Difficult to Manage Health With Work? 7 Challenges that you might be facing

You don’t need to join a yoga studio, eat salads, or go to the gym every day to be healthy! Yes, you read it right. You don’t need to spend hours on all aspects of health every single day to thrive.

You can be mentally and physically healthy while working and taking care of your family. First, however, you need to do one thing – prioritize your health. Prioritizing is an art that, if done right, can make taking care of your health effortless!

“I have no time to take care of my health” – as a health coach for women with busy routines, I get this concern from the women I work with. So here, I share seven reasons which can make it challenging to take care of your health with work.

1. Making Big, Unachievable Exercise Plans

If you make big exercise plans, there are chances that you just can’t make time for it, especially if urgent meetings spring up. Then, you may feel too drained to exercise, and feel dejected and have reduced self-efficacy. And, the lesser you exercise, the lesser you might have the will to exercise. Want to break this cycle? Make small goals: 10-15 minutes to do the exercise that you like. Read: The best exercise for you. For example, you could exercise with a resistance band next to your work desk.

2. Inability to prioritize and say ‘no’

Saying ‘no’ to set boundaries sounds like an obvious thing to do but can be challenging when we have busy routines. Therefore, identifying when and how to say ‘no’ is a powerful tool that can make you go from being exhausted to making time in your routine. And once we make time, taking care of our healths is not as daunting, provided we take baby steps. 

3. All Eggs in one Basket

If you have a high work ethic, putting work above everything else might feel okay to you. However, putting all your eggs in the ‘work’ basket can make you hop between anxiety and calm depending upon the lows and highs at work, respectively. Therefore, healthy practices seem plausible when work is not hectic but otherwise may go for a toss. The idea is to have a constant health routine that becomes your habit, regardless of how busy work is.

4. Emphasis on Execution

Many of us may be too focused on completing the tasks at hand and not step back and prioritize. News flash – If you don’t prioritize, all kinds of work can come your way and quickly pile on. You might then put the blinders on and always feel too busy to take care of yourself. So, if you find yourself almost all the time ‘doing’ and not ‘planning,’ it is the time to step back!

5. Unhealthy Snacking

Sometimes, with back-to-back meetings, it may feel next to impossible to snack healthily. We may then eat packaged food, high in neurotoxins. The result? Reduced cognition and our capability to manage stress. That can make it even more difficult to manage our health and step out for even a humble walk. So, you may consider breaking this pattern and stocking up on healthy foods.

6. Not asking for Help 

Asking for help can make space in our routines and therefore help us manage our healths. However, asking for help at work or home can be possible if we (a) let go of perfection (b) communicate our needs and expectations well, in a compassionate manner. 

7. Not Communicating your challenges to the manager

Communicating your boundaries and challenges to your colleagues and management is paramount to taking care of your health. Once we prioritize our healths, we can plan better and effectively communicate our priorities. For example, blocking your calendar for exercise is way easier when we prioritize and communicate well. 

I hope the article helps. What one thing helps you manage health with your busy routines? 

My 1:1 & group Wellness Program is now open for enrollment! Join now for evidence-based wellness coaching, where I provide science-backed information for the health aspects, ask open-ended questions and partner with you until you achieve YOUR health goals!