Organize for Exercise

Spring Courtright
Oct 9
5 min read

Updated: Oct 14

4 Super Simple Tips to Get Your Buns Moving

I wrote this for my friend Rachel Carey DuBusk at Unstill Life Fitness and am so grateful for the opportunity to share something I'm so passionate about! I encourage you to see the original there and check out her wonderful services!

Organizing for Exercise

As a professional declutter coach and home organizer, I work with people holistically, meaning on ALL the aspects of “getting organized,” and my goal is for our efforts to last a lifetime.

For organizing efforts to last a lifetime, health must be a part of the picture.

So I take time to help client-friends figure out how to help exercise be a part of daily life - and I’ve done this in my own life, too!

Here are 4 organizing ideas for exercise

1 - Make space (at home and on your calendar)

My bedroom exercise supplies (with my super fuzzy rug I love!)

Whether we want to exercise at home, take more walks, or join Rachel’s wonderful groups, our exercise gear needs a home.

It may be as simple as decluttering and organizing shoes by the front door so it’s easy to put shoes on and take them off, or as complex as clearing clutter from a whole room or space and setting up a workout room.

Whatever it is we need to get the exercise we want, we must make time on our calendar to clear the space - and we must honor that time we would doctor appointments (this is doctor appointment prevention!).

Example from my life:

To keep my body limber and strong in my busy life, I wanted to daily physical therapy and stretching in the morning before starting my day.

I cleared a corner of my bedroom, splurged on a super fuzzy rug, and put my tools and small weights in the corner (with a motivating vision board).

This didn’t happen overnight - sometimes I took chunks of time, sometimes I worked in microbursts (short focused times), but I kept going until I felt like Goldilocks and it felt “just right.”

Now I have to walk by them every morning when I get out of bed, and step around them to get dressed - and miracle of miracles, I’m doing something with them daily!

What can you do to make space for exercise so it’s crazy easy to do it?

2 - Make it easy

My hat-glove basket and walking shoes near my front door (and Boss Kitty Brutus)

I like to think all the way through desired activities and make aaallll the things we need to make it a reality so simple it’s ridiculous NOT to do it.

If you want space at home for exercising, what’s the easiest way to make that space available? Even if you create clutter somewhere else, if exercising is a top priority then that’s ok! (Reach out to me if you need extra support)

Examples from my and clients’ lives:

Put a fully packed bag in the car so it’s easy to grab it and go, including shoes, water, protein snacks and extra shirts/socks/shorts.
Near the front door, put walking shoes, water bottle and a basket for gloves, hats, and socks - anything we might want on a walk or run.
Have an easily accessible special drawer just for exercise clothes/equipment.
Have a spot in drawers just for those items - one end of my tank top drawer, stretch pants drawer, and sock drawers are dedicated to what I like to wear for exercising.

3 - Ask your heart for the deepest reasons for exercising

When we make a decision to make exercise a regular part of our lives and fully commit to that decision, no amount of clutter will get in our way.

We figure it out, we find ways to make it happen. We don’t give up until our commitment is fulfilled and we’re actually exercising.

If we hesitate or resist making a decision, it’s often because we haven’t found a good enough reason to do it.

When there’s hesitation, it’s time to dig deep and find our heart’s deepest reasons for making space to exercise and ask our heart: why is it important for me to do this?

Some examples of deep whys:

Wanting to be able to hold our grandkids when we’re 80.
Wanting to prevent the heart attack that killed a loved one.
Aching to finally feel better in and about our bodies after a lifetime of self abuse.

I love this quote by W.H. Murray because I see it so often in my and my clients’ lives:

“…the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision…”

It begins with, “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back.”

What are your deepest motivating whys for making space in your home and life to exercise?

4 - Organize our time (and let it be easy)

To create healthy habits takes thinking ahead, planning and practicing - which is why we often don’t do them!

We tell ourselves, often subconsciously, “I don’t have time,” or “it’s too hard.”

For people with ADHD and other executive functioning challenges, this can feel extra tough.

But if we want a healthy life, we must do some tough things!

A few minutes at the beginning of the month, week and each day can be all it takes to look ahead and plan. We can ask, “when will I fit in exercise?” and plan ahead to carve that time out.

“Everything is figureoutable,” says Marie Forleo.

Examples:

Look ahead at the week ahead and decide when and where to fit in exercise.
Write times on a calendar and/or put it on a digital calendar with reminders, then get the necessary items ready to make it easy

Where does exercising fit into your day, week, month, life?

Do you need to take time to clear clutter, organize and plan ahead?

If you want support to help this happen, please reach out to me! I’m passionate about this topic and have helped hundreds of people clear space for their deepest desires.

May we all live a life full of vigor and good health!

Sincerely,

Spring