For many people, having a busy lifestyle can make it difficult to find time for exercise. You may find yourself wondering how to find time to exercise with a busy schedule.
But, just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you should forget about exercising altogether.
In fact, regular exercise is important for both your physical and mental health, and it can fit into any schedule if you know how.
Here are some tips on how to squeeze in a workout when life is too busy.
1. Analyse Your Daily Schedule
The first thing to do when you think you don’t have time for exercise is to map out your entire week.
Keep a time diary for one week. What do you do for every hour or every minute of the day throughout the week?
You may find that you have more free time than you realised and can fit in a 20min home workout each day.
You might find that you’re spending a lot of time on tasks that can be outsourced or done in advance to help free up time.
Some examples of daily schedule changes to increase spare time include:
- Meal prep to save the time spent in the kitchen each day. Learn how to meal prep here.
- Teaching the kids to make their own lunches, clean up after meals, clean their own rooms, do the washing. This teaches them important skills, and allows them to help you keep an clean home and save time.
- Limiting screen time in the evenings; how much time do you spend watching tv or scrolling through your social media to help you unwind after a long day? That extra 20 mins can be used to do a relaxing yoga practice or go for an evening walk instead.
If you find that you still can’t fit in regular physical activity after analysing your schedule, then the rest of our tips may help.
2. Take Advantage of Technology
By removing the time it takes to get to a gym, fitness studio or park, the easier it becomes to squeeze exercise into your day.
There are plenty of apps and online programs that make it easy to fit in a workout from the comfort of your own home or office.
With the use of apps or Youtube videos, you have access to hundreds of exercises, with instructions and even video demonstrations at your fingertips.
This makes it easy to do short workouts throughout the day whenever you have a few minutes available.
3. Set An Alarm Every Hour
This tip can be especially useful for those who have office jobs or those who work at a desk at home.
Set an alarm every hour that prompts you to stand up and do a short burst of exercise.
Whether it be 20 squats, 10 push ups, a minute of jumping, or a walk around the office, this technique is designed to get you moving more throughout the day.
Not only does this help increase your physical activity for exercise, the increase in blood flow and oxygen can also make your work more productive and make you feel refreshed and energetic.
4. Make Exercise Part of Your Routine
If you want to make sure that exercise becomes part of your lifestyle, try scheduling specific times in your daily routine for physical activity.
This could be anything from taking a short walk during your lunch break at work or doing some yoga after dinner each night—the important thing is that it becomes part of your daily routine so that it no longer feels like an extra task but rather something that just happens as part of the day-to-day flow.
The more you prioritise exercise, the easier it will become to do on a daily basis.
5. Mix It Up
Variety is key when it comes to exercise; if you do the same workout every day, chances are you’ll quickly lose interest and motivation.
To keep things fun and interesting, switch up your workouts by trying different activities such as running, cycling, yoga or strength training so that there’s always something new and exciting going on with your fitness regime.
Not only will this help keep boredom at bay but mixing up different types of activities will also give you a more balanced overall workout program, as well as preventing injuries due to overuse of one type of activity over another.
6. Make Exercise Fun!
If you’re only exercising because you think you should, chances are it will slip out of your daily routine and you’ll find yourself thinking you don’t have enough time in the day to exercise, when in reality you just don’t want to do it.
To combat this, try to find activities that are fun and exciting to help you stay on track with your physical output.
For instance, you might walk to a great sunrise or sunset spot each day, take up a fun sport such as rock climbing, surfing or dancing, take a walk on the beach each morning, go snorkeling, incorporate hiking or join a team sport.
You can even create a schedule which allows you to try multiple fun activities throughout the week, such as sunrise walks and morning bike rides on weekdays, and hiking on weekends.
The more you enjoy the exercise that you do, the more likely it will become part of your regular routine.
Final Analysis On How To Find Time To Exercise On A Busy Schedule
Incorporating physical activity into a busy lifestyle isn’t always easy but it’s definitely possible with a bit of planning and dedication.
Remember that even just 10 minutes here and there adds up over time and don’t forget to mix things up by trying different types of exercises – this will help ensure that working out stays enjoyable rather than becoming another chore!
With these tips on how to squeeze in a workout when life is too busy, hopefully now staying fit won’t seem quite as impossible after all!