Jo Hartley

Guest Contributor

Working parent who rebuilt a fitness practice after burning out on perfection. Writes about doing less, better.

Articles

• The Liberation of the C-Minus Workout Week

  Perfect weeks are brittle. I learned real fitness momentum comes from “C-minus” commitments—tiny, logged wins that survive kids, chaos, and stomach bugs.

• The Thursday Night Triage: Elastic Plans for Real Life

  Airtight fitness plans shatter in real life. My fix: elastic weekly commitments—complete the B-minus backup, log it privately, keep moving forward.

• The Sunday Night Delusion (and the Plan That Finally Worked)

  I stopped scheduling workouts like CEO meetings and started planning for toddler chaos. Three “floating” workouts + private accountability kept me consistent for 6 months.

• The Power of the Pathetic Plan

  A working parent’s secret weapon: baseline plans so “pathetic” you can’t miss. I hit my longest Ledger streak by capping workouts at three 12-minute sessions.

• I Stopped Planning Workouts for My Best Days

  I kept planning “optimal” workouts, then collapsing under guilt when life hit. The fix wasn’t more motivation—it was pessimistic planning for my worst days.