How to Fit Running into a Busy Life

How often are we asked, “How are you?” And our response is, “Busy.”

We have jobs, families, kids, carpools, side gigs, ill family members, pets, cooking, cleaning, chores, reading, learning, you name it. And now you want me to exercise amidst all the “busy”? 

For most of us, when the alarm goes off extra early to cue putting on the running sneakers, our brain will offer the following thought: “You really don’t have time to run. You could be doing x, y, z. This exercise can wait until you have more time.” 

Trouble is, we all lead busy lives. There is never going to be a time when there is more time. 

So, let’s work with what we’ve got. What can we do to fit the exercise in? 

1- Find our why.

Many of us feel that we are on a merry-go-round, moving from the moment we wake up until the moment we close our eyelids at night. What might it look like to step off the merry-go-round for a few minutes and have a look inward? 

If we give ourselves a few minutes with a journal to answer these questions, I guarantee that we can come up with some great answers that want to make us tie those sneakers on in the early morning! 

What is my motivation to exercise? Why do I want to run? What do I like about exercise? How do I feel when I’m exercising?

2- Reframe our thoughts. 

I’ve found that we are great at showing up for our commitments, are we not? Work, partner, kids, family, friends, education, volunteer work, you name it... 

But when it comes right down to it, we have a bad habit of blowing ourselves off. 

When I’m coaching runners, I like to help them reframe their thoughts about exercise in this way:

We have a commitment to show up at our jobs and to all of the appointments that are scheduled on our calendars. We have a commitment to show up for our family. And similarly, we also have a commitment to ourselves: to be at our best both physically and mentally.

And this is why we are going to show up for ourselves with exercise.

3- Take five (minutes). 

If you are starting at zero, give yourself five minutes a day. I know it doesn’t sound like much, and your brain is asking, “What’s five minutes going to do?” But, five minutes a day for a month is 150 minutes, or 2.5 hours of exercise. It adds up.

Now, where can we find those five minutes? What about going to bed five minutes earlier, so that you could wake up five minutes earlier before the rest of the household gets up, and give yourself this time? Maybe you take a five minute pause in the kitchen right after making everyone’s lunches in the evening. A friend of mine does five minutes of squats while brushing her teeth. 

4- Plan it out.

If we view the commitment to exercise as a commitment to ourselves, we will show up. It helps my athletes to write this commitment down.

In the weekly planner, write in your workouts in the same way you write in your work schedule, doctor’s appointments, and family obligations. 

When “run” is written next to the 6a time slot, it is very likely to happen. Don’t leave that time slot blank and open to chance.

5- Get rid of mom guilt.

There are a lot of moms out there who may be feeling guilty to leave the kids to go out for a run. You may think, “I should be doing other things for my family.” Feelings that this is somehow selfish may come up, or that by leaving your partner or babysitter in charge for awhile, that you are putting more work on that individual.

What if we viewed the time spent exercising as self-care? Some alternative thoughts that have worked for my runners include that exercising helps to de-stress and to be truly present with the kids during the time that is spent with them. That by exercising, we are setting a great example for our kids to live a healthy and fit life. 

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Once we’ve found our why, reframed our thinking, opened up five minutes a day, and planned this time for ourselves, we can then work on developing consistency in this routine. 

Before you know it, you’ll be able to find ten minutes a day, and then will actively seek out twenty, thirty, forty-five minutes. 

Taking the time for self-care helps us to show up as a better partner, mother, auntie, colleague, and friend. 

And once we are in this place of taking some time for ourselves and have established consistency and routine, that idea about the race that you’ve always wanted to run won’t seem so far-fetched anymore.

As a gift for you, to fit running into a busy life, you can download my free 4-week Couch to Confidence plan below.