If you haven't worked out in a long time, it can take 2-4 days to recover, but once you're fully back in the swing it only takes 1-2 days to recover. I'm really bad at sticking to work-outs and I'm always starting and stopping. It's horrible.
Anyway, whether you're sore or not, there are some things you can do every single day. And that's sit-ups and running, or any other cardio for that matter. Yeah it sucks, but if you work out your heart and lungs every day or every other day, it gets way easier to work out everything else.