HOW BUSY PARENTS CAN FINALLY FIND THE TIME TO WORK OUT
5 Steps Working Parents Can Easily Do To Make Sure They Never Miss A Workout
KEY POINTS
Schedule your workouts like meetings
Pick a time with the least amount of distraction
Get enough sleep to support recovery
Set yourself up for success
Come up with a reward system
I work full time, have kids, do the grocery shopping, work in the yard, run errands, cook, and still manage to find time to work out. I don’t know if it’s so much about “finding” time and more about being deliberate with my time. At my house, if I don’t schedule something on my to do list, it’s not going to get done. Being a busy parent is tough, but I’m here to tell you that you can accomplish more than you think you can.
I’ve made excuses in the past and have always tried to justify why something can’t get done. If something is a priority, you’ll always find a way to do it. Whether it’s eating healthily, picking up your kids, getting projects done around the house, or working a full-time job. The more important you make something, the more you will focus on it.
“The reason I never got real results is that I never stayed consistent.”
When I was in college, I took for granted how much time I had. I went to school full time, worked 30 hours a week, had a girlfriend, and was active in social clubs. I probably should have spent more time doing homework, but that’s a story for another day. Even with that schedule, I was never in good shape. I would work out 2 to 3 times a week, and never got real results. It was frustrating to say the least. The reason I never got real results is that I never stayed consistent. Now that I am a parent and have even less time, I am more consistent than ever, and this is how I do it. It’s not as hard as you think, and you can do it too.
1.Schedule Workouts On Your Calendar
Working full-time, there are a lot of meetings that pop up on my calendar that I would love to skip. No matter how much work I have, I always manage to get it done and attend all the meetings that pop up. It’s amazing that when you have less time, you magically find ways to get the work done. The more time you have, the more time you usually end up wasting. Parkinsons law states "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion".
What I’ve started doing and that has provided me with a lot more consistency is to schedule all my workouts for the entire week. The less you leave up to chance, the more successful you will become. Before the week starts, I know what workouts I’m doing, on which days, and at exactly what time. The more you can plan, the better. There are many days I’m tired, but I know if I miss a workout, it will completely throw off my entire schedule. Knowing that, it makes it that much easier to never miss a workout.
2.Do Your Workouts First Thing In The Morning
If you want to stay consistent, you need to pick a time of day where you can repeatedly work out without distractions. Before I had kids, I would head to the gym as soon as I left work. I was able to get some results but was never able to fully stay consistent. It’s amazing how many things come up throughout the day and drain your energy.
If I had a bad day at work, needed to work longer, got stuck in traffic, needed to run errands, got into an argument with my wife, missed a meal, or didn’t get a good night’s sleep, it would all impact my schedule. With so many things that can go wrong or impact my mood, the only way I have been able to stay consistent is to workout first thing in the morning.
As soon as my alarm goes off, there is no decision to be made, and I head to the gym. There is no traffic, I have the most energy, I’m the least tired, and my willpower meter is the “highest” it will be during the day. I don’t check email, I don’t look at the news, and I just head to the gym.
Pro Tip: Pick a time of the day where you have the least number of distractions, and something is less likely to derail your plans.
3.Go To Sleep After Your Kids Do
If you asked me a year ago whether I was a morning person, I would have told you no. If you asked me today if I’m a morning person, I would still tell you no. The reason is that I love my sleep, and I rank it very high on my priorities list. If it’s high on the priorities list, you will make sure you focus on it.
I wake up at 4am most mornings to make sure I have enough time to get to the gym and get my workout in without rushing. That leaves me enough time to warm up, cool down, and not feel rushed. I also love not having to deal with traffic that early in the morning. There is something very serene about being one of the only cars on the road that early in the morning.
To make sure I have enough energy, I started to go to bed right after my son does. I’m usually in bed by 8:30pm and will still be able to get about 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night which is plenty. At first I would feel embarrassed about going to bed that early, but I got over it pretty quickly. I started to realize that is the “least” productive part of my day. I would normally waste time online or end up watching reruns of shows. Once I realized this, I decided to make the trade, and that has been one of the biggest benefits in my life.
4.Prepare The Night Before
Setting yourself up for success the night before is key. It’s a cliché, but “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. The more uncertainty you take out of your schedule, the easier it will be for you to follow through. The night before, I have created a routine to reduce the amount of time it takes me to get out of the house. I have my nightly checklist that I run through, and that reduces the amount of mental energy I have to expend in the morning.
Having this set checklist ready to go the night before sets me up for success. I now have my workout scheduled, and I have everything I need ready to go the night before. All my clothes and toiletries are packed in my gym back and everything is ready to go in the car. There have been many mornings where I have wanted to skip working out, but I remember that my schedule will be thrown off, and my work clothes are already in the car. For some reason, having to go get them from the car and get dressed seems like more hassle than actually going to the gym. Maybe I’m weird, but that extra barrier has helped me more times than I can remember. The act of going to unpack my car will make me feel like a loser so I end up always going to the gym.
Nightly Checklist For Success:
1. Work clothes packed
2. Breakfast and lunch packed
3. Work laptop packed
4. Vitamins and supplements ready to go
5. Pre-workout measured and waiting in cup
6. Workout clothes laid out
7. Protein shake prepared for me to take after my workout
5.Give Yourself A Reward After Your Workout
A few years ago, I got really into creating habits for success. One of my favorite books that I like to recommend is by Charles Duhigg called “The Power of Habit”. This has helped me understand my own behaviors and actions. By being able to create habit loops for positive reinforcement, I have almost conditioned myself through behavioral loops to complete tasks.
If you want to introduce a new habit, you will need to create a trigger to alert you to take on a new action. The trigger will help you remember to perform a behavioral routine, and then you need a reward. If you want to create constructive habits, find ways to introduce these loops into your schedule. My reward happens to be my gummy vitamins and my protein shake after I finish my workout.
I’m sure gummy vitamins aren’t the best, but they are better than not taking anything and I always look forward to the treat every day after my workout. I also have delicious tasting protein shakes that I love to drink after my workout. This has been a great way for me to reward myself by getting gummies as well as having a tasty drink.
Pro Tip: Find a reward that you can look forward to having after completing your workouts or accomplishing a new routine.
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