6 Ways to Make Time for Exercise (Even When Life Feels Like Chaos)

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Does any of this sound familiar?

The alarm jolts you out of a deep sleep. Then reality hits… there’s a lunch to pack, a permission slip to sign, and a text from your mom asking about her appointment on Thursday. Your inbox filled up overnight, the dog needs to go out, and somewhere in the middle of it all is a quiet voice saying, I really should get back to the gym.

Then the day swallows you up. You’re little voice gets pushed to “when things calm down.”

This is a gonna be a little hard to take in, but I want you to try: things are not going to calm down. The stars will never align, and there will never be a perfect time. Finding the time is a myth. You have to make the time. And if you’re waiting until you’re in the mood, that’s backwards too. You’ve got to do the thing, and then the mood will follow.

Many of us, myself included, are in the sandwich generation, caring for kids and aging parents while trying to build or hold a career. Others are in the thick of raising young children, and I remember those days like they were yesterday.

It’s a juggle, and you become the caregiver for everyone except yourself. When you make your fitness a priority, the return on investment for you, your family, and your mental health is exponential. Keep reading, because I’m going to show you six practical ways to make it happen.

Why “I Have No Time to Work Out” Keeps Winning

“I don’t have time” is one of the most common things I hear from people standing outside our door. And I understand it, because I’ve lived it.

It’s hard to make yourself a priority, because something has to give and you can’t do it all. If you’re a perfectionist like me, that’s even harder, because we keep waiting for fitness to fit perfectly into our lives, and that’s just not reality.

What I’ve learned is that time is almost never the real barrier. Priority is. And you just haven’t put yourself at the top of the list. There are 168 hours in a week, and three DSC workouts, at 52 to 55 minutes each, add up to less than three hours. That’s less than 2% of your week.

Ask yourself this: are you short on time, or have you been giving it all to everyone else first? When the calendar fills with other people’s needs, the first thing we cross off is ourselves, because it feels like the one appointment nobody will notice if we miss.

You notice, though. Your energy, your patience, your sleep, and your mood notice, and so does your health.

The Busiest People in the World Make Time. You Can Too.

I was giving a talk once and made the point that some of the most powerful people in the world make time for diet and exercise. Barack Obama worked out at least six days a week during his 2008 presidential campaign, and a close friend described it as “his time for himself, a chance for him to reflect.” George W. Bush was known for hard mountain bike rides while in office and said, “Riding helps clear my head, helps me deal with the stresses of the job.” Oprah Winfrey makes time to hike and strength train, and her advice fits any fitness journey: “Don’t look at how far you have to go. Every step you take, turn around and look at how far you’ve come.”

Someone in the audience pushed back. Sure, they said, but those people have personal trainers, chefs, and housekeepers. That’s probably true today, but I guarantee it wasn’t always that way. Obama started running at 22, long before anyone was planning his workouts or cooking his meals.

That’s when I use myself as an example, because people often assume that since I own a gym, it must be easy for me to fit in my workouts. It isn’t. I’m usually working from 6 in the morning until 7 or 8 at night, almost every day, weekends included, and on the weekends I consider it a day off when I work less than four hours. I have hundreds of members, 11 employees, and I’m also HR, sales and marketing, and operations.

The to-do list never ends. I’m a sandwich generation caregiver too, helping care for my mom, and when we had our second location in Florida, two mornings a week I was at the nursing home showering and shaving my father.

Something has to give, and for me it’s TV during the week. I just don’t have time for it. I don’t do a lot of social things, and a lot of my social life involves workouts (LOL). That way I can combine two things at once.

There’s always a way. It’s not going to be the perfect way, but there’s always a way to fit it in. It always involves a sacrifice, but trust me when I tell you the sacrifice is worth it.

Why Exercise Is the Best Thing You Can Do for Your Mental Health

I spent 23 years in nursing, working my way from the med-surg floor up through critical care at some of the biggest teaching hospitals in the country. I saw what chronic stress does to a body over decades, and I watched the people who had strength and fitness to fall back on recover in ways others couldn’t. Movement is medicine! I can also speak to this personally, and I shared my own story in My Story…Finding Strength in Life’s Darkest Moments.

The research keeps proving it. I could cite hundreds of studies, but here are a few highlights.

A 2023 umbrella review in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, covering more than 1,000 trials, found that physical activity was about 1.5 times more effective at reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress than counseling or medication alone (Singh et al., 2023).

A study of more than 1.2 million adults in The Lancet Psychiatry found that people who exercised reported about 43% fewer days of poor mental health each month than people who didn’t (Chekroud et al., 2018).

Strength training in particular packs a punch. A 2018 analysis of 33 clinical trials in JAMA Psychiatry found that resistance training significantly reduced symptoms of depression (Gordon et al., 2018).

Another analysis, published in Sports Medicine in 2017, found that resistance training significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety as well (Gordon et al., 2017).

(Exercise works alongside, not instead of, the care you get from your provider. If you’re struggling, please reach out to them too.)

It’s the best thing you can do for your family, too

You know the airline rule: put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. When you show up for yourself, your kids learn that caring for your body and mind is what grown-ups do. They’re watching how you handle stress far more closely than they listen to what you say about it. Your aging parents benefit as well, because caregiving takes physical strength and emotional steadiness, and training builds both.

And for your career

Workers who exercised during the workday reported better time management, higher productivity, smoother interactions with colleagues, and more energy to finish the day on the days they trained (Coulson et al., 2008). The hour you think you can’t spare often makes every other hour better.

6 Ways to Make Time for Exercise

Making time doesn’t require a total life overhaul. It takes a few small, intentional decisions that you repeat until they become part of who you are. As James Clear teaches in Atomic Habits (one of my favorite books), lasting change comes from becoming the kind of person who shows up, one vote at a time.

1. Schedule workouts like a meeting you can’t miss

Put your workouts on the calendar at the start of the week, the same way you would a client call or a pediatrician appointment. At DSC, members book their sessions right in the DSC app, so your workouts are locked in just like every other appointment in your week. If it isn’t scheduled, it’s optional, and optional things get skipped.

2. Start smaller than you think

Two sessions a week that you actually attend beat five you planned and didn’t. Small wins build confidence, and confidence builds consistency.

3. Attach exercise to something you already do

Drop the kids at school, then head straight to the gym. Leave work, then walk in our door. Linking a new habit to an existing routine takes the daily decision out of it.

4. Let a coach do the planning

Much of the stress of working out is figuring out what to do. With group personal training at DSC, our coaches handle the programming, so all you have to do is show up. That’s one less decision on your overloaded plate.

Karen and her husband, Eric, are both teachers, and anyone who knows a teacher knows how full their days are. Here’s how Karen put it:

“This is the place to come. In four months, I was able to lose 30 pounds, and the support that I got here was absolutely phenomenal. The coaches are wonderful, the exercises are great. I don’t have to think, I just come and do. And look at it. I did it.” Watch Karen’s story

5. Find your people for accountability

When your coach and your gym buddies expect to see you, it gets much easier to show up on the days your motivation is hiding. A gym community turns “I should” into “I’ll see you Tuesday.”

For Eric, that accountability is everything:

“I love the accountability at DSC. Waking up every day and knowing that I need to come, I’ll be held accountable for staying active and fit. They let me do what I’m capable of, and I’m constantly building up my strength and getting better every week. DSC has been a really good thing in our lives.” Watch Eric’s story

6. Choose progress over perfection

If we wait for fitness to fit perfectly into our lives, it never will, because perfection is the enemy of progress. When I can’t meal plan or meal prep, I pick up some already prepared meals at Sam’s Club along with protein bars and protein drinks, and that’s my meal prep for the week. It isn’t fancy, but it works. The same goes for your workouts. You’ll miss a session, the kids will get sick, work will explode, and life will happen. Missing once is normal. The goal is to never let one missed workout become a missed month.

“But What If I Can’t Keep Up?”

Maybe the real reason isn’t time. Maybe you’re worried you won’t keep up, or you have a nagging back or a knee that’s been cranky for years, or it’s been so long you don’t know where to start. You are exactly who we built DSC for.

Our coaches hold the highest education and experience standards in the industry, which is a big part of why DSC has been named in the Best of 603, the Nashua Telegraph‘s Best Fitness Gym, and the Union Leader‘s Best Circuit Gym and Best CrossFit Gym. We know every member’s injuries and limitations, and we’re always ready with a safe modification. Our modifications aren’t about making things “easier.” They protect your injury while still working the same muscle group, so you get the full benefit of the program in a way that’s right for you.

When we asked Eric what he’d tell someone who wants to start but feels afraid, he didn’t hesitate:

“I was in those shoes. The first week or so, the DSC staff wraps you up and almost gives you personal training. If you have any questions, they encourage you. The people that come here wrap you up too and hold you and encourage you. So I would say take that first step. It is definitely doable here. If you’re looking for a supportive, non-judgmental place to get in shape and join a community, DSC is your place.”

You don’t have to be fit to start. Starting is how you get fit.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much exercise do I need to improve my mental health? You don’t need hours a day. Research shows meaningful benefits from regular moderate activity, and two or three strength sessions a week can make a real difference in stress, mood, and energy.

What’s the best way to make time for exercise with a busy schedule? Schedule workouts in advance, start with two or three sessions a week, and tie them to something you already do daily. Working with a coach removes the planning, so your time is spent training instead of guessing.

Is group personal training good for beginners? Yes. At DSC, coaches know each member’s injury history and limitations and adjust every workout, so beginners and people returning after a long break train safely alongside everyone else.

Your Monday Challenge

Karen’s advice to anyone on the fence is simple: “Just give it a try. It’s the place to be. You won’t regret it.”

So before this day gets away from you, open your calendar and block out two or three workouts for this week. Treat them like the non-negotiable appointments they are, and keep them, not because you have to, but because you’re worth it.

When you make yourself a priority, the return on investment for you, your family, your career, and your mental health is exponential.

P.S. Karen and Eric were once exactly where you are, and your first step is the same one they took: a free No Sweat Intro. It’s a relaxed conversation with one of our coaches about your goals, your schedule, and anything that’s been holding you back. No pressure, just a chance to see if DSC feels like home.

Individual results vary.