On finding time and motivation to exercise

A lot of people I know find it difficult to exercise daily. Most will make the typical excuse that they don't have the time to work out but as we know there's always time for it (no matter how busy we are) as long as we know how to prioritize on what is really important in our lives. We have 24 hours every day and to say that we cannot spend at least 30 minutes on exercise is ridiculous.

We can get that 'extra' 30 minutes by simply waking up early every morning (e.g. 5.30 a.m.) so that we won't be caught up with distractions or responsibilities that need to be taken care of throughout the day since most people will still be asleep at that time. Another suggestion is to do it before going to bed at night but this really depends on whether you can still sleep after working out since it may make you less drowsy as your body has 'warmed' up. I personally prefer to exercise before I sleep as it allows me to relax and reflect on what I have done throughout the day. What's really important is to experiment and see what time is 'best' for yourself and keep working at it until it becomes a habit.

By keeping exercises simple to begin with, it encourages repetition of the activity. Make it fun. Multitask by listening to music or watching videos if the exercises are boring. I remember not being motivated to exercise the other day so I went on Youtube and watched the legendary documentary 'Pumping Iron' and that really got me excited to go and lift weights and build a stronger body (rather than listen to my thoughts saying I didn't want to workout). If you feel tired, make the exercises EASY to do. You will realize that after a while, as long as you get started you will become motivated to challenge yourself to do even more. 

Multitask to get things done

Looking at a lot of articles on the internet, I noticed that there's a lot of information regarding why we should not multitask. One of the main reasons is because by switching between tasks our attention will be divided hence resulting in a lack of focus and poor quality of work.

However, after doing many attempts of trying to do one thing at a time, I've found that there are some drawbacks when we don't multitask. One of my biggest problems with doing one thing at a time is having to deal with boredom. For example, when you have to look after someone and just sit down and pay attention to what the person is doing. You might be able to concentrate in the beginning but after a while (e.g. half an hour) you start feeling restless because it gets really dull and routine. You could be doing some reading to gain more knowledge and still be able to do your job at the same time (provided that the situation is easy to monitor).

Multitasking can also be very motivating. At times when I don't feel like exercising, I would play Youtube videos or movies and exercise while watching. It makes me feel more positive about exercise since I know that I'm watching a movie instead so it doesn't feel like 'work' (if the work out is not exciting or has become too routine).

Go ahead and try it out.