If It's Not in the Calendar, It Doesn't Exist

Want to know the secret to never missing a workout? Put it in your calendar. Here’s why treating exercise like an appointment transforms everything.

Listen to the episode here…

My Cousin Laughs at My Calendar Obsession. But It’s Why I Never Miss the Gym.

My cousin makes fun of me constantly. She thinks my calendar obsession is ridiculous.

But you know what? It’s the reason I show up to the gym every single day.

If it’s not in my calendar, it doesn’t exist. That’s my rule. And maybe it should be yours too.

Why Calendars Actually Work

Every single thing I do goes in my calendar. Doctor’s appointments. Meetings. Phone calls. And yes, every single workout.

Maybe you’re like me. Maybe you need that visual reminder. Maybe you need to see it written down to make it real.

Or maybe you think this sounds excessive. Either way, hear me out.

Sunday Night Planning

Every Sunday night, I sit down and look at my week. And I add every single gym class I plan to attend.

Monday mornings? Zumba and low-impact cardio. Tuesday? Low-impact cardio and toning, plus cardio drumming with the stability ball. Thursday? Tabata and stretch.

If there’s not a class I’m attending but I still want to work out, that goes in too. A walk. A home workout. Something.

Because if it’s not scheduled, it’s not happening.

My Weekly Schedule

Here’s what my typical week looks like:

Monday: Zumba and low-impact cardio
Tuesday: Low-impact cardio and toning, plus cardio drumming
Wednesday: Active recovery day – stretch and walk
Thursday: Tabata and stretch
Friday: Zumba and low-impact cardio and toning
Saturday: Zumba and low-impact cardio and toning
Sunday: Active recovery day – stretch and walk

Do I stick to this perfectly every week? Not always. But having it scheduled means I’m way more likely to show up than if I just wing it.

The Power of Stretch Classes

Can we talk about stretching for a second? Because y’all, I’m obsessed.

Second to Zumba, stretching might be my favorite thing. There’s something about it that makes me feel like I can do more with my body. Like I’m taking care of myself in a way that matters.

If you’re not stretching every day, or at least every few days, you’re missing out. I’ll link my favorite YouTube stretching playlist in the show notes because I cannot state enough how much I love stretches.

The “I Work From Home” Excuse

I work from home. And I get it. Some of you are thinking, “Well, it’s easy for you. You have time because you work from home.”

But here’s the thing. Working from home makes it EASIER to skip workouts, not harder. It’s incredibly easy to fill my day with everything except exercise.

That’s exactly why the calendar matters. I’ve actively chosen to put these workouts in my schedule. They’re appointments. They’re non-negotiable.

You Have Options

Most of the classes I take are taught by one instructor. But she also teaches evening classes. And there are other instructors too.

If you’re in Richmond, Kentucky like me, there are classes you can take. If you’re in Walla Walla, Washington or anywhere else, there are classes you can take too. Online or in-person. With equipment or without.

Pilates classes. Bodyweight classes. Weightlifting classes. Spin classes. Dance fitness classes. Zumba-inspired classes.

The options are everywhere. You just have to look.

Make It an Appointment

Here’s what I need you to understand. There’s something powerful about knowing a workout is an appointment. Not a “maybe if I feel like it.” Not a “we’ll see how the day goes.”

An appointment. Something non-negotiable. Something you have to show up for.

When you put it in your mindset that “I have this upcoming workout that I intend to do,” you make the plan to do it. And plans are more likely to happen than vague intentions.

Your Action Step

Get yourself a calendar. Or if you already use one, start using it differently.

Add specific dates and times when you will commit to yourself. When you will do the workouts. When you will start moving your body more.

Figure out what your week looks like and start adding in classes. It doesn’t matter where you live. It doesn’t matter if you go to a gym or work out at home. It doesn’t matter if you take classes or just walk.

What matters is that you schedule it. You make dates with yourself.

You Can Do This

Only you can do this for yourself. Nobody else can work out for you.

So make the commitment to yourself. Embrace the power of the calendar. Make these dates with yourself non-negotiable.

You deserve this. You must commit to yourself. Please just take care of yourself.

Get it drilled into your head: Make these dates with yourself. Make the commitments.

You can do this. I believe in you.

Exercise Playlists:

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Full Transcript – If It’s Not in the Calendar, It Doesn’t Exist: Why Scheduling Your Workouts Changes Everything

00:00:11
What’s up you guys, famous Ashley Grant here
00:00:13
and welcome to More Movement Please, the podcast
00:00:15
where I try to inspire you to move your body
00:00:17
more. Today I wanna talk about the importance
00:00:19
and the power of a calendar. Now, my cousin,
00:00:24
if she hears this, she’s gonna be laughing at
00:00:26
me because she is forever making fun of me for
00:00:28
my obsession with my calendar. The truth is that
00:00:31
whenever it comes to my calendar, I kind of get
00:00:34
a little bit obsessive. Every single thing I
00:00:36
do has to go on my calendar. And the reason why
00:00:38
is because if it’s not in calendar, it doesn’t
00:00:40
exist. Maybe you’re like me. Maybe you’re not.
00:00:43
Maybe this will help you. Maybe it won’t. But
00:00:45
just sharing with what I’m going through in hopes
00:00:47
that maybe it can help somebody. So every single
00:00:51
week at the beginning of the week on Sunday,
00:00:53
I take a look at what’s going on for the week.
00:00:56
And I add into my calendar all of the… gym
00:01:00
classes that I want to attend for the week. And
00:01:03
if there’s not a gym class that I’m going to
00:01:05
attend, but I still want to do a workout, I put
00:01:07
that in there too. And the reason why is because
00:01:10
I know that if it’s not in the calendar, it’s
00:01:12
not going to happen. So on Monday mornings, I
00:01:17
know that I will be doing Zumba and low impact
00:01:19
cardio. So every Sunday night, that’s what goes
00:01:22
on my calendar for the week. On Tuesdays, I know
00:01:24
that I will be doing low impact cardio and toning.
00:01:27
And then I’ll be doing the cardio drumming with
00:01:29
the stability ball. Wednesdays are typically
00:01:32
going to be my active recovery day and on that
00:01:35
day I will do a walk or I’ll do a stretch class.
00:01:38
Most of the times lately I’ve been doing both.
00:01:41
But I at least try to do the stretch class because
00:01:43
the stretch class is gold, y ‘all. I’m obsessed
00:01:46
with stretching because it just feels so good
00:01:50
on my body. And if you’re not doing some sort
00:01:53
of a stretch every day or at least every few
00:01:55
days, I highly, highly, highly recommend it.
00:01:57
I will include a link in the show notes to my
00:02:00
favorite playlist on YouTube for stretching because,
00:02:04
y ‘all, I cannot state enough just how much I
00:02:08
love stretches. Second to Zumba, I think it might
00:02:12
be my favorite thing. I do love Tabata, don’t
00:02:15
get me wrong, but something about stretch just
00:02:17
makes me feel like I can do more with my body.
00:02:20
So I highly recommend that. So on Thursdays,
00:02:23
I generally will do Tabata and guess what? Another
00:02:26
stretch class because again, I love stretching.
00:02:29
Fridays are usually Zumba and then low impact
00:02:31
cardio and toning. And then Saturday, I repeat
00:02:34
that with Zumba and low impact cardio and toning.
00:02:37
Occasionally on Sundays, I will try to get into
00:02:40
a Zumba class. But if nothing else, that’s another
00:02:42
active recovery day where I make sure to do stretches.
00:02:45
And I try to walk as often as I can. I mean,
00:02:47
I do have two little doggies. And so I’m constantly
00:02:50
trying to walk them. Their names are Bailey’s
00:02:51
and Kalua. You should check them out on Instagram.
00:02:53
They’re the Pampered Pomchies. But I try to make
00:02:57
sure that I… walk them as much as possible
00:02:59
as well. So every single day I’m moving my body
00:03:02
like that is that is my goal. That is what I
00:03:04
love to do. I move my body as much as I can.
00:03:07
And the thing is, I work from home. And so I
00:03:10
get it. Some of you may be listening to this
00:03:12
going, well, it’s easy for you. You can do it
00:03:14
because you work from home. But at the same time,
00:03:16
it’s that I actively have chosen to put these
00:03:19
things in my calendar because it’s very easy,
00:03:21
especially working from home, to fill up my day
00:03:24
with everything but working out. The thing is,
00:03:29
the gal that teaches most of the classes that
00:03:31
I take, I mean, like 95 % of the classes I take,
00:03:34
she also does evening classes. And if you don’t
00:03:37
like her style, there’s other people that teach
00:03:38
gym classes as well. If you’re listening to this
00:03:40
from Richmond, Kentucky, I mean, come on, you
00:03:42
can still find some kind of a class to take.
00:03:44
If you’re not taking classes in Richmond, Kentucky,
00:03:46
maybe you’re listening to this in, I don’t know,
00:03:48
Walla Walla, Washington, you can find classes
00:03:51
to do as well. I’ll leave some links in the show
00:03:54
notes to some of my favorite online classes.
00:03:56
There’s so many different classes you can take
00:03:58
from no equipment classes to Pilates to body
00:04:03
weight classes to weightlifting classes. I’ve
00:04:08
even found ones for spin. I’ve found some that
00:04:11
are pretty awesome for dance fitness. They’re
00:04:13
not necessarily Zumba, but some of them are Zumba
00:04:16
inspired. So there’s so many different classes
00:04:19
that you can take online. I just recommend that
00:04:22
you figure out what works for you and start moving
00:04:24
your body more. Like that’s obviously the whole
00:04:27
theme of this podcast, right? It’s what I keep
00:04:29
drilling in and saying. But what I will definitely
00:04:32
say is if you are thinking about doing this,
00:04:35
put it in your calendar. Like if you’re the type
00:04:38
of person that has to write down doctor’s appointments
00:04:40
or if you write down meetings that you have with
00:04:42
people or anything that you add into your calendar
00:04:45
as a commitment. add in your workouts there is
00:04:49
something so powerful about knowing that it is
00:04:52
an appointment it is something that is not negotiable
00:04:54
it is something that you have to show up for
00:04:56
so just putting that in your mindset that hey
00:05:00
i have this upcoming workout that i intend to
00:05:03
do and so you make the plan to do it so what
00:05:07
i want you to do seriously Get yourself a calendar.
00:05:10
And if you already use a calendar, start adding
00:05:13
in dates and times that you will commit to yourself.
00:05:16
You will do the workouts. You will start moving
00:05:18
your body more because y ‘all only you can do
00:05:21
this for yourself, right? You can’t have anybody
00:05:23
else work out for you. So make the commitment
00:05:26
to yourself. Embrace the power of the calendar.
00:05:28
Make these dates with yourself. Figure out what
00:05:31
your week looks like and start adding in classes.
00:05:36
I don’t care where you live. in the world whether
00:05:38
it is richmond kentucky like me and you have
00:05:41
a local gym that you can go to or if you live
00:05:44
in walla walla washington and you only can take
00:05:46
classes online i i don’t care where you live
00:05:50
there are classes available that you can take
00:05:52
and if you don’t want to take classes then you
00:05:55
can at least do something where you’re moving
00:05:57
your body you could be walking you could be doing
00:05:59
squats you could be um doing wall push -ups or
00:06:03
or or wall sits or I mean, there’s so many different
00:06:06
things that you can be doing to be moving your
00:06:08
body. Bottom line, just get out there, move your
00:06:11
body, make the dates with yourself. You deserve
00:06:15
this. You must commit to yourself. Please just
00:06:18
take care of yourself. I know I keep saying this
00:06:20
and I’m going to keep saying this every single
00:06:22
time you guys tune in. That’s what you’re going
00:06:23
to hear. So just get it drilled into your head.
00:06:26
Make these dates with yourself. Make the commitments.
00:06:29
You can do this. I believe in you. Onwards and
00:06:31
upwards, my friends. Have you worked out today?
00:06:34
Thank you.