know, some people are very nervous to say no: no to family, no to friends, no to a project, no to an opportunity. ... If I'm not investing the time in my family or spending it wisely, then the answer is no."

One thing the actress, producer and entrepreneur couldn't resist saying yes to is her new campaign drawing attention to presbyopia, also known as age-related blurry near vision. Like many others with the progressive eye condition, Longoria noticed her vision worsening after turning 40.

"I was moving my phone away from my face," she says. "I was trying to make the font bigger. I couldn't read the labels on my makeup. I'm like, 'What color lipstick is that?'"

The former Desperate Housewives star now uses Vuity's FDA-approved prescription eye drops once daily to treat the condition and help her "see better up close"; she recommends visiting www.VUITY.com for full safety information, including potential side effects and help with connecting to an eye doctor.

Along with her physical health, Longoria also takes care to protect her mental well-being through a combination of meditation and exercise. She's a fan of mini trampoline workouts, which allow her to "be present" while she gets fit.

"It's one of the exercises that you have to be present for because you're learning and the routine's changing and you've gotta add onto it," she explains. "And so it's like building blocks: 'We're gonna jump now, we're gonna do jumping jacks, now we're gonna do jumping jack scissors ... and you keep adding and adding and adding, so you have to remember. It really is exercise for your mind, and it's an exercise where you have to be present. I used to be a runner and I would just zone out when I would run. [With] this, you can't really do [that]; you have to stay present and in the moment. That's a good exercise for your mind."

She admits she's "not great" at journaling, but is all in when it comes to bodywork as self-care.

"I love massages. I love my chiropractor. I like acupuncture," she shares. "I like spas and red saunas and like all of that — facials, pedicures ... all of that is self-care."

Fittingly, given that she's launching her Connections with Eva Longoria podcast this Thursday, the native Texan loves unwinding with a good podcast. That said, she's careful to avoid content that's too negative.

"When I was pregnant, a friend of mine said, 'Be careful what you consume when you're pregnant.' Like, I loved those crime dramas. I was, like, one of those crime drama people," she laughs. "I'm like, 'He murdered her! I know it! It was the boyfriend!'

"And [my friend] was like, 'Just be careful what you're consuming on social media, in your news outlets,'" she continues. "And I did a cleanse of my social media [thinking], Why am I following that account? That's negative, that's negative. I stopped following all the news outlets because that's just anxiety-ridden. And so with podcasts, l want to fuel my mind with positive things and something that I learn. That's another contributor to my mental health: I'm constantly learning. I'm a very curious person. And so you don't stay in your world all the time, you're just branching out and learning other things."

Between her work projects, philanthropy and family, Longoria is committed to eking out the most of every moment. But she also accepts that you have to make room for the things that matter most.

"I think the myth that you can have it all is a myth," she notes. "I mean, you can have it all, just not at the same time."

—Video produced by Olivia Schneider.

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