No More "Tomorrow": Building Workouts Into Your Real Life
You walk through the door after a long day.
You promised yourself this morning you'd get it done. You even pictured the feeling after—the pride, the clarity, the calm. But now you're here, keys in one hand, fatigue in the other, and that motivation feels like a stranger. You don’t want to skip it… but you don’t exactly want to start either.
Your body drops onto the sofa almost instinctively. You tell yourself you’ll sit down for just a minute. You know that workout will help—you want the feeling it gives you. But it’s like there’s a magnetic pull between your body and the cushions. Your kit’s upstairs. The room's a bit cold. Your brain, trying to be helpful, throws out a calm, rational-sounding thought: “You’re tired. Just rest today. You can go tomorrow.”
And that would be fine—except tomorrow often never comes.
And each time it doesn’t, the gap between intention and action grows heavier. Not because you don’t care—but because the system isn’t designed to carry you through when motivation disappears.
And sometimes, your body is asking for rest—genuinely. That’s valid. But it’s worth checking: is this moment inside your window of tolerance, where movement might help regulate you—or outside it, where rest is truly restorative? That distinction changes everything.
So what’s really going on?
This isn’t about laziness or lack of discipline. It’s about flow, friction, and how your brain resists switching states.
The Brain Hates State Changes—Unless You Prime It
Neuroscience shows that the brain is energy-conserving by design. It doesn’t like switching between states—especially from rest to effort. The moment you stop moving and sink into rest mode (e.g. sitting on the sofa), your parasympathetic nervous system engages, slowing your heart rate, relaxing your muscles, and signalling that it’s time to chill.
To go from that relaxed state into effort, your brain has to gear up your sympathetic nervous system again—activating focus, energy, drive, and even some physical tension. That’s a big switch. And your brain resists it because it feels like a threat to the calm it just achieved.
In neuroscience, this is linked to what's called a task-switching cost—the mental and physical effort it takes your brain to shift from one mode of operation to another. It’s not just psychological; it’s neurological friction. The more effort it predicts, the more your brain delays.
So instead, it does what it’s wired to do: rationalise the easier option. It recruits your chimp brain—that fast, emotional, survival-focused part of your mind—and masks it in a logical-sounding excuse. “You’ve done enough today.” “You’ll be better tomorrow.” “One rest day won’t hurt.”
And just like that, the identity-aligned action you want to take becomes buried under mental noise.
Flow Works the Other Way Too—In Your Favour
Here’s the good news: while your brain resists switching states back into movement, it loves staying in motion once it’s already going.
This is called behavioural momentum—and it’s powerful. Research shows that once you start an activity, it becomes far easier to continue than to stop and restart (Graybiel, 2008). That’s why the hardest part of a workout isn’t doing it—it’s starting it.
But here’s what you might be missing in that pause on the sofa: the after. That moment when your breath is steady again, your mind is quiet, and your body hums with energy. When the noise in your head clears, and you remember that you did something hard—on purpose. That version of you isn’t tired. She’s proud. She’s back in her body. She’s grounded.
So the trick? Never stop moving if you want to flow into the next action.
This is where habit stacking and flow-based routines come in.
Take my old client J. She used to come home, crash on the couch, and promise herself she'd "just scroll for five minutes." Forty-five minutes later, the window for movement had passed—and she felt worse. Now? She walks in the door, grabs her kit bag (already packed), hits play on her 5-minute warm-up playlist, and moves her body before the debate starts. It’s not always perfect. But it’s consistent. And it feels like freedom.
Stacking for Flow: Making Movement the Next Logical Step
Think of your evening like a train journey. Each behaviour is a station. The more you line them up, the smoother the ride.
Instead of:
Work → Commute → Sofa → [Massive jump to] Workout
Try:
Work → Commute → Walk through door → Straight into activewear → Music on → Glass of water → Short warm-up stretch → Workout
Each action stacks into the next. You’re not debating with yourself about working out—you’re just following the route you’ve already laid down.
And every time you follow that route, you're reinforcing the identity of someone who moves on purpose—not just for results, but because it's who you are.
Real-World Examples Your Brain Will Love
💡 Keep your kit in view
Visual cues reduce decision fatigue. If your trainers/ sneakers are by the door and your workout gear is already laid out, your brain sees them as the next step—not a brand-new task.
💡 Use an “if–then” stack
“If I walk through the door, then I put my kit on.” It’s simple, but research shows this kind of implementation intention can double or even triple your follow-through rate (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006).
💡 Pair with a reward cue
Stack something enjoyable onto the end. “After I work out, I get my protein shake and 15 minutes with a book.” This taps into the dopaminergic reward loop, helping your brain associate the behaviour with positive outcomes.
Every time you finish—even imperfectly—you give your brain a hit of dopamine, reinforcing the pathway that says, “I do what I said I would.” That builds not just consistency, but identity-level trust.
💡 Create a low-friction start
Instead of telling yourself you have to do 45 minutes, try “I’ll do just the warm-up.” Once you’ve started, momentum kicks in—and nine times out of ten, you’ll keep going.
💡 Tie it to identity
Rather than “I need to work out,” say “I’m someone who moves my body even when it’s been a long day.” This primes the Reticular Activating System (RAS) to notice opportunities that align with who you want to be.
What Happens When You Skip Flow and Fight Resistance
If you don’t design for flow, you’re stuck trying to restart the engine from zero—every single time. That means more friction. More resistance. More internal debate. More guilt when it doesn’t happen.
Think of your habits like a stream. If the riverbed is carved deep and smooth, the water flows effortlessly. But if the path is blocked, scattered, or uphill, it doesn’t matter how much willpower you pour in—it’s always going to feel like a slog.
And if you're already feeling tired, overwhelmed, or stretched thin, that mental load makes it 10x harder to follow through—even when you want to.
Over time, that constant inner battle erodes your self-trust. You begin to believe you’re someone who “can’t stay consistent,” when really—you’ve just been designing your habits against your brain’s wiring.
So What Does Ease Actually Look Like?
Flow doesn’t mean “easy.” It means fewer psychological hurdles. It means giving your brain a smooth runway instead of a vertical climb.
It looks like this:
You finish work and don’t even sit down.
Your trainers are already by the door.
You’ve got a short playlist that hypes you up (a cue to shift state).
You drink water, stretch, and start.
You don’t overthink, or even think—you just move.
And with that momentum, your brain doesn’t argue. It’s already along for the ride.
And yes—some days, even with all of this stacked in your favour, it’ll still feel hard. That’s normal. The goal isn’t to erase resistance, but to reduce the grip it has over you. To act with the resistance, not wait for it to go away.
Final Thought: You Don’t Need More Willpower—You Need a Smoother On-Ramp
You’re not broken for finding it hard to exercise after a long day. Your brain is doing what it was designed to do: conserve energy and avoid discomfort.
But when you design your habits to work with your biology, not against it, you’ll be amazed at how much easier things feel.
Set the stage. Stack your cues. Don’t sit down. Just flow forward—step by step—into the version of you that already exists.
Because the version of you who moves even when it’s hard? She’s not in the future. She’s in your next small decision.
Next time your brain says “skip it,” try this pause:
“What would future me thank me for? What version of rest or movement feels most like care right now?”
No guilt. No shame. Just a check-in with the version of you you're becoming.
And the more often you choose from that place—even in the smallest ways—the more you act like her. Not through perfection, but through repetition. Through flow. Through trust. One smooth step at a time.
And whilst we're talking about flow for workouts, it would be rude not to mention flow for nutrition too.
Because just like exercise, the way we eat isn’t only about choices—it’s about the path of least resistance. And if that path leads through friction, fatigue, or 47 decisions at the end of a long day… the outcome becomes predictable.
Your brain loves shortcuts. And when your environment is full of cues, delays, or low-energy loopholes, those shortcuts don’t lead you toward the habits you want—they lead you back to the ones that feel easy in the moment, but hard in the long run.
This is where flow makes or breaks how we eat.
🧠 Your Brain Doesn’t Want to Decide Again
Let’s take a quick dive back into brain science: decision fatigue is real. Research shows that the more choices you make throughout the day, the more depleted your prefrontal cortex becomes (Baumeister et al., 2008). That’s the part of your brain responsible for planning, logic, and self-control.
So by the time evening rolls around, you’re not failing at discipline—you’re just mentally out of fuel. That’s why making dinner from scratch or resisting snacks at 9pm feels 10x harder than it did at 9am. Your chimp brain is louder. Your logic brain is offline. And you’re wired to conserve energy, not fight a battle over chips.
🍽️ Real Life Example: My Kitchen Is a Flow Trap
I know that for me personally, being in the kitchen of an evening is a recipe for disaster.
Not because I don’t know what to eat, or because I lack willpower—but because that space, at that time of day, becomes a friction zone. I’m tired. I want to switch off. I might be delaying a job I still need to do. Or I’m revenge procrastinating on bedtime. And suddenly, I’m not eating from hunger—I’m snacking from habit, avoidance, and overstimulation.
And it’s not about controlling everything—but honestly, why would I make it harder than it needs to be?
That’s why I do my best to clean the kitchen after dinner and not return for anything else. No bottles. No second drinks. I plan those in earlier. Because that one trip back in opens the door to mindless eating. And I’ve learned: I don’t need to test my self-control when I can just remove the test.
Other Common Flow Disruptors (That Clients Don’t Always See)
The fridge being full of ingredients but no meals = friction
Having no snacks that align with goals = friction
Starting the day with no plan and skipping meals = friction
Cooking separate meals for the kids = friction
Eating in front of the TV every night = friction
Having to “choose” what to eat when already hungry = major friction
🔄 How to Use Flow to Support Your Nutrition Goals
Just like with exercise, the goal is to reduce switches, remove friction, and make the next right step the obvious one.
✅ Pre-decide meals when your brain is fresh
→ Do it in the morning, or even better, the night before. This removes the “what should I eat?” loop when energy is low.
✅ Make your kitchen a ‘decision-free zone’ after a certain time
→ This doesn’t mean you can’t eat at night—it just means you’ve already decided what’s allowed to happen there. Boundaries support clarity.
✅ Create flow-friendly setups
→ Batch-cook protein or prep veg. Use a shopping app with saved staples. Keep your go-to snacks in visible, easy-to-grab spots. Think of it like laying out your workout clothes—but for your food.
✅ Plan based on energy, not fantasy
→ If Tuesdays are chaotic, that’s not the night for complicated dinners. Use flow to match meals to your real life—not your ideal one.
✅ Make soothing choices visible
→ Herbal tea, chocolate protein yoghurt, Greek yoghurt with berries—put them in sight. Visibility drives consumption (Wansink et al., 2006). If your brain wants relief, these options should be easy to choose.
🔁 Final Thought: Flow Is the Quiet Force Behind Your Consistency
It’s not always about what you’re eating or when you’re working out. It’s about whether your environment and routines are supporting those choices—or silently sabotaging them.
When you design for flow, you don’t need to wrestle yourself into action.
You just follow the path you already laid down—because you made it easier to be the person you already want to be.
If you want to tap into your own flow changes, and stop simply ‘trying harder’ before life makes you stop, again, then I would love to help you on that journey/
