Juggling Work and the Gym : How to Balance Work, Life, & Exercise

Sticking to the plan can feel next to impossible when life happens - as someone who has always been career motivated, I’ve had a really rough time trying to stick to a workout routine myself at times. Some days, it’s like I couldn’t push the “off” button on work and make a little time for myself. I dealt with feelings of GUILT around taking that time to workout.

Other days, it was out of laziness… I’d get home and think to myself - the last thing I am looking to do right now is get off my butt, turn Netflix off, and go sweat it out.

Does that sound like you? First let me say this - you could make the argument that if you are this career driven, taking this time is VITAL to your success.

Reframe the way you look at this time spent: you are clearing your head, relieving stress, and preventing burnout so that your time spent in the office allows you to be 100% on your A game.

The next piece of this is learning to be kind to YOURSELF through reasonable expectations. If your work schedule is crazy, how much time can you realistically PROMISE yourself you will dedicate to working out each week?

Notice I didn’t say- what would be challenging but potentially doable. What do you KNOW you can commit to for sure each week?

Set the bar at a level that makes sense for your schedule. Your workout regimen should SUPPLEMENT your life but it shouldn’t feel like your whole life and you certainly shouldn’t be struggling to stick to your time goal there.

Setting realistic goals allows you to make time for life while keeping you from getting discouraged and giving up.

Moral of the story here is make time for you, set realistic expectations, and see massive success.