Tips to Achieve Work-Life Balance as a Personal Trainer
As a personal trainer, it’s your calling to help others achieve their fitness and wellness goals, but it can be challenging to focus on your own health, let alone find balance within your busy schedule.
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Between scheduling for clients and organizing your personal time on a weekly basis, it’s tough finding time to practice self-care. We have pulled together a few tips to get you started towards improved work-life balance as you continue to grow your personal training venture!
Organize Your Schedule
Start by analyzing your daily, weekly, and monthly work schedule, being sure to factor in personal time outside of the workspace. Make detailed notes about daily tasks, weekly appointments, financial obligations, and time spent on hobbies. This will be the basis for building a balanced work schedule.
Measure and Time Block
By measuring where you are spending a majority of your time and where you may be struggling, you can time block your workdays to be more streamlined, efficient and productive. For example, if you spend a majority of your week on appointments with clients, but are struggling to find the energy to devote to financial matters, where can you scale back? Determine a set number of appointments you can schedule per week while still remaining profitable. With the added free time in the workday, bring more focus to the financial and business related tasks. Apply this system of regulating tasks to every aspect of your business to keep track of all the moving parts simultaneously without feeling overwhelmed.
Planning Personal Time
It’s easy to get wrapped up in work and let personal commitments slip by, but by planning ahead of time, you can incorporate a healthy social life amongst the chaos of running a business and find a good work-life balance. Having a digestible outlook of your week ahead will give you time to both physically and mentally prepare. Time blocking also comes in handy when scheduling appointments, like doctor visits, and ensures these are a priority amongst your busy schedule. We suggest keeping a paper planner or digital calendar to stay organized, make notes about personal goals or tasks, and to track plans months in advance so not a single personal commitment is forgotten.
Prioritize Health and Wellness
Prioritizing your health when running a personal training business is often easier said than done. With work taking up a majority of your energy and time, it can be challenging to fit self-care into the mix. Prioritizing your health doesn’t need to be time consuming though, and can fit seamlessly into your day if done right.
Prioritizing Physical Health
As a personal trainer, you are well equipped with the tools and knowledge to make physical exercise a part of your routine, it’s just a matter of finding the time. Set aside a half hour before or after work to get your body moving. Use this time to listen to your favorite music or podcast, go for a walk in nature, meditate and stretch, or do a few chores that keep you on your feet. Exercise doesn’t need to entail a lengthy workout, but just enough movement to relieve the day’s stresses and keep you feeling your best.
Prioritizing Mental Health
Prioritizing your mental health is also important. If you feel unmotivated, stressed, or anxious, it may be time to take a step back and address what’s affecting your overall mental wellbeing. Are you getting enough rest? Are you remaining connected with loved ones? Are you finding ways to unwind and stay grounded? If the answer is no, try devoting more time to self-care. Spend time doing your favorite hobby or calling a friend, or just have a relaxing night in. If you are struggling beyond just everyday stresses, there are a plethora of options to make caring for your mental health easier, from online therapy providers, or local support groups, to creating your own self-care plan. These options can ease into your busy schedule as needed and will help you take control of your mental wellbeing.
Set Boundaries
If you are noticing symptoms of burnout as your personal training business steadily grows, boundary setting may be the answer to establishing a healthier work-life balance.
Boundary Setting at Work
To start, set designated working hours. The start of your work day should allow for a few moments of calm in the morning before jumping into work tasks. This gives you time to mentally prepare and plan for the day ahead. When it comes to establishing an end time, things get a little more challenging and overly flexible. Decide on a time that allows for a few hours in the evening to fully disconnect from the day’s stresses, and stick to it! This can do wonders for mental clarity and can leave you feeling more focused, motivated, and rested for the following workday.
Boundary Setting for Personal Time
It’s also important to set boundaries in your personal life. Saying no to friends and family doesn’t always have to come with a sense of guilt. It’s okay to be selfish with your time outside of work to do the things that make you feel most at ease. For example, if going out to dinner with friends is just what you need then definitely say yes, but if you’d prefer independent time to focus on a hobby, don’t be afraid to say no! Learn to be more intune with what makes you feel your best in the present moment and find a healthy balance that is unique to you. Your loved ones will understand and be there when you’re ready.
In Conclusion - Be Patient
Key advice for achieving work-life balance as a personal trainer is to just be patient with yourself. There is no pressure to get work-life balance right, because it’s a continued work in progress towards finding what works best for you. Add the above tips to your daily routine step by step. Eventually you’ll find you’ll not only feel more productive and energized during the work day, but find calm and fulfilment in your personal time.
Eddie Lester
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