When was the last time you prioritized your mental and physical well-being? Unfortunately for many people, the answer is that they can’t even remember the last time they did something for themselves. Being so busy with work that your personal life along with your mental and physical well-being falls by the wayside is a serious problem and one that many people face. Luckily, there are ways to get back on track, find balance, and ultimately live a positive and healthy lifestyle.
Perry Adam Lieber is a professional fitness and health entrepreneur from Santa Barbara, California, who has nearly two decades of experience working in the health and wellness sector. He shares three habits that he recommends everyone with a busy work schedule get into to live a more positive lifestyle.
Meal Prepping
First, Perry Lieber of Santa Barbara, California claims that one of the most effective lifestyle habits busy people can have is meal prepping. Meal prepping for the week not only saves you time in the kitchen (a must for people with busy work schedules), but it will also ensure you have nutritious meals ready to go, reducing the chances that you’ll order takeout pizza for the third time this week. There are plenty of resources and tips for those interested in meal planning themselves; however, there are several meal prepping services that do almost all of the work for you. For people with especially busy schedules, Lieber recommends looking into grocery delivery or meal kit services in your area. This way, you don’t have to spend time at the grocery store but can still have fresh food in your fridge. No matter how you choose to go about it, meal prepping is key to eating a balanced diet and the mental and physical health benefits of that are endless.
Tracking Your Exercise
The second positive lifestyle habit for people with busy work schedules is to track your exercise. Mayo Clinic recommends that adults get 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise each week. However, not everyone has the time to visit a gym or fitness center on the regular. That is why fitness expert Perry Lieber suggests using a fitness tracking app to monitor your daily movement as well as to set fitness goals. These kinds of apps will encourage you to get creative with exercise, like finding ways to get more steps in during the day or even do mini workouts at your desk. Such apps or devices will even send alerts when it’s time for your body to get moving and there are many that offer videos or classes specifically for people who want to get active in the middle of their workday (these include short but intense 10 minute videos and videos that require no equipment whatsoever). Prioritizing exercise, even if it has to be done in small increments or creative ways, is one positive lifestyle habit that your body and mind will thank you for.
Perry Adam Lieber on Scheduling Personal Time
A final piece of advice is to schedule your personal time. Sometimes, when you’re busy enough, it’s easy for personal time to fall by the wayside. Either you get so bogged down with work that your workday starts the minute you wake up and ends the moment you go to bed. Or, even if you give yourself some time to rest, you’re so stressed from working that you don’t optimize that time. That is why Perry Adam Lieber recommends scheduling some personal time for yourself each day. This doesn’t mean constantly having plans, it simply means that you’re intentional about the way you relax. Examples of positive lifestyle habits you can schedule during your personal time are having dinner with your family at the same time each night, practicing yoga before you go to bed, or even scheduling some “me time” in the bathtub with a good book and your favorite candle. It isn’t so much about how you choose to relax, it’s more about being intentional and coming up with a plan to give you some balance and separation between work and your home life.