If you clicked on this article, I’m guessing you’re a super busy person like me. It’s pretty hard to start working out when you can barely fit it in your schedule in the first place. Throughout this post, I share tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years to help begin a workout routine. Stick with it, and try not to go crazy throughout the process!
How to Start Working Out With a Busy Schedule
I’ve been having a hard time recently sticking to a workout routine. (You can read all about it here).
It used to be like second nature to me. If I went more than a couple of days without working out, I would start to feel bad about myself.
Now I’m in no way saying that my old mindset was healthy, but I was definitely more motivated to prioritize working out above other things. At this point in my life, prioritizing exercise that much is almost impossible.
I work a full-time job, am in grad school full-time, run this blog, and want to make time for my relationship, family, and friends. With all that already on my plate, fitness often gets pushed to the backburner (or lately, ignored completely).
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through an affiliate link, we will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This allows us to continue running our site & providing free content to our readers. Read our full disclosure here. Thanks for your support!
Dealing with an Unhealthy Relationship with Exercise
As you can see, both of the above situations are extremes. They’re at opposite ends of the spectrum. Ideally, I want to find a balance that works in my life now, where I can meet somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.
Instead of pushing myself to workout almost every day like I did in the past, maybe I could try to fit in 2-3 workouts a week. Since my mindset on fitness has been all-or-nothing for so long, that’s the extreme I tend to go to.
When I think about working out once a week, it seems pointless to my subconscious (because I’ve been so obsessed with working out constantly in the past). When in reality, working out once a week is obviously better for me than not working out at all. It’s the unhealthy relationship I’ve had with exercise & food (in the past) that leads my mind down this road.
I want to change that.
How to Make Exercise a Priority, Without Obsessing Over It
Starting this summer, I want to rethink my relationship with exercise. I don’t want to completely give up on it like I have the past few months (mostly in quarantine). But I also don’t want (or have time) to start exercising for an hour every single day.
I’m going to create an exercise routine that allows me to land somewhere in the middle of both extremes. My plan, starting now, is to schedule out 2 or 3 days every week that I’m going to pencil in a workout. The workout can be anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on how busy my day is.
This plan isn’t going to be set in stone, that’s why I’m “penciling it in”. If something more important comes up, I’ll always allow myself to reschedule the workout (or cancel if need be).
This way, I won’t be putting so much pressure on myself to get a workout done at all costs. It will be something that I can change up when I need to!
I wrote a post previously on starting a workout routine after a hiatus and created a schedule in there. That’s the schedule I’m going to loosely base my routine off of for the next 2 months. By the end of summer, I will hopefully have a much healthier (and more dedicated) relationship with working out.
How to Start Working Out and *Stick With It* When You’re Crazy Busy
Starting a fitness routine is one thing, but sticking with it is a whole different ball game. It’s always easy to start something like this because you’re energized about the new idea, and everything seems fun/enjoyable! I love starting new things due to this burst of energy that you get for the first week or two.
But the downside to this initial burst of energy is that it almost always comes with a crash after a few weeks or months. Once things start to get repetitive and stagnant, it’s much harder to stay motivated and keep working towards your goals.
Especially if you’re super busy like me, other things can start to get in the way more easily. For example, if I have a week where I have a lot of work stress, a 6-page paper due for school, and still want to prioritize the blog and my relationships… This can make it really challenging to still have the motivation to workout.
How to Keep the Motivation Flowing
When I get home from a tough day at work, all I want to do is curl up with a glass of wine and watch The Bachelor. It’s mindless, easy, and helps me to forget about the stress of the day (for a few hours at least).
While the above situation sounds absolutely great and should definitely be incorporated into your routine, it’s not healthy to be doing every day. Since it’s fun and mindless, it’s easy to get into the habit of doing this every single day. I’ve definitely gone down that road before and it’s hard to turn back once you’ve been doing it for a while.
Although it’s challenging to change this habit, it’s definitely not impossible!
Sticking to your goals is easy once you get started. You just have to keep finding ways to stay motivated, determined, and have fun with the process!
Finding ways to stay active that you genuinely enjoy is a great way to stay naturally motivated. Whether it be playing on a rec sports league, going on trail walks, or anything you love… It’s all great for staying positive about exercise!
Planning Out Your Weeks = The Key to Success
If I didn’t keep my life in a planner, I’d be a hot mess. Well, more of a hot mess than I already am. 😉 I actually have 2 separate planners: one for school and one for everything else.
My absolute favorite planner that I keep all my to-do lists, goals, plans, and exercise routines in, is the CleverFox Daily Planner. Without this bad boy, I honestly don’t know where I’d be. Actually, I’d probably just be curled up on the couch all day with a bunch of snacks and a wine IV.
At the beginning of every week, I fill out my planner with what I need to get done that week, what days I will have more free time, and when I am able to get a workout in.
It’s completely customizable, which I love! If you skip a week (or 4), you don’t waste a bunch of paper and empty pages. You fill in the month & dates at the beginning of the week, so you can start anytime.
They have a monthly section too, where you can plan out bigger events throughout the month. It’s also a great place to keep track of birthdays!
There are 168 Hours in a Week
I also love the 168 hours schedule by Laura Vanderkam. When life gets crazy busy (which I’m sure it does for you guys *often* if you’re reading this)… It helps to remind yourself of how many hours you truly have in the week.
Even with a 40 hour a week job + travel time, a full load of schoolwork, 8 hours/night of sleep, and time to work on the blog… I still end up having a good 30-40 hours free with nothing scheduled. This was mind-blowing to me the first time I filled out one of these schedules, and still continues to surprise me every time I do it!
Filling this out at the beginning of the week helps to reduce stress from the “never having enough time” mindset. With 30+ hours of free time left, I can easily fit in all the things I want to do (including working out). I can plan out three 1-hour workouts, time to grocery shop and do other household necessities, and still have a good chunk to spend with Jeremy, friends, and family.
It’s all about being aware of the time you have and utilizing it in the best possible way to meet your goals. 🙂
PS: If you want a planner that’s even more specific to your health & fitness goals, I’ve got just the thing! Enter your email below, and I’ll send my free printable health & fitness planner straight to your inbox.
The Best Way to Stay Motivated: Treat Yo’Self!
I can’t stay motivated to start working out if I don’t treat myself often. A couple of my favorite ways are with yummy snacks and new workout clothes!
Fabletics is a brand that I’ve loved and supported for years. They not only have retail stores, but also an awesome website & membership. I started out my membership by getting 2 pairs of high-quality leggings for only $24!
This is an insane deal, considering most of their leggings are $50-$80 apiece. I’ve been wearing the first pair I got for years now and they’re still going strong!
If you try out the membership and decide it’s not for you, you’re allowed to cancel at any time. Even after only getting the 2 initial pairs of leggings, you can cancel right away.
But the leggings & other fitness apparel is so awesome, you probably won’t want to. 😉
Another way I love to treat myself is with delicious snacks/desserts! An amazing way to eat candy, but not worry about consuming copious amounts of sugar, is with Smart Sweets!
Smart Sweets are a healthy alternative to regular candy, with no added sugar, sugar alcohols, or artificial sweeteners. I’m a big supporter of this because I normally hate the taste of sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners. So Smart Sweets = the best option!
You can get a variety pack of Smart Sweets on Amazon if you want to test out all the different flavors. They have flavors that taste like Swedish fish, Sour patch kids, gummy bears, and more!
Conclusion
There are plenty of tips and tricks to start working out again if you put your mind to it. All it takes is a little motivation, planning, and a lot of believing in yourself.
I’m here for you guys through every step of the process.
Firstly, because everyone needs support when they’re starting something new in their life… & I love to be that for y’all! Secondly, because I am going through the same dang thing, so I understand the struggle. 🙂
Comment Below With:
1. How do you stay motivated to workout after being stuck in a rut?
2. What are a few of your favorite ways to stay active? [Walking, playing sports, shopping ;)]
3. What’s your biggest fitness goal right now, that makes you want to stick with a workout routine?
Great tips and suggestions. I am great at making excuses on NOT working out but now it’s time to start working out. Getting in shape and having better health is a must for me.
Gina,
I feel you on the making excuses. It’s a lot easier to come up with all the reasons why we can’t workout, than all the reasons why we can/should! It seems like you know how important working out is and the benefits that come with fitness, so that’s already the most important thing. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Erin
Generally after working out, I feel satisfied with myself (high release of Dopamine). It definitely is hard to fit a workout in a schedule at times, but it’s never impossible! Thanks for sharing,
-The Blogging Zoomer
https://bmoblogs.com/
Agreed completely! When you think of the benefits of exercise that you’ll feel afterwards, instead of focusing on the negatives, it is much easier to stay motivated. 🙂 Thanks for reading!