Work & Fitness: How to Balance Your Career with a Healthy Lifestyle

Whether you’re a long term gym goer or you’re just starting your fitness journey, balancing work and fitness is always tough.

Responsibilities stretch on beyond the end of the day, early morning runs leave you too drained for work, and between it all you never feel like you’re getting the time to just sit down and be yourself.

At Career Navig8r, we believe that your career should never get in the way of your health. In this article we’d like to talk about some of the techniques you can use to improve that balance so that you can find that perfect harmony you’ve been looking for.

Finding The Perfect Time

When should you exercise?

Should you do it straight after work when you’re done using your brain so you can focus on your body? Should you do it first thing in the morning, before the rest of the world can start throwing jobs at you?

There’s no one right time for everyone because it depends entirely on your schedule, your lifestyle, and even your psychology. That said, the best time will almost always be the one where you have the fewest demands on your attention.

If you’re single and living alone, that might be before the work day starts. If you’re a parent, it’ll probably be some time while your kids are at school – which can even mean using up your lunch break.

Of course, sometimes finding the perfect time is really about making the perfect time. Maybe you’ll have to find an afterschool activity to monitor your kids while you get in an hour on the treadmill. Maybe you’ll want to try an earlier bedtime to help you get up before the rest of your family and have an undisturbed hour or two.

It may take a while to find a time that works but once you do, the benefits will speak for themselves.

Cutting Out Stimulants

We all love sugar and caffeine but are they actually bringing us any benefit? When you drink that sugary coffee in the morning, you’re not just taking in a few extra calories, you’re borrowing energy from later that day and the price is often paid with interest.

While cutting coffee certainly won’t benefit your motivation in the short term, getting into the habit of exercising without any form of stimulant will be incredibly beneficial in the long run, helping your body find its natural balance.

It might not be a major step, and for some the effort of dropping caffeine will always outweigh the rewards, but if you’re looking to get better at balancing work and fitness, it’s absolutely worth trying for a few months.

Speak To Your Boss

Now this will depend a lot on what your relationship with your boss/company is like, but if you can, it may help to speak with your boss and talk about the difficulty your having. A good company should care about the health of their employees and may even be willing to take steps to help you such as altering your work hours or giving you a longer lunch break.

Some companies even have gym membership programs. If this is something you think your company might be receptive to, then it’s always worth making the suggestion.

Make It Social

The biggest challenge in learning how to balance exercise and work is always going to be the time it takes. No matter when you exercise, at a certain point there are only so many hours in the day. When all’s said and done, you may have to make sacrifices.

That said, many people find joy in combining their work out time with social time. If you have friends, family, or colleagues who are also looking to improve their physical fitness, then you could all take up a new activity together. Not only does this buy you a few more hours in the day, but it also adds an extra incentive to your exercise session.

Of course, as with any strategy this won’t work for everyone. If you’re more of an introverted type, then the thought of a social hour at the gym probably doesn’t sound so appealing. For those who thrive on social interaction however, it can be a way to turn hard work into an exciting, shared adventure.

Find The Fun

At the end of the day, no matter your approach, the best way to ensure that you’re regularly exercising is to find a way to make it fun. Whether that’s trying a whole new discipline – be it martial arts, rowing, or even fencing – or inviting others along for the ride, the key is to make exercise feel less like a chore and more like something to look forward to.