I want to make exercise a priority, but right now I just don’t. Here’s why.

This might rub some people the wrong way. After all, who wouldn’t make exercise a priority?! If you also struggle to make exercise a priority, I hope you will be encouraged in knowing you are not alone.

I don’t like to use the phrase “I don’t have time to _____.” I really do have time. I have just as much time in a day as everyone else does. But I don’t have the same priorities as everyone else.

I work full time outside the home with a 35 minute commute each way. Plus I do blogging and freelance work and have two active kids and a husband who values quality time.

Right now I am not making exercise a priority because I am choosing to make other things priorities instead. I certainly could make exercise more of a priority if I would choose to lower the priority of something else I am doing.

That’s not to say that everything I am making a priority right now is something that should be a higher priority than exercising. Things like reading before bed or watching TV shows with my husband after the kids are in bed are probably not as important as exercise.

I got to thinking about why I don’t currently have a good exercise routine and I came up with 5 reasons.

5 Reasons I don’t Make Exercise a Priority

1. I’m not willing to pay for a gym membership.

At this point I can’t justify joining a gym. Between the financial cost and the time commitment to drive to and from a gym, it feels like such a sacrifice.

My time is very valuable to me. Exercising when I am at home can still be beneficial and would be less time consuming than driving to a gym and then having to freshen up to go back to work or go about my day.

2. I don’t want to exercise first thing in the morning.

I am definitely a morning person. I get up before my kids do. My mind is most alert in the mornings, so I use that time to do writing and other freelance activities that require me to be focused.

Since I can exercise when the kids are around, I choose not to exercise during my most focused time while the kids are still sleeping.

3. I want to get other tasks done.

I love making daily to-do lists with realistic time frames and setting monthly goals for other areas of my life, but I have not gotten a handle on setting exercise goals that I can keep.

I am a doer. This idea comes from the The Happiness Dare. In this book, Jennifer Dukes Lee goes deep into the five happiness styles of: doer, relater, experiencer, giver, and thinker.

Being a doer means I find greatest happiness in getting things done. Because of this, you would think crossing exercise off of my to-do list would be a great motivator for me. And it is, but I need a specific form of exercise to cross off my list.

Simply saying I will exercise every day is not enough for me. I don’t want to have to think about what I will do. I want a specific exercise plan for each day. I have done ok in the past when I had a specific daily exercise plan, such as this 30-day squat challenge. But then I got bored with that plan and didn’t have a backup plan in place.

I also did great when I was able to afford to go to a personal trainer (back when I was single and had few responsibilities), because I had a scheduled appointment and somebody expecting me. Having a personal trainer is not practical for me right now.

For now, other tasks make it onto my daily to-do lists, while exercise does not.

4. The weather is inconsistent.

If I could go for a walk every single day (or even every Tuesday & Thursday each week) during my lunch break, I would love that. I like routines and having a plan for the week.

So far this week I have done a 15-minute walk during my lunch break twice because the weather was beautiful. I loved getting out in the sun and fresh air. But when I can’t do it consistently I end up making lunch plans that don’t depend on the weather, like grocery shopping and computer work.

5. I’m lazy.

I love the idea of finding a YouTube channel with workout videos to do at home, but I haven’t done it yet. There are lots of things I would like to do, but I just don’t.

How do you make exercise a priority in your life?