Are you trying to fit exercise into your life? If you carry your gym gear around with you a lot but never seem to get to the gym, then this one is for you. If you are in a new phase of life, with a new baby or newly retired or just turned 40 and you feel this is your time to get regular exercise and movement into your life? Read on.

The thing is, there are only so many hours in the day. Twenty four last time I checked and a lot of those are taken. So if you are trying to squeeze something else in, a good place to start is ask yourself “What am I going to drop?”.

I know from when I worked in the corporate world that before taking on a new responsibility or deliverable I would have to say, “Yes I can do that things for you but, what do you want me to drop?” This meant I kept expectations clear and didn’t take on more than I could deliver. Asking yourself “what am I going to drop?” can help you make time for things that are important to you.

For example if you are working and your aim is to get to an exercise class at lunch time, think about the times that you haven’t made it and why? Was it checking your emails just before you were due to leave? Was it heading to the lunch area and getting caught chatting and missing the class? Was it scheduling meetings to close to the class time, or not having the class time blocked out in your diary? Think about your misses and what contributed, now decide the things you won’t do to help you get to the class on time.

If you are a mum, juggling school pick ups and running a household ( & maybe a business) and you want to get movement into your life, take a look at what is in your way. Evening and mornings are going to be tricky, look for lunch time classes or early afternoon before school pick up. And book in advance. Parting with your cash can be a good motivator to make you show up and if you have a good teacher showing up is all you need to do and they can guide you through the rest.

So rather than focus on squeezing exercise into your day, ask yourself what am I not going to do so I have time to exercise.

My name is Brigid Pearse, I am a Pilates and movement teacher in Byron Bay and Ballina. I hope this helps you to get movement into your life.