Select-an-Effort: Exercise Clothing

We are rolling along in “Select-an-Effort: Organizing Tasks for 2023.” Yesterday we looked at undergarments. Today we will stay in the same area and consider exercise clothing. If you don’t workout and/or have no exercise clothing, you get the day off!

Workout clothes can consist of a wide variety of items. A few examples are:

• Leggings/yoga pants
• Sports tops/bras
• Shorts
• T-shirts, dry-fit shirts
• Sports-specific apparel (golf, swimming, tennis, etc.)
• Sneakers or another special footwear
• Socks
• Caps and hats
• Gloves

What you wear depends on what type(s) of exercise you pursue.  Ready to organize this category?

Low Effort

Pick one or two tops or bottoms that you don’t wear anymore and either donate them or dispose of them.

Medium Effort

Go through each category of workout wear that you own. Instead of focusing on what to get rid of, select the items you wear often. These are, by default, your favorites. Are these enough to get you through the week? If you live in a 4-season climate, remember to think about each season. Do you need to get any new items?

High Effort

Like all clothing, exercise clothing can be stored in an organized fashion. For the pieces you wear often, putting in a bit of work to get your clothes stored efficiently can be very rewarding. For example, my husband wears golf shirts quite a bit in the warmer months. His shirts had been stacked on a shelf in a cabinet, but because these shirts are slippery, it wasn’t working for him.

Instead, we replaced shelves in a closet with a rod, got more hangers, and hung them by color. The result was not only more attractive, but much easier to use. Organizing by color works especially well for clothing.

If you have time today, consider how you might improve the way you are storing your exercise clothing. Maybe you just need a basket or two to hold small/slippery pieces. You might want to try hanging something that you have historically kept on a shelf or in a drawer. Maybe you’d like to try a new folding technique. Perhaps you have some out of season items in your primary storage space that could be kept more remotely until the weather turns.

Remember that this is an “optional” project. If your system is working for you, terrific! The goal is always to be able to find what you need, when you need it, and for it to be in good condition when you do.

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What type of exercise do you enjoy? How often do you review your workout wear?