From family to friends, work to play, with all the demands we have on us daily. It’s easy to feel pressured to cut corners and make different decisions on priorities.
And when we feel the pressure at work, we often cut out things that are important to us at any other time, like family or our health.
When an adult is stressed, they tend to focus on what they perceive they must accomplish over what may be in their best interest.
When we get squeezed for time, we feel stressed and end up sacrificing sleep or exercise. When money is tight, we sacrifice the little things we enjoy, like eating out. Or when work is demanding, we sacrifice our time with family.
Stress is the culprit and can be a significant driver in health-related issues, from a lowered immune system leading to a greater chance of illness to mental health concerns like anxiety and depression.
In other words, stress can impact health in various ways, including the ability to function in normal daily activities.
In fact, more than a quarter of American adults report that they are so stressed out that they can’t function normally.
So, how can you combat the effects of stress in your life? Through a system of work/life balance with exercise at the core.
The Importance Of Work/Life Balance
Too often, when demands pile up on a person, things that generally bring happiness and joy are thrown by the wayside. Why is that? When we have too much to do, enjoyable activities seem like a guilty pleasure, and we prioritize tasks over living our lives.
The problem is that we add fuel to the fire by inverting the priority scale to tasks that drive our stress over things we enjoy (and hence alleviate stress). Our stress levels increase the more we focus on what we must do and the timeline we have to complete it rather than having enjoyable outlets that lower our stress levels.
It’s the same process with chronic diseases like Diabetes. With diabetes, as blood sugars fluctuate, it causes the body to be flooded with Cortisol and adrenaline, which further increases the glucose in the body, becoming a spiral that can be hard to get out of.
So, instead of focusing on the stress that demands are placing on you, re-evaluate ways to preserve a healthy work/life balance.
And one of the most important ways to maintain your health and establish a healthy work/life balance is to create boundaries between the two.
For example, when work is done for the day, that’s it. Don’t allow work to creep into family time or whatever you do for your social-emotional health.
Put the phone down, or put it in do not disturb mode between hours you plan to spend with loved ones. Ignore emails that come outside of work hours. Better yet, don’t even look at emails except in predetermined windows.
Exercise is another priority. If you’re not taking care of yourself physically, your mental health can suffer, and your stress levels can build. That’s because vigorous exercise causes the body to produce happiness hormones.
It can alter and change your brain chemistry so that instead of flooding your body with fight-or-flight hormones like cortisol, it can release endorphins and dopamine to boost your mood and reduce stress.
If you’re unsure what type of exercise program is best for your age, fitness levels, and ambitions, you can do a simple Google search to look for ideas, suggestions, programs, gyms, and even exercise routines.
For instance, say you live in the Orange County/Los Angeles area of Southern California. In that case, if you’re looking for exercise ideas and programs, you can conduct an online search for the results you’re looking for.
For example, if you’re looking for an exercise class that combines exercise and self-defense, you can type into the search bar, “self-defense class near me.” Scroll through the results and decide what looks the most appealing.
Or if you’re comfortable with your exercise knowledge and want to know the location of a local gym, try to search the following:
- Gyms near me
- Adult fitness programs in Los Angeles
- Public swimming pools near me
- Nearest Fullerton gym from my house
- Yoga Studio in Yorba Linda
- Soul cycle fitness classes near Manhattan Beach
The key in your search is to include your location or one near where you’d like to join the programs they offer.
Establishing a healthy balance in your work/life demands can be challenging at times, so making exercise a central part of your schedule is vital to your overall health. Exercise boosts your moods, helps reduce stress, improves cognitive performance, and improves restful sleep patterns.
