Busy people: How do you Schedule time??
Replies
-
Take a step back look and write down your schedule and look at all the little things you have going. As someone already mentioned look at your time wasters TV, Internet, Social media in general) is there a time you could turn your notifications off? Figure out whats important for you. Scheduling work out time also depends out what your goal is for working out. Ther are tons of circuit, interval, tabata, full body, and other exercises you can look at incorporating. Try a timer once or twice when you are online and you will see how much of a time waster jumping on a PC can cause. You going to have to get creative on the exercises lots of great ideas already mentioned.0
-
I didn't read any of the replies, so forgive me if people said these already.
Consider buying yourself, like, a DVD workout or a bike or whatever (DVDs are much cheaper, lol) so that you do not have to head to the gym.
Do not be afraid to work out late. Sometimes I have to work out at 830, 9pm, but I do it.
If you can wake up early, do it. But don't sacrifice on sleep. Still sleep 7-8 hours a night.
Plan your meals ahead of time/ make them ahead of time. I like to pack my meals the night before at the latest. If I have time off, I cook a big dish and then I have leftovers throughout the week/ usually pack them up in single serving sizes so I can just grab and go.
I don't know if you go from job to job or if you have down time in between. Be vigilant with your down time. Plan just how long you're going to sit on the couch and veg/relax before you get up and do something else. (20 to 30 minutes. Set an alarm if you have to. Maybe take a short nap. Or a shower.)
Going from job to job, make sure you've packed a meal for that car ride. It's a way to sneak in a healthy meal/snack without having to go out and stuff.0 -
I'm not sure how flexible your schedules are, but I find it helps to go directly from one thing (work) to another thing (store, gym, etc) without going home in between. If you spend 15 minutes less driving every day it adds up to almost 2 hours a week.
I also save time on food prep by consolidating it to a few blocks per week. I don't cook every day. I usually cook two days per week and eat leftovers throughout the week. I work four days a week and pack my lunches on Monday night. Rather than packing lunch every night before I go to bed, I prep four lunches and four snacks on Monday night and have the containers ready to grab put into my lunch box each morning.
Don't have time to make it to the gym? If you get a 10 minute break at work, try walking up and down the stairs for 10 minutes (bring appropriate shoes if necessary). If you have a spot in the office, take a minute out of each hour to do as many pushups as you can or a 60 second plank.0 -
Everyone is busy, but everyone can find time to squeeze in a workout, even if it's a short one. A little bit is better than nothing!
I have to be at work some days at 7am and don't get off until 7:30pm. On those days I workout from 5:45-6:30am because I know myself and I know I'll be exhausted at night after work. Working out that early seems brutal to me but it works!
What helps me is planning all my workouts out a week in advance. I'll look at my work schedule and then coordinate which classes I'll be able to attend or what I will do each day.0 -
I go to school full time - accounting, so A LOT of homework. Work 20 hours a week at an extremely busy office job. No homework time. I also have commitments to a choir, honor society, aaaaaaaaaaaaaand the way I get myself to run is my running club! It's socializing and exercising at the same time. I can tell you that everyone is crazy busy but we find time!!0
-
This might sound ridiculous but I get three breaks at work, 2 fifteen minutes and 1 thirty minutes. I take 10 minutes out of each break and workout. I am lucky that my work has a gym so I hit the elliptical, treadmill or lift some weights. Without that option, I would head outside for a walk or climb the stairs for 10 minutes. Totals 30 minutes a day, maybe not the most ideal workout but it's at least SOMETHING!0
-
Just do high intensity short workouts...Get a heart rate monitor. Get your heart rate up as high as you can a few times in a 20 minute span. They say those type of workouts are better then a workout where your heart rate is the same over a long period of time..Do that 3-5 times a week..
This is also an excellent idea, if you have just 20 minutes a day to do a HIIT workout you can get a great workout in!0 -
great advice - once you get home it is much much harder to leave.0
-
I travel for work 3 weeks out of the month and work our everyday I'm on the road... Ive found people find time for what they want to do... Try some HIIT training which is quick and you can do it when you wake up!0
-
Excellent idea about the timer, people think they will just jump in the PC for a quick minute to check email and dont realize they ended up surfing around or on FB for 30minutes or an even an hour.0
-
these are all great suggestions. but i work with people and i know that if i do a hard workout that makes me horrible and sweaty, i've got to shower and sort myself out before i go back to work. that takes an extra 20 mins. the only things i can think of that won't make you horribly manky are cycling and walking. can you bike to work? some days i drive to work but run home, then the next day i'll bike in and throw the bike in the back of the car.
i also have a cross trainer that i picked up off ebay for $20. 20 mins doing intervals on that while listening to the prodigy certainly works up quite a sweat!0 -
You just have to do it. When I started losing weight and exercising consistently, I was working more than full time at a job that requires travel, attending grad school full time to finish my MBA, plus had, you know, a husband and a young child and a home to maintain and volunteer commitments and ill family members...and on and on....
I worked out late at night and at the *kitten* crack of dawn. And, now, though my workload's slightly smaller, I still do.
Is it easy hitting the gym at 5am? Hell no...but it's worth it.0 -
I hear you! Three months ago I was trying to workout, finish my degree, plan a wedding and now that its all behind me I only feel like relaxing and reading books. I'm fighting to get my motivation back! Stay strong and you'll figure it out!0
-
I walk on my breaks during work and I walk to and from work if I'm not running late because it's really the only way for me to make it a daily routine while working (I also live a 30 minute walk from my work so the distance is perfect).0
-
I don't have anything new to add, just to say that you are not alone in a nightmarish daily schedule. Fitness in a 24-hour day takes committent and prioriizing. Something has to go, you simply don't have time for everything. You must also learn to be flexible and take advantage of the time that you have, not the time you wish you had.
I give myself workout options with flexibility for workout times and take advantage of what fits from week to week. This is necessary with working two jobs, a flexible job that I do from my home office, and a night shift for a large corporation, resulting in a 60 hour work week, some weekends required.
I do one big weekly grocery shopping trip and do 90% of my prep on the weekend, portioning and prepping all my meals for the week. This way all I grab and go instead of eating unhealthy "I have no time to cook" meals. I shop for nutritious frozen items.
I work in a very large building on the third floor. If I park my car as far away as possible and take the three flights of stairs, it is 0.25 miles in and 0.25 miles back out. Every step counts! (But it sucks when it is pouring rain....)
Remember that adequate sleep is very important. Take a multivitamin.
Riding my bike to work takes only 10 minutes longer than driving. My plan for this summer: I belong to the on-site fitness facilty with a a towel service and the ability to have a dedicated locker. I can leave toiletries and grab a quick shower, thus I can cycle to work most days.
My day: 5:15 a.m. the alarm clock in my bathroom goes off. Since I have to get up to turn it off, I stay up and put on my workout clothes, grab a bite to eat, start the coffee pot, and go to a 6 a.m. workout. Home at 7:15. Computers in my home office get revved and I fix my real breakfast. If for some reason my a.m. workout cannot happen, like a big deadline that morning, then I head to the office at 11:45 for the on-site fitness center noon classes and shower there. I put in my shift, which ends at 8:30 p.m. If it has been one of those days then I work out after my shift. Home, dinner, a moment to catch up on the computer while I eat, and crash by 11:30. Rinse and repeat.
What I don't do: Watch much TV. (A DVR is a must!) Do a lot of social media and texting. Date very often. The bane of working nights... If It's a really busy week I skip housework too. The dust doesn't bother me. I would rather be fit and happy than make my bed every day.
If I have time to do two workouts in a day I do, because I might not be able to work out at all for the next three days.0 -
Figure to yourself that you have to fit in 30 minutes per day of SOMETHING. Whether it be in the morning, lunch or evening, you MAKE the time for yourself.0
-
I only work 40 hr/week but I have a 2 and 4 year old so that's like a whole other full time job! I wake up at 4:30 or 5 am to jog before work. I pack a gym bag and take that to work and I change before leaving to pick up the kiddos. We head straight to the gym after work; they love the kids club at the gym so that is a huge bonus. Fortunately, I get off work at 3:30pm so even after the gym I'm usually home by 6pm. I just don't think about it if that makes sense. Working out is not an optional thing and when I do find myself thinking about it and talking myself out of going I remind myself that I NEVER regret it. It's tough finding time with a busy schedule but it is possible!0
-
I don't do the 60 hour week anymore, but I have a friend who does. She brings her iPad and phone to the gym with her and does her work while on the stationary bike or slow walking on a steep incline on the treadmill. She gets her reading done, answers phone calls and reads and sends e-mails. She can get in at least a half hour of cardio doing this and then takes off for the office.0
-
Echoing the other early risers. I just checked my calendar, and I have worked out 7 times in January. Not as much as I'd like, by any stretch, but I am doing it. Similar schedule: 50+ hour workweek, working on my masters and small children at home. Both my husband and I travel for work as well.
On a good week, I am up by 4:45 and out of the house by 5:15. My work clothes are in my gym bag and my workout clothes on the floor next to the bag, so I put them on as soon as I get up. Workout and shower at the gym and at my desk by 7:45. I do stand at my desk, which if it doesn't help, certainly doesn't hurt either.
Job #2 once I get home, kids in bet by 8, me in bed by 9. Rinse, repeat.0 -
I am the mother to five (5) kids, I work full time outside of the home as an office manager and I'm a Realtor. I make the time. My husband and kids know that mommy is not available from 4:00-5:00 M-F and for an hour on Saturdays and Sundays.
My husband and our older two help with the younger set (my kids are almost 17, almost 10, 8, 3.5, 8 months).
Mornings just don't work for me as I'm trying to get 5 kids up and out the door to school. I prefer afternoon/evening because its a great stress reliever.
If I'm out showing houses' I wear my fitbit and log miles and then come home and work out in the late evening if need be.0 -
Cut out the easy travelling - walk if you can even just one bus stop before hand or car park further away. Little steps make all the difference because you only need to cut 500 cals a day to lose a pound.
You also need to wake up earlier and get the exercise out of the way so that a busy day does not ruin your desire to exercise.0 -
I'm not great at it either...I am home in the evening but helping with homework and my husband gets home late (8 or later) many days and by then I am exhasuted. If my 2 girls don't have too much homework I can slip in 20-30 min elliptical machine or video in the basement...but mostly I have to do more on the weekends and a few times a week in the morning 6 a.m.-6:45 ish (but when I commuted further I got up an hour earlier)... I find it helps if I have all my exercise clothes beside my bed ready to go, set the alarm...and when it goes off once I go to the bathroom I see the clothes sitting there and think to myself that I am awake anyway and I'll feel better if I do it...0
-
I get up at 6am most days to get a workout in before work. I have the flexibility to work my 60 hour weeks so that I can hit the weights M, W, F morning, yoga M night, Tennis TH night and stadiums F night. I might get an extra run in on T or Sat. I don't have kids or pets etc and my fiance works as hard as I do so that makes life easier. I used to feel tired all the time, now I feel great. I know it sounds backwards but it will make sense if you stick with it
0 -
Wow you are going to have to schedule some time just to read all the GREAT post!! Pick and choose from all the great ideas and then have at it!0
-
I work full-time and have two kids (my husband does lives far away now). I am not a morning person, wake up at 7:45 and leave home at 8am, dropping kids at school. Then go to work till 3pm, pick up kids from school, drop them at the pool for swimming practice and go back to work for couple more hours. Pick up kids from the pool at 5:30, make them dinner, do homework with them and go to gym from 8 to 9. Then work from home till 11pm or so.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 422 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions