When considering writing about this topic, I first had to have a quick chuckle about it, because at first glance, I don’t fit exercise into my busy schedule. Upon a bit of consideration though, it’s quite clear that I actually do.

In fact, I think I can speak to this topic for a variety of women with all kinds of schedules. Recently, my life changed from that of a 9-5 daily worker with a social life to that of a woman with several part time jobs and school. I’ve found that the techniques to fit in exercise vary depending on which end of this spectrum I’m operating on, and most women probably fall somewhere in between.

The daily grind vs. a flexible schedule

While working the daily grind, I found that fitting in exercise was a bit simpler. My schedule was very structured so, while there was not a lot of extra time, it was possible to determine where in that schedule exercise would fit in. For example, I became a bike commuter and used my lunch break to work out. However, I much preferred the bike ride because it was a hobby of mine as well as exercise.

Now, when my schedule varies drastically each day, it’s a bit more difficult to determine the best way to fit exercise into my day. However, both of my jobs are active; I’m on my feet and walking around for full days or carrying heavy loads up and down stairs. So, instead of going to the gym, I now spend more of my free time doing things like yoga and stretching to prepare my body for these other activities.

As each woman is different, so are the methods that are going work to keep exercising a part of your daily life. In fact, each schedule is different. I’m not a huge fan of the phrase “there is always time to work out” because that isn’t always true and it might be more realistic to look at what you can substitute for exercise (commute, lunch out at a restaurant, etc.) rather than trying to squeeze it in as another task.

What has worked for you?