How to Make Time for Exercise and Health With a Busy Schedule
6 Smart Ways to Make Time for Health and Fitness in a Busy Life
Struggling to make time for exercise? You’re definitely not alone! Life gets hectic, and it’s all too easy to let fitness slide down the priority list. Yet making time for your health doesn’t have to mean sacrificing the time for your work, family, or daily errands. With the right strategies, you can learn how to make time for exercise with a busy schedule, stay consistent, and even enjoy the process.
This article is here to help you find simple, practical tips on health and fitness, specifically how to squeeze exercise into your daily routine without feeling overwhelmed.
Key Takeaways
You don’t need hours in the gym — short bursts of movement throughout the day add up and support weight loss, energy, and overall health.
Exercise provides wide-ranging benefits, including better sleep, stronger immunity, improved mood, and reduced risk of disease.
Making movement enjoyable and convenient (choosing activities you like, combining chores with exercise, or using TV breaks to move) helps you stay consistent.
Planning ahead—like scheduling workouts, setting reminders, or prepping your gym bag—removes barriers and boosts follow-through.
Start small, stay steady, and look for opportunities to move with family, at work, or while multitasking to make fitness a natural part of your routine.
Seeking extra help in getting in shape with limited time? Fill out our contact form, join Strong with Sarah, and transform your life with a personalized plan that fits your busy schedule and support that makes all the difference.
We all know how easy it is to push movement and/or exercise to the bottom of our to-do list, even though it’s so important for keeping our hearts, bodies, and minds healthy. Staying active isn’t just about hitting the gym; it’s about making everyday movement a part of your life, too.
💡 Before we get started, though, I want to remind you that you do not need to spend hours in the gym every single week in order to lose weight or be healthy. In fact, many of the tips I share today can be done in super short pockets of time. Before we cover how to make it easier to move your body, let’s learn about why it’s important to make time for your health!
Why You Should Make Time for Your Health
Being the healthiest version of yourself isn’t just about eating well — it’s about moving your body regularly, whether that’s at home, outside, or at the gym. Physical fitness offers tons of benefits that affect every part of your life, including:
Better sleep quality
Stronger immune system
More energy throughout the day
Improved mental health and mood
Lower risk of heart disease
Overall sense of well-being
Taking some time each day to be active helps you build and maintain healthy habits that keep you feeling your best.
💡 Wondering how long you should be moving or exercising?
According to the Center for Disease Control, adults need at least
150 minutes of moderately-intense movement
per week, or 75 minutes of intense exercise per week, along with 2 days of strength training.
6 Smart Tips to Health and Fitness: How to Fit Exercise into a Busy Schedule
Finding time for exercise when you’re navigating a hectic work schedule with balancing kids’ activities can be tough, but it’s definitely doable! With a little planning and some creativity, you can fit physical activity into your day and keep your health on track without needing to “reinvent the wheel.”
Here are six friendly tips on how to fit exercise into a busy schedule:
☀️ Exercise in the Morning
Not a morning person? I get it! I may sound crazy, but it’s worth giving morning workouts a shot.
Here’s why – Getting your exercise done first thing means it won’t get bumped off your schedule later. Plus, it’s a fantastic way to wake up, boost your energy, and feel like you’ve already conquered something before breakfast.
Lastly, I find that I focus better and am more productive throughout the day when I start my morning with a workout.
Even just 10 minutes of dancing with your kids, lifting weights, or a quick walk can make a big difference and can help start the day off on the right foot.
💪🏻 Find an Accountability Buddy
It’s way easier to stick with exercise when you have someone cheering you on. This is exactly what we do as accountability coaches at Strong with Sarah! That doesn’t mean you necessarily need a coach, though – tell a friend or family member about your goals, or find a workout buddy who can keep you motivated.
Checking in regularly with your accountability partner or coach can help you stay on track and celebrate your progress together.
💜 Choose Exercises You Like
Exercise doesn’t have to be a chore or something you dread! Pick activities you actually enjoy — whether that’s dancing, swimming, walking, or even rock climbing. When you like what you’re doing, it feels less like work and more like fun.
Mix things up to prevent boredom and to keep your routine fresh. Variety not only keeps you interested but also helps you work different muscles and prevents injuries.
🧹 Combine Your Chores with Exercise
Who says chores can’t double as a workout? Try lunges while vacuuming, squats while brushing your teeth, or parking a little farther away from the store to add some extra steps. Heck, I would bet that even scrubbing your toilet and bathtub burns more calories than you realize!
These physical activities at home are the little bursts of activity that add up and make your daily tasks more enjoyable.
🖥️ Add Some Exercise to Your Desk Work
If you spend a lot of time sitting throughout the day, it’s important to break things up with movement. Stretch, stand up for a quick walk, or do some calf raises and seated leg raises during your lunch break.
If you’re working from home, consider setting up a walking pad or using an under-the-desk peddler/bike during meetings where you aren’t actively presenting material.
📋 Multi-Task
Fit in movement while doing other things in daily life! Do 10 squats while waiting for your coffee to brew in the morning, or add in a few push-ups while cooking dinner, or take a walk while talking on the phone to your best friend.
These mini workouts and healthy habits keep you active without stealing extra time from your day.
How Can You Increase Your Physical Activity on a Daily Basis?
Finding time for exercise in a busy life can feel overwhelming, but with a bit of planning ahead, it’s entirely possible to stay active and reach your goals. Here are some additional strategies to help you make it easier to fit exercise into your already busy schedule:
📆 Plan Your Exercise Time Like an Appointment
Treat your exercise time as a non-negotiable appointment with yourself. Just as you wouldn’t skip a work meeting or a doctor’s appointment, schedule your workout sessions in your calendar or planner. Set reminders on your phone or computer to remind you when it’s time to get moving. This approach helps you prioritize your fitness goals and ensures you have the time needed to move your body.
📺 Make TV Time Active
Love watching your favorite shows? Use the commercial breaks (or even between episodes) to squeeze in a little movement. Things like crunches, planks, calf raises, or jumping jacks are quick, don’t need equipment, and can be done right in your living room. It’s an easy way to sneak in exercise while still enjoying your downtime.
✏️ Set Yourself Up for Success
Pack your gym bag the night before you plan to exercise so that you’re ready to go. Having everything — workout clothes, water bottle, sneakers — already prepared makes it so much easier to actually get out the door for a class, a swim, or the gym. One less excuse = one more win.
👷♀️ Start Small, Build Steady
Don’t feel like you need to do everything all at once. Start with something simple, like a 10-minute walk on your lunch break, and build from there. Gradually increasing time or intensity helps you stay consistent, avoid injury, and actually enjoy the process.
👭 Move Together
Being a busy parent doesn’t mean there isn’t time for movement! Family activities or recreational team sports (like dodgeball) make exercise feel less like “work.” Go for a hike, kick a soccer ball around, or splash in the pool with your kids. You’ll get movement in, have fun, and strengthen your connections at the same time.
📱 Use Technology to Your Advantage
Fitness Apps, YouTube workouts, or other digital fitness trackers can provide ideas, structure, and motivation for your workouts. Plus, it’s 100 times easier (in my opinion) to do a workout when someone is telling you what to do and when to do it (like in YouTube workout videos!)
SWS Expert Advice on How to Stay Active All Day
You don’t need long workouts to stay active. At Strong with Sarah, sometimes the clients who have lost the most weight end up moving in small spurts throughout the day, as opposed to participating in a few longer workouts per week. Don’t downplay the importance of small chunks of movement. Look for little chances to move throughout your day, like:
Taking the stairs
Stretching for five minutes between meetings
Doing squats when you use the restroom
Running up and down the stairs in your house (or office) once per hour
Walking around during phone calls
Coach Britt says, “Small, consistent actions keep your body energized, even on the busiest days. If you are someone who struggles with the ‘afternoon energy slump,’ try adding in a quick burst of movement in the afternoon!”
Final Words
At the end of the day, making time for movement doesn’t have to mean overhauling your schedule or spending hours at the gym. It’s about finding little ways to move that fit into your life — whether that’s walking while on a call, dancing in the kitchen, or sneaking in a quick workout before work. Every step, stretch, and squat adds up, and those small, consistent choices are what really move the needle over time.
And remember — you don’t have to figure this out alone. If you want individualized guidance (plus a big boost of accountability) to help you add more movement into your days, reach out to Strong with Sarah. We’d love to support you in creating a routine that actually feels doable — and fun — for your busy life.
