Every time I blocked out a workout slot after drop-off, something ate it — an email, a client call, the kid forgetting a folder. So I stopped scheduling it separately and just tacked a 20-minute walk onto the drop-off itself. Same shoes, same route, no going back home first.
12 days in a row now without missing one, which actually surprised me!
A few things that made it stick:
– starting the route right from the school gate, not from my front door
– keeping the loop boring on purpose, same one every time, no deciding involved
– not calling it “exercise” in my head, more like an errand that happens to move my legs
The one day it slipped was the morning movers came to look at the apartment, everything got packed into that window instead. Didn’t try to make it up later, just picked it back up at the next drop-off.
What never worked before was telling myself I’d “fit in a workout later.” Later never showed up on a day with a kid and 3 deadlines. Attaching it to something already happening is the only version that’s made it past a good week so far.