From Kathy Smith, President, Kathy Smith Lifestyles:

"It’s the ultimate ‘coffee break,’ and once you understand the value that it brings to your life and work, you’ll always carve out time to do it. Every day as a mandatory appointment, I put in my calendar time for my workouts, so that I always find the time to show up, just like I would for a meeting or conference call.

For me, exercise is the key to a productive workday: not for weight loss or health, but for the positive frame of mind it provides. After a workout, I move into my day feeling charged, confident, and proactive. To keep this up day after day, I view exercise as a non-negotiable, like eating, drinking, sleeping, or even checking e-mail. We do these things quite automatically because they keep us thriving.

The most common excuse I hear for not exercising is, of course, ‘I don’t have enough time.’ Well, who does?! We live fast-paced, hardworking lifestyles, and if I viewed exercise as an activity that can only be done on days when I have ‘extra time,’ chances are good that I’d simply never do it. Since I work from home, I always face the temptation to jump into ‘work mode’ the moment I wake up. After all, I can eat lunch in front of my computer, and luckily I don’t have to bother with the excessive grooming that comes with a strict office dress code, so it’s easy to start checking e-mails and returning phone calls first thing in the morning. But we entrepreneurs have a special advantage over 9-to-5-ers: the luxury of making our own schedules. My job allows me the freedom to go to the gym during off-peak hours when traffic is down, or sometimes I’ll pop in an exercise DVD at my convenience (and can even get a workout in right there at my computer). It’s unlikely that my busy schedule is going to suddenly ease up, allowing ample extra time to accomplish every single one of my to-do’s. But by making exercise a non-negotiable, it’s built into my workday, and I find that I yield the benefits on the job: showing up each day with more energy, alertness, and feeling capable of accomplishing more than ever before.”

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