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How to find time to exercise with busy schedule.

Hi today let’s talk about how each one of us can squeeze in a little bit of me time in our daily life’s. This one’s actually for people who are really stuck at home and work and can’t find time to exercise.

Feeling stressed for time is one of the most common obstacles to making exercise a regular part of life. Here are some tips that work well for me :

1. Change your perspective. Do you look at exercise as a chore? How can you make it an integrated way of life? Choose activities you enjoy doing and are motivated to make time for.

2. Find a schedule, and if possible, a regular time of day that works well for you – and stick to it! At first, this new addition to your day may feel bumpy; you will have road blocks but be persistent. Figure out how to adjust your work schedule, childcare and social obligations around this new way of life.

3. Choose short and efficient workouts that are straightforward and easy to do anywhere. That way, you are not always dependent on schedules, gym hours and other variables out of your control.

4. Incorporate exercise into your pre-existing schedule. Park your car further from your office. Take the stairs. Add a 10-15 minute walk into you lunch break. For socialization and support bring some friends or co-workers.

5. Start exercising one or two days a week for 10-20 minutes and see how that feels. More is not always better. It’s better to start off with a manageable amount of exericse (incorporate 15-20 minutes a day) and see how your body responds. Starting off with too much can lead to drop out.

6. Psychologically it’s ok to break up your workout into two or three shorter workouts versus trying to get it all in at once. Shorter workouts actually provide incentive for people to workout (more) because it’s a shorter amount of time that fits better into busy schedules, the discomfort is for a shorter amount of time and a shorter time frame really helps people to feel like they can get through it.

7. Managing time starts with an awareness of how you are spending your time. People find it extremely helpful to keep a time diary. For three days write down everything you do during the time with the corresponding time and length of time. For example, 8-8:30 eat breakfast, 8:30-9:30 work, 9:30-10:30 walk, Noon-1 lunch, 2:30-3:30 meeting, 4:00-5:00 work on project.

If you look at this you’ll notice that there are several blocks of unutilized time between 10:30-Noon, 1-2:30 and 3:30-4.

The same goes for women who are home makers and managing time between household chores and kids .

You can get enough exercise with a busy schedule by planning to move more, wherever you are. Trying to go to the gym every day is a setup for failure. While exercising every day is absolutely possible, and indeed, desirable, exercising in a specific place outside your home — like the gym — is very difficult.  Say today you wake up and your child has a fever, so you can’t leave the house.

Set a timer for 30 minutes, turn on some music, and dance! Or set the timer for 30 minutes, turn on music, and clean your house — actively! Vigorously scrub the counters, alternate hands, squat up and down unloading the dishes, mop quickly, whatever it takes to keep your heart rate up.

Which exercise is best? The one you will do. The main idea is to move more. Consider getting a pedometer to help track your movement and inspire you to move more.

You shouldn’t have to utilize every second of everyday but this does show that there is time available during this day. People think they don’t have time but realize they either do, aren’t managing their time efficiently or are so busy that it feels like there isn’t any underutilized time available. Once you become aware of how you are using your time then you can better manage it.

Hope this post will help you understand the importance of incorporating  small bouts of activities throughout the day.

Please mail me at fitnessbysoma@gmail.com if you have any queries or suggestions. Thanks have a great week ahead. 🙂