Fitness and Time Managment

Fitness and Time Management

12 Tips for Making Time for Fitness

It is challenging for everyone to develop a workout regimen, but it is especially difficult for busy people. And who isn’t busy?

Since school began in September I’ve been running around like a chicken, with every free moment filled and I can tell you, without balance, on a crazy chicken schedule I can only last so long. I look at my daily list and think, “something has got to go.” But what will it be?

The number one reason people give for failing to maintain a workout habit is time. “I just don’t have time.” I propose that the lack of time for healthy habits is either straight up not accurate, or that you’ve got other stuff in your schedule that needs to go (TV watching, ehem.)

Here are some tips for resetting priorities to help change your perspective so you can forget your excuses once and for all.

1. The number one way to adopt the healthy habits you’re after is planning. What you plan will depend on your goals. Take a few minutes to plan the whole day. Look at your calendar on Sunday night and make an account for every hour in the coming week. This may sound extreme, but if you’re losing hours every day and you need to find time, this is the ticket. Keep account of what you’re up to. If you must keep your date with Netflix, but it on the schedule. If you want an extra 15 to savor your coffee and do nothing, put it on the schedule. Do everything on purpose. I guarantee you’ll find all of those missing moments. I’ve really loved scheduling in time to focus on each of my kids. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing. I seek that one lucky kid out and we talk and play for 10 minutes. The benefits of scheduling are far more than you realize. And, of course, schedule your workouts.
2. Know what you want, set realistic, time-bound goals (How Set Goals) . Review your goals daily, keeping them at the forefront of your mind.
3. Workout in the morning. This is a tough one for a lot of people, and especially moms that are up at all hours with kids during the night. I’ve never successfully had a morning routine when I’ve been nursing a baby at night. Others have had more success during the young baby stage. Once my sleep is of good quality, I love to rise very early and get stuff done. I work, read, and workout, before the kids get up for school. I couldn’t put a price on how it changes my perspective of the coming day. Beginning the morning habit starts the night before. Dinner must be at or before six so clean-up, homework, baths, and kid’s bedtime can happen. Most nights I get to bed early because it's the only way to begin the next day right.
4. Break your workouts up throughout the day. Cumulative workouts count, but you still need to plan them if you intend to progress, physically. Know what you’re going to do and stay on your toes. Sometimes a surprise free 20 minutes will present itself and you need to be ready to seize the time to get that workout it. Body weight exercises are best for this type of hit or miss schedule. All you need is a bit of space for squats, push ups, or planks. Soccer practice, playing at the park, folding laundry, or kid’s nap time are just a sample of places and times when mom’s find themselves standing around or scrolling through Instagram instead of taking control of their fitness. Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.
5. Meal prep. The American Journal of Preventative Medicine suggests that having little time to cook is one of the main reasons that people turn to fast and boxed foods. I look wistfully at some people having a “prep” day over the weekend and making pre-measured, healthy, personal foods to keep them on track. With so many people to prepare meals for I’ve always found that type of food preparation to be unreasonable for me. That isn’t to say that it is impractical for every parent. Parents of larger families may consider using the blessed slow-cooker for meal prep, pre-boil eggs for snacking, breakfast on-the-go, or lunches, wash and prepare lots of veggies for snacks, salads, soups, and lunches, bake a ton of chicken over the weekend for snacks, soups, salads, and lunches. You may also consider choosing your family’s seven favorite dinners and making them every week. This takes the guesswork out of meal-planning. And guess what, kids love to know what to expect. I am pretty sure people growing tired of the same foods is a myth. Keep it stupid-simple. The payoff is healthy meals, stress-free cooking, peace of mind knowing that you are making the meals that your family actually likes, having a dependable shopping list, and a predictable, reliable family-approved menu.
6. Delegate some daily tasks to free up an hour to workout. This will look different for every family, but it could be asking your spouse to drop the kids at school or sports practice, compelling kids to do some housework, or even get someone else to make dinner. You might have to crack some heads together, but you’ve got to fight for what you need.
7. Declutter. No one can think straight in a cluttered, messy space. Take one corner at a time and throw out all the junk. Believe me, even if you think you might need it later, the point is you don’t need it right now, and the price for keeping it is too high. Gain clarity, organization, and a certain amount of freedom by cleaning up your space. I am not exaggerating.
8. Ensure your workout is something you love. Studies show that enjoying your workout is vital to achieving consistency in a new fitness regimen. As you move past the six-month mark of established fitness habits, joy still plays a part, but ideally you begin to receive fulfillment from the increasing challenge itself.
9. Choose efficient exercises. When time is not on your side, intensity must be. If you’ve got a good, smart plan and are willing to push yourself for a short amount of time, you needn’t spend an hour in the gym (or wherever you workout). High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) will give you the biggest bang for your buck. The heart-rate goes up, a short rest, then up again, and so on for twenty or thirty minutes and you’re done.
10. Learn to say “no” to extra things that are not a high priority to you or your family. You really don’t have the extra time. If you’re good about tip number one, you’ll know just how much time you are working with.
11. Look for extra ways to get moving. This isn’t a part of a fitness regimen, per se, but it will help you and your family achieve fitness and other health goals. A family walk instead of sitting around in the living room after dinner, a friendly push up or pull up competition, a game of soccer or baseball on the weekend, are great ideas for making fitness a daily habit and a family affair.
12. Probably the most obvious way to make time to form a workout habit is to trade screen time for workout time. Enough said.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, most of the time, time itself isn’t actually the issue preventing us from sticking to a fitness program. It is important for us to own our secret mental barriers to leading a healthier lifestyle. Lack of motivation, lack of enjoyment, fear of failure or fear of getting hurt, low-self esteem, past negative experiences with fitness, etc. We all share some of these barriers, but they will never be overcome unless we are honest with ourselves. Imagine yourself in 10 years, and consider what is more painful, the process of improving your quality of life or being in the same shape or worse.

Change your mind. You are in charge of your schedule. At the end, you will be the only one answering for your actions. Look ahead and adopt a DIY attitude. Don’t waste your time blaming your past failures on others, stand firmly for yourself and take responsibility for your future. As cliche as it sounds, you got this.