Do you find yourself saying “My biggest problem right now is that I don’t have any time to exercise during the week”? 
Do you work from 9am till 7pm and by the time you get home, prepare and eat your dinner, it is too late and you are too tired to do any exercises?
Do you think it is a good idea to start exercising but you don’t know how to start and where to find time?
It is a very common problem. So here are a few ideas that we came up during a PhD student workshop I held a month and a half ago.
1. Add extra walking activity into your routine. If you are coming to work by car, park the car a bit further from work and walk to your work. This way you can start building up your fitness (I remember this one was a very popular suggestion when I worked in Washington DC in the USA).
2. Have a break during the day and go for a little walk outside the building where you work. This is what I do at around 3pm – a brisk walk all the way around the campus for about 15 min. Once a week I take a longer walk of about 40 min – also at around 3pm – up the nearby hill that together with a gentle exercise provides stunning and uplifting views over the city of Edinburgh.
3. Cycle to work instead of driving a car. This is an obvious one, but does take some thoughts and getting the right gear, especially where it rains often.
Or simply walk or run to work. Getting ready to go to work I put my running shoes on and run to the Uni campus.
4. Go running during your lunch break. Our campus has a lunch time jogging group that fit joggers can join, check this out. And I just received an exciting news that a new JogScotland Complete Beginners group will start on Monday 11 July 2011 on the King’s Buildings campus of the University of Edinburgh (first meeting is at 12:30 outside KB house).
5. Join exercise class at or near your work. Our Uni campus currently offers several free classes during the week at 5pm including fun Kick, Jab&Burn, Aerobics and Body Conditioning.
6. Take one evening a week off and leave your work earlier, let’s say at 6pm or even 5:30pm to dedicate this evening to your chosen form of exercise.
7. Ask around your office or your other peers and colleagues to see if they have the same problem of finding time to exercise. Help each other with motivation to find time and a fun way to exercise. Even better, invite them to go and do sport together. We have squash and badminton courts right here on campus, which can be booked at the beginning of the week.
8. Do exercise first thing in the morning, be that a stretching routine in your flat, jogging outside in the park, work-out in a gym, or a swim in a nearby swimming pool. I get up before everyone else in the family and do my stretching routine that I still remember from my childhood in Soviet Union where morning gymnastic was almost obligatory.
9. Take it seriously and design a ritual for doing physical exercise. Ask yourself the following questions and write down the answers:
1. What is your defined activity?
2. What time of the day you will begin the exercise?
3. What time of the day you will stop the exercise?
4. What days will you do the exercise, for example Mon, Wed, Fr.?
When your defined time comes, you don’t ask yourself if you are feeling like it, but you just do it, because it is just what you do at this time of day.
10. Set yourself up for success by thinking through and writing down what does it take to successfully do your defined activity. What do you need to prepare for this, for example a set of sport clothes and sport shoes. Include your “on-ramp” time, the time it takes you to get to the place of your exercise and change. Include the “off-ramp” time, the time it takes you to complete and finish it off. This would include for example having a shower (by the way most modern working places have showers!)
11. Think through and write down your recovery ritual. Ask yourself what you would do if you miss a couple of days because you were sick or something else happened. This can include for example starting with a shorter time of exercise. This will quickly get you back on track!
12. And again, a buddy in your exercising will help you get back on track quicker as well as keep your motivation levels high!
Now, because you have set aside certain time to exercise, you will focus better during your working hours because you give yourself a time limit for doing your work. As a result you have found time to do exercise AND you are more productive at work.
P.S. A working mother of three who just completed my “Make 2011 Your Most Productive Year Yet!” mentoring program says proudly she now does exercise. And she wanted to do this for decades but did not know where to start. If you feel you need some extra motivation and help to find time for exercise during your busy working week, check out my mentoring program by clicking here.
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Olga Degtyareva - Productivity for Scientists 
As a runner in my single days, I found exercise being the last thing on the list after a full day at work and two kids before and after that. I found baby steps worked well for me, starting with just a few jumping jacks as the shower warmed up to my current 10-minute routine.
I think if we can get over the mental block of thinking of it as EXERCISE – big, scary word – and just choose a couple of push ups or squats, we’re on the way!
Great post!
-naima
Naima, thanks for stopping by! Yes, taking baby steps – is a great tip, and can help to start many different things. In fact it is one of my favourites, so I am so glad you have added it here 🙂