I'm constantly short on time. Who isn't, right? You need to work out but how do you find the time? Here's a couple ways I've found that work pretty well.
Everyone gets 24 hours in a day, no more no less. Some people take full advantage of the time they have and some don't. I've been guilty of wasting time. However, as I get older I find my time management skills have improved.
My time management skills had to improve. We have a young son, we both work and I work the equivalent of 3 jobs. So where do I find time to work out? It's all about using time wisely.
What's Important?
The first step is to determine what's important and what's not. Working out may not be that important to you. However, it's well established that a sedentary lifestyle isn't good for a variety of reasons. I want to be around to see my grand kids and great grand kids, so I probably have to work out.
What's Not Important?
What can you cut out? I'm sure you think there's nothing in your life that you could possibly cut. You're stretched to the max and everything is important. Right.
If you're a typical American, then you watch some amount of TV per day. Dumb. Watching TV will make you poor and stupid. OK, maybe it won't but you're not going to get wealthy and healthy just watching TV. And no, watching work out videos doesn't count either.
What Can You Change?
I'm sure you have some items on your schedule that are fixed. I have to drop my son off at the day care on a fixed schedule and I have to be to work by a certain time. I have a little bit of flexibility with both, but not much.
Make a list of the items you can't change. What can't you re-schedule, what's not negotiable? Now look through that list. What is really non-negotiable? Is your work schedule etched in stone?
How I Did It
Working Out On Your Lunch Break
I started working out on my lunch breaks at my previous job. That job was 2 minutes from my home and 3 minutes from the gym, so it was quite convenient.
The gym I belong to has a cafe so I could always pick up a quick (and usually healthy) lunch if I didn't bring my own. I ate my lunch at my desk. I took a little longer lunch but my boss was flexible. I would just stay later if I had work to do.
My current job is farther away from the gym now. It takes me 10 minutes on a good day and 15 on a bad day to get to the gym. I found that I was so stressed trying to negotiate lunch time traffic that I stopped working out. It just wasn't worth it.
Besides, I was showering 2 times a day and wasting a lot of gas driving all the way across town to exercise. There really isn't a closer gym (a good one anyway) to where I work. My wife likes our current gym so there wasn't a chance of changing.
I missed a lot of workouts because of lunch. Either lunch with friends or lunch meetings. Either way it was way too easy to miss working out for several days due to lunch commitments.
But the biggest problem (for me anyway) is the waste of time. Spending 30 minutes in traffic just to work out really bothered me. What an incredible waste of time. There had to be a better way.
How I Do It Now
I wasn't working out and I started to put on a little weight. If you work in an office all day, there are not a lot of opportunities for physical activity. Something had to change.
As luck would have it, my wife's schedule changed at work. She was now able to pick our son up earlier. That change allowed me to drop him off earlier. I asked my boss if I could change my schedule. He had no problem with it. So now I'm coming in to work later. So now I can drop off my son at daycare and workout before I go to work.
I don't get anymore hours in the day, but I do manage to use those hours more effectively. Some people call this a lifehack. I think this is just smart scheduling.
You know you should try to stay in shape. Time might be your biggest excuse, it was mine. If you want something bad enough, you can always find a way to do it.
How do you find the time to work out? Do you have a trick or routine that helps you find the time? Leave a comment below and let the rest of us know.
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